Brad Bird’s 30-Year Passion Project ‘Ray Gunn’ Finally Gets Its First Full Trailer, and It Looks Like Nothing Else on Netflix
Some films take years to make it from concept to screen, but few carry quite the kind of extended gestation period as this one. For a filmmaker as celebrated as Brad Bird, whose animated work has consistently redefined what the medium can accomplish, watching a passion project sit dormant for decades feels almost unthinkable.
That’s exactly the story behind his latest release, though, a concept Bird has reportedly been carrying around since before he even made ‘The Iron Giant.’ After years of false starts and shelved development, the project is finally arriving in a form audiences can actually watch.
Netflix has released the first full trailer for ‘Ray Gunn,’ Brad Bird’s animated sci-fi noir starring Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Waits, with the film set for limited theatrical release December 4 before streaming on Netflix December 18. It marks Bird’s first directorial effort in eight years, following 2018’s ‘Incredibles 2.’
Set in the retro-futuristic world of Metropia in 1939, before World War II, the film follows Raymond “Ray” Gunn, one of the last remaining human private detectives in a society where humans and aliens now coexist. Bird himself has described the tonal blend behind the project in strikingly specific terms. “The elevator pitch I came up with is ‘The Maltese Falcon’ meets ‘Buck Rogers,'” Bird said in an interview with Netflix’s Tudum, adding that he’d been developing the concept for over 30 years.
That description lines up closely with what the trailer actually delivers, opening with Rockwell’s Ray Gunn examining a crime scene alongside his one-eyed alien partner Eyera, voiced by Waits, before a mysterious client recruits him to investigate Johansson’s character, superstar Venus Nova, over a potentially career-ending scandal.
Welcome to the future. From the director of The Incredibles and Ratatouille comes RAY GUNN, starring Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Waits. In select theaters December 4 and on Netflix December 18. https://t.co/4r2rtjCC8v
— Netflix (@netflix) September 23, 2026
As the trailer unfolds, Gunn finds himself increasingly entangled in Venus’s orbit, with a potential romance teased between the two characters even as the investigation grows more dangerous. The trailer builds toward elaborate action sequences, including a flying-car chase sequence that echoes classic sci-fi imagery while staying grounded in the film’s distinctly 1940s detective aesthetic.
Bird explained the appeal of combining these two very different genres during the same Tudum conversation, noting his interest in blending hardboiled detective storytelling with pulpy science fiction spectacle, calling it a chance to explore extreme characters within a heavily cinematic visual world.
First poster for ‘RAY GUNN’, a new noir detective movie directed by Brad Bird (‘The Incredibles’).
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 23, 2026
• In select theaters on December 4, including some 70mm showings
• Releasing December 18 on Netflix pic.twitter.com/zqLrfIscrN
Beyond its central trio, ‘Ray Gunn’ has assembled an extensive supporting voice cast, including Alan Tudyk, Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Chernus, Kether Donohue, Michelle Rodriguez, Aasif Mandvi, Matt Jones, Kathryn Hunter, John Ratzenberger, Justin Peck, and Patton Oswalt. That breadth of talent suggests a richly populated world extending well beyond its three marquee names.
The film is produced by Skydance Animation, with Bird co-writing the screenplay alongside Matthew Robbins and serving as producer alongside John Lasseter, Lisa Beroud, David Ellison, and Dana Goldberg. Michael Giacchino, a frequent Bird collaborator, handles the film’s score.
Before reaching Netflix subscribers, ‘Ray Gunn’ will make its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 10, giving early audiences a first chance to see the finished film ahead of its wider theatrical and streaming rollout later that year.
The visuals of ‘RAY GUNN’.
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 23, 2026
A new noir detective movie directed by Brad Bird (‘The Incredibles’). pic.twitter.com/Q8FteIwAZW
Given Bird’s track record with genre-blending animated storytelling, from ‘The Iron Giant’ to ‘The Incredibles,’ expectations for ‘Ray Gunn’ are already running high among longtime fans eager to see what a Brad Bird-directed detective noir actually looks like in motion.
Are you excited for Brad Bird’s long-awaited Ray Gunn?
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