Netflix drops first Ray Gunn trailer, reveals Brad Bird's star-studded cast
Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson lead the voice cast of Bird's 30-years-in-the-making animated noir, out in theaters Dec 4 and on Netflix Dec 18.
What to know
- Netflix's first Ray Gunn trailer confirms a 12-person supporting cast alongside leads Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson.
- The film gets a limited theatrical release, including 70mm engagements, on December 4, before streaming on Netflix December 18.
- Ray Gunn originated as a Brad Bird script in the 1990s and was shelved after Turner Broadcasting's 1996 merger with Time Warner, making it a roughly 30-year passion project.
- Bird frames the film as a noir set in an outwardly utopian, 1930s-inspired future rather than a dystopia, a deliberate departure from typical sci-fi framing.
The film is likely to be good based on the strength of the original script and positive insider reports.
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“I've read the 1996 draft, it has potential, it simply needed more fleshing out... he told me the story was great and that Brad Bird was improving it every day.”
Fan_of_Avatar_TLA · Reddit ↗
Long-in-development animated projects can still be remembered for exceptional animation even if unfinished or dated.
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“No. The and Cobbler was never finished. But my god does it have some of the greatest animation ever put to film.”
MrGittz · Reddit ↗
Brad Bird Director and co-writer
Sam Rockwell Voice of Raymond Gunn
Scarlett Johansson Voice of Venus NovaMichael Giacchino ComposerNetflix Distributor/streamer
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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Bird explains the film's utopian-noir concept and tone
In an interview, Bird described designing Metropia after 1930s futurists and architects, and explained his choice to set a noir story in an outwardly utopian future rather than a dystopian one, while discussing the difficulty of balancing tone and emotion in the film.
“We've seen the dystopian version of the future. What if you had a utopian version of the future but there was still corruption?”
— Brad Bird -
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Netflix releases trailer for Brad Bird’s retro-futuristic animated feature, "Ray Gunn": Bird: “It’s film noir and a hard-boiled detective story, but it’s got a lot more comedy and a lot more action.”
2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch
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Netflix drops trailer for Brad Bird's Ray Gunn "It’s film noir and a hard-boiled detective story, but it’s got a lot more comedy and a lot more action." https:// arstechnica.com/culture/2026/0 9/netflix-drops-trailer-for-brad-birds-ray-gunn/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
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Lovely stuff. Looks very much like a Blade Runner / Fifth Element mashup and that's just combining two of my favorite movies so I'm all for it. In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn (Sam Rockwell) is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova (Scarlett…
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Bird's decades-long path to making Ray Gunn detailed — Reporting traced Ray Gunn back to a script Bird wrote in the 1990s, derailed when Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner in 1996, with Giacchino recalling Bird first pitching him the idea in 2003 during production of The Incredibles.
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Full voice cast and roles detailed — Coverage confirmed Sam Rockwell as detective Raymond Gunn and Scarlett Johansson as pop star Venus Nova, joined by Tom Waits (as Gunn's partner Eyera), 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.
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Netflix releases first Ray Gunn trailer and poster — Netflix published the debut trailer and poster for Ray Gunn, confirming 12 additional cast members joining Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson, and setting a December 4 limited theatrical release (with 70mm engagements) ahead of a December 18 Netflix streaming debut.
- 1 day quiet
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New Ray Gunn image surfaces ahead of trailer
A new still from Brad Bird's Ray Gunn circulated online, describing the plot as a private inspector drawn into an alien-and-murder case in the retro-futuristic city Metropia, with a Netflix release date of December 18.
“I privately contacted animator Michel Gagné, who worked in Ray Gunn back in 2024, and he told me the story was great and that Brad Bird was improving it every day.”
— Fan_of_Avatar_TLA, Reddit commenter · source -
first by The Wrap, 14h ago · also Mashable, IGN, Consequence, Ars Technica
4 more headlines
- Ray Gunn trailer: Brad Bird blends sci-fi and film noir for a futuristic mystery Mashable · 14h ago
- Ray Gunn Debut Trailer Confirms Limited Theatrical Release for Brad Bird's Netflix Movie IGN · 14h ago
- Brad Bird’s Animated Sci-Fi Adventure Ray Gunn Blasts Off in New Trailer: Watch Consequence · 9h ago
- Netflix releases trailer for Brad Bird's Ray Gunn Mastodon · 8h ago
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I have reasons to think it will be good that are more than just it being a passion project by Brad Bird. I've read the 1996 draft, it has potential, it simply needed more fleshing out. Also, test screenings of a very unfinished version of Ray Gunn screened last year did very well. Last, but not least, I privately contacted animator Michel Gagné…
2 more of the top 3 · 6 posts in this stretch
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That's what I was thinking. It reminds me of when I introduced the original Pixar movies to my kids and was surprised at how technically primitive they looked compared to what I was used to.
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No. The and Cobbler was never finished. But my god does it have some of the greatest animation ever put to film.
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What people are saying 2 voices from 2 sites · best of 11 · verbatim
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An animated future-set film noir by the director of The Incredibles? Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson... Get this in my veins. Ray Gunn | Official Trailer | Netflix
- Sep 21
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https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1wmcurq/new_image_from_ray_gunn_directed_by_brad_bird_the/pba6n8n/