Brad Bird's 'Ray Gunn' Finally Shows Its Hand In A Slick First Clip

Few animated projects have waited as long as ‘Ray Gunn‘. The director behind ‘The Iron Giant’, ‘The Incredibles’ and ‘Ratatouille’ has carried this retro-futuristic detective story for more than 3 decades, through live-action detours and Pixar sequels alike. It is Bird’s first feature as director since ‘Incredibles 2’ in 2018, and his first animated project outside Pixar since ‘The Iron Giant’.

The idea dates back to 1989, when Bird reportedly came up with it after seeing a trailer for the film ‘Peter Gunn’. Studios did not know what to do with such an unusual pitch, and Bird told Empire that people were “kinda frightened by it.” The project bounced between studios and distributors before finally landing with Skydance Animation and Netflix.

Now the wait is nearly over, and the first clip from ‘Ray Gunn’ has arrived online. The 33-second preview shows a man and a woman in a car in a stylized, neon-lit city, and it carries the ‘Jenna & Sheinelle’ branding. It appears tied to Scarlett Johansson’s TODAY appearance, where she discussed her singing role in the film, which arrives on Netflix on December 18.

First clip from ‘RAY GUNN’, directed by Brad Bird (‘The Incredibles’). The film follows a private detective who is drawn into a case involving aliens & murder in the alternate futuristic city Metropia. Releasing December 18 on Netflix. https://t.co/PE0Cryy0WV
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) November 6, 2026

The film follows private detective Raymond Gunn, the last human private eye in a world full of galactic beings, as he is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova. It all unfolds in Metropia, a gigantic city imagined as an alternate future as seen from 1939. Bird has described the film as ‘The Maltese Falcon’ meeting ‘Buck Rogers’.

That pitch gives the story a noir twist on the usual dystopian future. Metropia’s sunny, utopian surface hides corruption underneath, and Ray is the lone human trying to cut through it. The tone sits somewhere between hard-boiled mystery and pulp sci-fi adventure.

The look of the film draws on the 1930s designers Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes and Hugh Ferriss, whose sweeping, streamlined visions of tomorrow shaped how a generation imagined the future. Bird also used spherical 70mm lenses to capture a wide, grand frame without the distortion of anamorphic lenses. The result is a hand-crafted animated world that aims to feel like old-school cinema rather than a typical streaming release.

Michael Giacchino, Bird’s longtime collaborator, provides the score, adding another familiar name from the director’s past work to a project that has been decades in the making. The first trailer, released in September, was set to the Sneaker Pimps song ‘Six Underground’.

Sam Rockwell voices Ray, while Johansson plays Venus Nova, a pop star whose personal life leaves her entangled with the detective. Tom Waits voices Eye-Ra, Ray’s alien partner. The wider cast includes Matt Berry, Alan Tudyk, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Rodriguez, Patton Oswalt, John Ratzenberger and Kathryn Hunter, with Bird himself also lending his voice.

Bird co-wrote the screenplay with Matthew Robbins, and the film marks a rare chance to see him build an entire original world from scratch. Together, the writing and cast point to a film built on snappy dialogue and big personalities, which the first clip hints at in just a few seconds of banter.

Early looks have been strong. Gizmodo described the opening minutes as cheeky and said the film feels like a Brad Bird movie rather than a kids movie, praising its snappy dialogue and fun action after seeing 30 minutes. Gold Derby highlighted smart storytelling and visual flair, with a greater emphasis on action and humor.

The staggered rollout gives fans 2 ways to see it: on the big screen first for those near a participating theater, and at home for everyone else. Bird himself has said the film is meant to be enjoyed with a box full of popcorn. It premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on October 10, and will open in select theaters, including limited 70mm screenings, on December 4. It then arrives globally on Netflix on December 18, the same day as the theatrical releases of ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ and ‘Dune: Part Three’.