Brad Bird has taken us to superhero suburbia and a Parisian kitchen. His next stop is Metropia, a city of flying cars, towering skyscrapers and enough dark corners to keep a private detective busy. Netflix has released the trailer for ‘Ray Gunn’, Bird’s animated sci-fi mystery starring Sam Rockwell (The White Lotus) and Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story).
Rockwell voices Raymond Gunn, a detective whose old-fashioned methods are becoming obsolete. Tiny “pry bots” now handle much of the legwork, but Ray and his one-eyed alien partner Eye-Ra, voiced by Tom Waits (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), still prefer to investigate the streets themselves.
Their latest case draws Ray into the orbit of Venus Nova, a superstar voiced by Johansson. Venus attracts scandal wherever she goes, and following her trail takes Ray from Metropia’s glamorous heights into its considerably less welcoming underworld. The trailer gives that contrast plenty of room to shine: this future looks gorgeous, but you probably wouldn’t want to take a wrong turn after dark.
Bird first imagined ‘Ray Gunn’ early in his career. He describes his original pitch as “The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers,” which neatly captures the film’s mix of hardboiled detective story and retrofuturistic adventure. The director of The Incredibles and Ratatouille has also cited classic noir films among his inspirations, and this time he’s aiming for a story with a more grown-up edge than audiences might expect from a big animated release.
Netflix says the film will have a limited cinema run, including 70mm screenings, ahead of its streaming debut. UK cinema details have yet to be confirmed, but everyone will be able to visit Metropia on Netflix in December. (Netflix Tudum)
‘Ray Gunn’ opens in select cinemas on Friday, 4th December 2026, and premieres Friday, 18th December 2026 on Netflix.
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