Brad Bird’s ‘Ray Gunn’ Feels Like So Much More Than an Animated Movie

Any time Brad Bird releases a new movie, we take notice. After making films like The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles, he deserves at least that. But when that new movie is an idea Bird has been thinking about for decades, about a private detective in a futuristic landscape with an alien sidekick, we don’t just take notice. We bustle with excitement.

That movie is called Ray Gunn, and after years of stops, starts, and delays, it’s finally coming from Netflix on December 18. Bird discussed the film in a Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con, with the highlight being a screening of the film’s first seven minutes. And even in those first seven minutes, you get a sense that this is something different and unique.

The footage finds Ray (Sam Rockwell) and his alien sidekick Eye-ra (Tom Waits) breaking into a building to get some secret documents. Eye-ra is a one-eyed green alien with spider legs, so, in this world, he of course blends right in. Posing as a janitor, he walks right through security with his supply car and takes a super elevator up almost 800 floors. The sensation is like one of those carnival rides where the centrifugal force sticks you to the wall.

Upon exiting, he opens his cart to reveal Ray, who was stuck inside. They break into an office, look around, and realize the desk at the center of the room has a secret latch. Working together, they open it, revealing a file folder. This is what they’re looking for. Eye-ra uses his eye like a camera and gets photos of the documents when they realize there are two creatures on jetpacks flying towards them. They hide in the closet as two other aliens break into the room from outside.

Scarlett Johansson as Venus Nova in Ray Gunn (Image: Netflix)

These two notice that someone has beaten them to the documents and start to snoop around with their guns. Just then, someone is at the door, and they hide too. There are now four people hiding in this room when Vanzine enters, a hulking alien that looks a little like Oogie Boogie in a dress. She realizes she’s been robbed and threatens to start shooting unless someone reveals themselves. Which she does, shooting at a curtain and nailing one of the jet pack guys.

An action scene ensues and, in the scrum, the closet Ray and Eye-ra have been hiding in is broken. Vanzine grabs Ray, who she knows, and they pull guns on each other. They have a funny conversation about the fact that she has a new dress that’s hiding several more arms and that she doesn’t think Ray will shoot her. He, however, does think she’ll shoot him so he shoots her in the arm. The fight continues with all of Vanzine’s arms revealed until Ray uses a high-powered air conditioner to put Vanzine’s head in a block of ice.

She’s defeated. But on the way out, he realizes she can’t breathe. He doesn’t want to kill her, so he smashes her in the head a few times to break the ice before making his escape.

This is basically just the film’s cold open. We don’t know who the papers are for or how it ties into anything. But what you do get is a sense of tone. Even though the film has some wild creatures in it, it feels much more like a traditional detective film. It’s methodical. It’s clever. It’s cheeky. You get the sense this isn’t a kids movie at all. It’s a Brad Bird movie.

We’ll have more on Ray Gunn in the coming months. Stay tuned to io9 for more from San Diego Comic-Con 2026.

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