Ray Gunn has long been one of the great cinematic what-ifs. After decades in development and bouncing from studio to studio, the unrealized science fiction noir from The Iron Giant visionary Brad Bird is finally coming to fruition. Today, Netflix revealed a first look at the animated film, which will be released on the streamer later this year.
In the first three images from the film, we get a better look at the retro-futuristic world of Ray Gunn, which will seem familiar to fans of Bird’s other works, including The Incredibles and Tomorrowland. The title character is Raymond Gunn, an old-school human detective in the city of Metropia; there, his 1930s-style office decor clashes with the strange green alien he’s sharing a drink with. Enormous holograms loom over the canyon-like streets, and Gunn soon finds himself in a deadly web of intrigue with aliens, robots, and multimedia superstar Venus Nova. The film will star Sam Rockwell as Ray Gunn, Scarlet Johansson as Venus Nova, and Tom Waits as Eyera. Says Johansson, “Having the opportunity to collaborate with Brad Bird is a career milestone for me; I have loved his work my entire life. This project is so uniquely special because it is a total realization of where Brad is currently on his artistic journey. I can’t wait for audiences to see this extraordinary animation that looks like nothing else out there.”
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
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Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
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🚀Star Wars
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01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
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02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
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03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
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04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
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05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
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06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
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07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
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08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
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Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
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The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
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The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
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Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
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Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
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A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
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How Long Has ‘Ray Gunn’ Been In Development?
Ray Gunn sprung from Bird’s fertile imagination even before his first feature film, The Iron Giant. Bird planned to make the film for Turner Feature Animation, but reclaimed the project when Turner merged with Warner Bros. Later, he took it to Pixar, but the animation studio opted to make The Incredibles instead. In recent years, he revived the project at Skydance Animation, and opted out of directing The Incredibles 3 to focus on this project. Says Bird, “Ray Gunn has been in my mind for over 30 years. The film is a blend of sci-fi and classic detective movies from the ’40s…it’s Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers. I’ve been a fan of both of those sort of genres, and blending them together seemed fun, and a chance to play with a lot of very cinematic elements, and extreme characters.” Bird also commented that he wants the film to reach out to “people who don’t watch animation,” because “animation as a medium is too interesting to limit what kind of stories can be told.”
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Ray Gunn is directed by Brad Bird, who also penned the script with Matthew Robbins (Crimson Peak). It will be produced by Bird, John Lasseter, Lisa Beroud, David Ellison and Dana Goldberg producing for Skydance Animation.
Ray Gunn will be released on Netflix in 2026; no exact release date has yet been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
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