Brad Bird is taking animation into unexpectedly dark and stylish territory with Ray Gunn, a futuristic detective adventure starring the voices of Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson.
The first trailer for Ray Gunn introduces audiences to Metropia, a spectacular retrofuturistic city where humans and aliens coexist among enormous skyscrapers, flying vehicles and dazzling Art Deco-inspired architecture. On the surface, the city appears to represent a bright and technologically advanced future. But underneath its polished exterior is a world filled with murder, corruption, scandal and characters struggling to survive in a rapidly changing society.
At the center of the story is Raymond Gunn, a hardboiled detective voiced by Sam Rockwell. Ray belongs to an increasingly outdated generation of investigators who still believe in doing detective work the old-fashioned way. In a city where technology can perform much of the work once handled by humans, Ray finds himself becoming something of a relic.
His partner, the unusual one-eyed alien Eye-Ra, is voiced by Tom Waits. Together, the unlikely pair become involved in a dangerous mystery after they cross paths with Venus Nova, a hugely famous and controversial superstar voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
What follows appears to be a sprawling science-fiction mystery that combines classic film noir with futuristic technology, alien characters, celebrity culture and a visually extravagant animated world.
Directed by Bird, the filmmaker behind The Incredibles and Ratatouille, Ray Gunn is also the realization of an idea he has carried with him since the early stages of his career.
The film is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on December 18, with the movie also receiving a theatrical presentation in select theaters and a limited 70mm engagement beginning December 4.
Brad Bird’s Long-Developing Sci-Fi Noir
Brad Bird has been developing the concept behind Ray Gunn for years.
The filmmaker originally imagined the project as a combination of two very different genres: classic detective noir and futuristic science-fiction adventure.
His description of the concept is remarkably simple: “The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers.”
That comparison provides a useful introduction to the movie’s unusual personality.
The Maltese Falcon represents the classic hardboiled detective tradition, with cynical investigators, dangerous characters, mysterious clients and morally complicated situations.
Buck Rogers, meanwhile, is associated with futuristic adventure, science-fiction technology and larger-than-life worlds.
Bird’s idea is to bring those two traditions together through animation.
The result appears to be a movie that doesn’t treat animation as a genre itself, but instead uses animation as a filmmaking medium capable of supporting practically any type of story.
That philosophy is particularly important to Bird, whose previous animated movies have demonstrated that family-oriented animation can contain sophisticated themes, detailed worlds and emotionally complex characters.
With Ray Gunn, however, he appears to be pushing that idea even further.
Welcome to Metropia
The futuristic city of Metropia is one of the biggest attractions of Ray Gunn.
From the trailer, the city is presented as a dazzling combination of futuristic technology and vintage visual influences.
Skyscrapers dominate the skyline, some appearing to stretch almost impossibly high into the atmosphere. Flying cars move through the city, while humans and aliens occupy the same urban environment.
The production’s visual identity draws heavily from retro-futurism and Art Deco design, creating a world that feels both familiar and completely alien.
Instead of imagining the future solely through sleek digital technology, Ray Gunn appears to mix different eras.
That gives Metropia a distinctive identity.
The city can look glamorous from a distance, but the closer Ray gets to its inhabitants, the more complicated it becomes.
Behind the enormous buildings and bright lights are criminal networks, murder investigations and people attempting to take advantage of the city’s changing social structure.
The contrast between the beautiful city and its darker side is central to Bird’s approach.
The director has described the idea as creating a hopeful-looking city while simultaneously showing the darker events taking place beneath its surface.
That contrast is classic noir.
A city can look spectacular while hiding its secrets.
Sam Rockwell Voices Raymond Gunn
At the heart of the story is Raymond Gunn, voiced by Sam Rockwell.
Ray appears to be a detective who has become somewhat disconnected from the future around him.
Modern technology has changed the way investigations are conducted. Instead of detectives personally searching every location, tiny robotic devices known as “pry bots” can perform much of the physical investigation.
But Ray isn’t ready to completely surrender the old-fashioned methods.
He still wants to investigate personally.
He still wants to walk the streets.
And he appears to believe that technology can’t completely replace human instincts.
That makes Ray an interesting character for a futuristic detective story.
He isn’t necessarily fighting technology itself. Instead, he represents a disappearing approach to detective work.
His old-school attitude becomes even more significant when he encounters a case involving one of Metropia’s most famous residents.
Eye-Ra: Ray’s Unusual Partner
Ray doesn’t investigate alone.
His partner is Eye-Ra, a cyclopean alien voiced by musician and actor Tom Waits.
The character’s unusual appearance and Waits’ distinctive voice immediately give the partnership a memorable personality.
The pairing also reinforces one of the film’s central ideas: Metropia is a place where humans and aliens have become part of the same society.
Instead of making alien characters completely separate from human civilization, Ray Gunn appears to treat them as ordinary residents of its futuristic world.
Eye-Ra also gives Ray someone who can challenge his perspective.
The relationship between the two detectives could become an important part of the film’s humor, action and mystery.
Their partnership combines Ray’s old-fashioned detective instincts with Eye-Ra’s very different perspective.
Scarlett Johansson Plays Superstar Venus Nova
The mystery takes a major turn when Venus Nova, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, enters Ray’s world.
Venus is one of Metropia’s biggest celebrities.
She’s also controversial.
And wherever Venus goes, the trailer suggests that trouble isn’t far behind.
Her glamorous lifestyle introduces Ray to an entirely different side of the city.
Instead of simply investigating ordinary criminals, Ray becomes entangled with Venus’s circle of associates, friends and hangers-on.
The investigation takes him from the glittering upper levels of Metropia to the city’s darker and more dangerous underworld.
This creates another classic noir element: the detective entering a glamorous world that turns out to be filled with secrets.
Venus isn’t simply a celebrity character.
She appears to be one of the keys to the mystery Ray is trying to solve.
Why Ray Gunn Looks Different From Traditional Animation
One of the most interesting things about the trailer is its tone.
Although Ray Gunn is an animated movie, its influences aren’t limited to traditional animated adventures.
Bird is drawing inspiration from classic detective cinema, particularly the hardboiled stories associated with characters such as Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade.
The film also takes inspiration from noir movies, including Out of the Past.
These influences help explain why the trailer feels more like a futuristic detective movie than a conventional animated adventure.
The characters appear to inhabit a world of crime, celebrity, corruption and moral uncertainty.
There are glamorous locations, but there are also shadows.
There are technological wonders, but there are also murders.
There are enormous skyscrapers, but beneath them are dangerous streets.
That combination gives the film an identity that could separate it from many mainstream animated productions.
Brad Bird’s Philosophy About Animation
For Bird, animation shouldn’t be restricted to one particular type of storytelling.
His philosophy is that animation is a medium rather than a genre.
That distinction is especially important when considering Ray Gunn.
Animation has traditionally been associated with family entertainment, comedy, fantasy and children’s stories. While many animated films have successfully explored serious themes, Bird appears to be using the medium to recreate the atmosphere of classic adult-oriented detective cinema.
His approach opens the door to a different kind of animated storytelling.
Instead of asking whether an animated film can look like a noir movie, Ray Gunn essentially asks why it couldn’t.
The medium allows Bird and his team to create a city that would be extraordinarily expensive and complicated to construct through traditional live-action production.
Entire skyscrapers can be designed without physical limitations.
Flying cars can move naturally through enormous cityscapes.
Aliens can interact with humans without the restrictions of practical production.
And the visual style can blend different decades and influences into one coherent world.
A Future Full of Shadows
Despite its colorful futuristic setting, Ray Gunn appears to be built around a classic noir idea: every beautiful city has secrets.
Metropia may represent progress, but progress doesn’t eliminate crime.
Technology may make investigations faster, but it doesn’t necessarily make society safer.
And celebrity may provide wealth and influence, but it can also attract manipulation, scandal and danger.
Ray’s investigation appears to move through all of these layers.
The detective is essentially trying to understand a world that has moved beyond him.
That makes the character’s journey more than a simple murder investigation.
Ray must determine where he fits into a society that increasingly relies on technology and where traditional detective work is becoming obsolete.
His relationship with Eye-Ra and his connection to Venus Nova appear likely to complicate that journey even further.
Ray Gunn Release Date and Where to Watch
Ray Gunn is scheduled to arrive on Netflix on December 18.
Before its streaming debut, the animated film will receive a theatrical presentation.
The movie is scheduled to appear in select theaters beginning December 4, including a limited 70mm presentation.
The theatrical release gives audiences an opportunity to experience Bird’s elaborate visual world on a much larger screen before the movie reaches streaming audiences.
The decision to give Ray Gunn a theatrical window is particularly interesting because the movie appears to have been designed around a large-scale cinematic world.
Metropia’s skyscrapers, flying vehicles, futuristic environments and elaborate action sequences could benefit significantly from a theatrical presentation.
The Voice Cast
The movie features a notable ensemble of performers:
- Sam Rockwell as Raymond Gunn
- Scarlett Johansson as Venus Nova
- Tom Waits as Eye-Ra
Rockwell brings his distinctive personality to the hardboiled detective at the center of the story, while Johansson voices the glamorous and controversial Venus Nova.
Waits’ involvement as Eye-Ra adds another unusual dimension to the cast.
The combination of these voices fits the movie’s eccentric characters and unconventional world.
A New Direction for Animated Sci-Fi
Ray Gunn has the potential to occupy an unusual space between animation, science fiction and classic noir.
Its concept isn’t simply about putting futuristic characters into an animated movie.
Instead, Brad Bird is using animation to construct an entire cinematic universe around the conventions of detective fiction.
The film’s biggest creative experiment may therefore be its combination of seemingly unrelated influences.
Classic Humphrey Bogart-style detective stories.
Retro-futuristic science fiction.
Alien characters.
Celebrity culture.
Flying cars.
Art Deco architecture.
Robotic investigative technology.
Murder mysteries.
All of these elements appear to coexist within Metropia.
That mixture is exactly what makes Ray Gunn stand out.
Final Thoughts
Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn is shaping up to be an ambitious animated adventure that challenges the idea of what an animated movie can look and feel like.
With Sam Rockwell voicing a weary detective, Scarlett Johansson playing a glamorous superstar surrounded by controversy and Tom Waits lending his voice to a one-eyed alien investigator, the movie has assembled an unusual cast for an equally unusual world.
The futuristic city of Metropia provides the perfect setting for Bird’s combination of noir mystery and science-fiction spectacle.
At first glance, everything seems bright and technologically advanced. But beneath the enormous buildings and glowing city streets is a darker world of murder, corruption and secrets.
That contrast appears to be at the heart of Ray Gunn.
Rather than treating animation as a limitation, Bird is using the medium to build a world that could exist nowhere else.
Ray Gunn is scheduled to arrive in select theaters and limited 70mm engagements on December 4, followed by its Netflix release on December 18.
For fans of Brad Bird, science fiction, detective stories and ambitious animation, the movie offers a very different kind of animated experience—one where the future may look spectacular, but the shadows are never far away.