Netflix unveils first-look trailer for The Incredibles legend's new detective animation featuring Hollywood icons

Netflix has released the trailer for the hotly anticipated new animated film from The Incredibles creator Brad Bird – which will premiere at next month's London Film Festival ahead of a streaming release in December.

Ray Gunn is billed as a sci-fi noir set in the fictional city of Metropia, and sees Hollywood A-listers Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson lend their voices to the main characters.

In the trailer, we get a good look at the futuristic city as we're introduced to the titular private detective (Rockwell) who is investigating what looks to be an especially tricky case.

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Meanwhile, we hear Ray's alien colleague Eyera – voiced by the unmistakable Tom Waits – deliver a typically noir-ish speech, telling him their business is "all about the light and the dark and all the lovely shades of grey in between."

He then asks Ray what he's looking for, to which the detective responds that he's in pursuit of truth.

"How sad is that?" Eyera replies.

Throughout the trailer, we see everything from holograms to flying cars to all manner of extraterrestrial individuals, in addition to a look at famous pop star – and the film's femme fatale – Venus Nova (Johansson).

By the end of the trailer, it becomes clear that Ray and Venus will be teaming up, although Eyera warns his colleague to "be careful" as it appears he is falling for her.

You can watch the action-packed trailer in full below:

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The official synopsis for Ray Gunn reads: "The film is set in Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, where private eye Raymond Gunn is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder, and a multimedia star named Venus Nova."

In addition to Rockwell, Johansson and Waits, the starry voice cast for the film also includes Matt Berry, John Ratzenberger, Kathryn Hunter, Bobby Cannavale, Alan Tudyk, Michael Chernus and Patton Oswalt.

Bird is behind some of the best-loved animated films of all time, having helmed The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, while other directing credits include Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Tomorrowland.

He previously described the elevator pitch of the film as The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers and said he hopes to win over audiences who might not usually take animation seriously.

"There’s a big chunk of people who don’t watch animation," he told Tudum in June. "That’s a group I’m anxious to persuade because it’s an amazing art form that is way too limited in people’s minds."

Ray Gunn will have its World Premiere on 10 October at the London Film Festival and will be released on Netflix on 18 December 2026.

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Authors

Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.