Ray Gunn Release Date Window Set for Brad Bird’s Animated Sci-fi Detective Movie at Netflix

A Ray Gunn release date window has been set for Brad Bird’s long-gestating animated sci-fi movie before he gets his hands on The Incredibles 3.

Bird was the writer and director of the previous Incredibles movies and is to be involved with the third in some capacity, but it seems he’s got another animated project on the cards first.

Ray Gunn has been swirling around as an idea for so long that it basically predates Bird’s directorial debut, The Iron Giant. But now, according to The Wrap, Bird is reportedly in the middle of making the sci-fi noir detective movie.

First positioned as a traditional 2D movie at Warner Bros, Ray Gunn has been in limbo for various reasons. Since Skydance reunited Pixar’s John Lasseter with Brad Bird, the movie has now shifted to that company and Netflix, aiming for a 2o26 release.

Ray Gunn to be the latest animated outing for Brad Bird

While there’s no word on whether anything has changed in terms of plot, the original story was set in a futuristic world cohabitated by aliens and humans. The last human private eye is hired to investigate the fidelity of a well-known pop star. What we do know is that Bird has swapped 2D animation for CG.

While Bird has only made a handful of movies in the last 25 years, his hit rate in animation is phenomenal. 199’s The Iron Giant is a much-loved adaptation of the Ted Hughes novel. In it, a giant metal machine befriends a nine-year-old boy and ultimately finds its humanity by unselfishly saving people from their own fears and prejudices.

Five years later, Bird helmed the Pixar superhero smash The Incredibles. It saw a retired superhero who settled into everyday life and was tempted to make a comeback when a mysterious high-paying assignment came in.

A sequel followed 14 years later, but before that, Bird was behind another Pixar gem: Ratatouille. The 2007 feature is about a rat who aspires to be a chef and finds a rather unusual way to achieve that dream.

Neil Bolt

Neil became a horror fan from just a nightmare-inducing glimpse of the Ghoulies VHS cover and a book on how to draw ghosts. It escalated from there and now that's almost all he writes and talks about.