Picture Credit: Netflix
Brad Bird’s long-gestating animated neo-noir Ray Gunn is edging closer, and a brand new preview has just given us our best look yet at the stunning retro-futuristic world of Metropia. Alongside a gorgeous batch of new images, a couple of new casting announcements.
As we’ve covered extensively in our main preview for the animated feature, Ray Gunn has been a passion project for The Incredibles and The Iron Giant director Brad Bird for over three decades.
Now, thanks to a massive exclusive preview over at Esquire, we finally have some fresh details on the project, including a couple of fantastic additions to the voice cast which haven’t been announced until now.
Here’s a breakdown of the new castings, the full updated cast list, and everything else we learned from the preview, accompanied by the stunning new first-look snaps.
Matt Berry & Brad Bird Join the Voice Cast
We already knew that Sam Rockwell was leading the charge as the titular discreet investigator Raymond Gunn, joined by Scarlett Johansson as pop-star Venus Nova and Tom Waits as Ray’s alien sidekick. But Esquire has officially pulled back the curtain on the film’s villains.
What We Do in the Shadows star (and Absolute Radio announcer as I know him best) Matt Berry is stepping into the recording booth to voice Francis “Slugsy” Xavier. Described as a massive, spongelike mob boss, Slugsy’s character design is heavily inspired by 1940s film noir heavyweights—most notably Sydney Greenstreet (The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca). Given Berry’s iconic, booming theatrical delivery, he feels like a match made in heaven for an eccentric 1940s-style animated gangster.
(Above: Matt Berry’s “Slugsy” flanked by his henchmen, Gunsol and Musker)
But Slugsy isn’t working alone. In a fun twist, director Brad Bird is pulling double-duty and joining the voice cast himself! As I just learned today, he’s the actual voice of Edna Mode in The Incredibles; Bird will be voicing “Gunsol and Musker,” the pair of squat, squirmy alien henchmen who do Slugsy’s bidding (pictured alongside Slugsy above).
The Full Voice Cast for Netflix’s Ray Gunn
With these new reveals, here is the complete confirmed cast list for the movie so far:
- Sam Rockwell as Raymond “Ray” Gunn, a small-time private eye detective and the titular protagonist.
- Scarlett Johansson as Venus Nova, a famous pop star struggling from a scandal that threatens to destroy her career — and may even cost her life.
- Matt Berry as Francis “Slugsy” Xavier, a towering mob boss.
- Tom Waits as Eyera, Ray’s alien colleague and sidekick.
- Patton Oswalt as a hologram.
- Brad Bird as Gunsol and Musker, Slugsy’s alien henchmen.
- Kathryn Hunter in an undisclosed role.
- John Ratzenberger in an undisclosed role (a staple of Bird’s Pixar days!).
- Jamie Costa in an undisclosed role.
- “Buck” — in a fun bit of trivia that dropped during Annecy, Bird confirmed he hired his son’s former soccer coach, known only as “Buck,” to play a weapons-dealer in the film!
What Else Did the Esquire Preview Reveal?
Beyond the casting, the preview offered a treasure trove of insights into the movie’s plot, its rating, and its incredibly long journey to the screen.
- The 30-Year Wait: Why did this movie take so long to make? In our Annecy interview with Brad Bird, he teased the film’s troubled history, but Esquire sheds more light on the development hell. Major studios like Disney and Warner Bros. flirted with the script but passed because of its adult-leaning tone. Bird noted, “I always thought it was weird that people were resistant. I thought, Really? How is this not good popcorn stuff?”
- Timely AI Themes: Despite being conceptualized in the 90s, the plot will heavily feature the concept of “all-consuming AI surveillance.” It’s a retro-sci-fi trope that has ironically become incredibly timely in 2026.
(Above: Sam Rockwell’s Ray and Scarlett Johansson’s Venus Nova)
- The PG Rating: The preview emphasizes that despite dealing with scandal, betrayal, and murder, the movie remains “safely PG-rated.” As we’ve detailed in our cast and plot breakdown, this rating was previously a point of contention behind the scenes, with Bird reportedly wanting a PG-13 while Netflix pushed for a family-friendly PG so it wouldn’t be hidden from Kids profiles.
Despite Netflix and Skydance Animation recently parting ways on future output, Ray Gunn remains a crown jewel of their existing deal, and these images prove it’s going to be a visual feast.
Check out the rest of the new snaps below, featuring Ray at his Discreet Investigations office, a meeting with a slick music executive, and an action-packed shot of Ray and Eyera speeding through Metropia on a hover-bike.
Picture Credit: Netflix
Picture Credit: Netflix
Picture Credit: Netflix
Are you looking forward to diving into the world of Ray Gunn when it hits Netflix this December? Let us know your thoughts on the new images and voice cast additions in the comments below!
