Ray Gunn Trailer 2: 7 Things to Know Before Netflix Release

Image Credit: Netflix / Skydance Animation — Official Trailer/Poster via YouTube

Ray Gunn trailer 2 is out now, and it is the clearest look yet at the animated film Brad Bird has been trying to make for more than thirty years. Netflix dropped the second official trailer on its YouTube channel, and unlike the first teaser-style look from September, this one is a full story trailer. It runs two minutes and forty-two seconds, and it finally shows how the film’s detective story actually works.

The trailer opens on Raymond Gunn buying a gun with an extra-dimensional twist, then rockets straight into Metropia, the retrofuturistic city where the whole film lives. Humans and aliens share the streets, flying cars fill the sky, and buildings stretch a mile high. Under the Art Deco shine, though, there is murder and corruption. Gunn’s alien partner Eye-Ra sums the pair up in one line: they are “honest players in a crooked game.”

If the first trailer sold the world, Ray Gunn trailer 2 sells the case. Here are seven things to know before the film reaches cinemas and Netflix.

1. Ray Gunn Trailer 2 Is a Story Trailer, Not Another Teaser

The first Ray Gunn trailer arrived on 23 September 2026 and mostly introduced the look of Metropia. The new Ray Gunn trailer 2 goes much further. It lays out the job that pulls Gunn into trouble: he is hired to protect Venus Nova, the biggest pop star in the city, and the assignment turns into a murder case that keeps growing.

The footage ends with a rapid montage of Gunn, Nova and Eye-Ra fending off attackers across the city. The trailer still keeps the central mystery hidden, which is exactly what a good second trailer should do. It tells you who these people are and why you should care, without giving away how the case ends.

Netflix has also released a new poster and five new images alongside the trailer, so the marketing push for the December release is now in full swing.

2. The Story: A Detective, a Pop Star and a One-Eyed Alien

In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova. That is the official synopsis, and Ray Gunn trailer 2 sticks closely to it.

Gunn is one of the last human detectives left in the city. Most of the legwork a private eye used to do is now handled by tiny machines called pry bots, which have taken over much of the work people once did. Gunn still works the street the old way, with his cyclopean alien partner Eye-Ra at his side.

Venus Nova is one of Metropia’s biggest and most controversial megastars. Netflix’s own description puts it simply: wherever Venus goes, scandal follows. Gunn is hired in connection with her, and that job draws him into a world of aliens and murder that is much bigger than the case he was hired to solve.

Bird himself describes the film as The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers, and the trailer wears that blend proudly. The detective story comes first; the science fiction is the setting, not the plot.

3. The Voice Cast Is Stacked

Sam Rockwell voices Raymond Gunn, playing him as a man who already seems like he belongs to a bygone era, even in the future. Scarlett Johansson voices Venus Nova, the pop star at the centre of the case. Tom Waits voices Eye-Ra, Gunn’s one-eyed alien partner.

The wider cast named in Ray Gunn trailer 2 is just as strong. Bobby Cannavale, Alan Tudyk, Matt Berry and Michelle Rodriguez all feature, alongside Michael Chernus, Kether Donohue, Aasif Mandvi, Matt Jones, Kathryn Hunter, John Ratzenberger, Justin Peck and Patton Oswalt.

It is a cast built for a film that mixes hard-boiled dialogue with big animated spectacle, and the trailer gives each of the three leads a moment that shows exactly what they bring. Rockwell gets the dry detective wit, Johansson gets the glamour and the danger, and Waits gets the strangest and funniest lines.

4. Metropia Is the Future as Imagined in 1939

The most striking thing about Ray Gunn trailer 2 is the city itself. Metropia is a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, which means Art Deco towers, streamlined flying cars, neon signs and gadgets that look like they were drawn in a 1930s pulp magazine, all rendered with modern animation.

Bird’s team has built a world where humans and aliens live side by side and the future feels both glamorous and lived-in. The trailer flies through streets where buildings stand a mile high, then drops into small rooms where Gunn does the quiet detective work: asking questions, following leads and getting into trouble.

That contrast is the whole point of the film’s look. The city is dazzling, but the story is a noir. The shine is the surface; underneath it, the film is about corruption, murder and people trying to stay honest in a crooked game.

5. Brad Bird Has Been Trying to Make This Film for 30 Years

Ray Gunn is one of the longest-gestating passion projects in modern animation. Bird has been trying to make it for more than thirty years, and the film is based on his own original story. He directs from a screenplay he wrote with Matthew Robbins, and Michael Giacchino composed the score.

Bird is a two-time Academy Award winner, the director of The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Ray Gunn is his first animated feature in years, and it is the film he has wanted to make since long before those hits.

The film is a Skydance Animation production, with animation work by Cinesite’s Montreal and Vancouver studios. John Lasseter, Bird, Lisa Beroud, David Ellison and Dana Goldberg produce. Bird signed on to direct the project in its current form back in 2022, and Netflix showed the first seven minutes at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival earlier this year.

6. When and Where to Watch Ray Gunn

Ray Gunn opens in select theatres on 4 December 2026, including limited 70mm presentations, before its global streaming debut on Netflix on 18 December 2026. The theatrical run is an awards-qualifying release, which is why the film is getting the big-screen treatment first instead of going straight to streaming.

The film runs one hour and fifty-nine minutes and is rated PG. That makes it a rare thing: a big, stylish animated noir that the whole family can watch together, with a detective story adults will enjoy just as much.

For viewers in India, the Netflix date is the one to circle. Ray Gunn premieres globally on Netflix on 18 December, so the film will be available to stream here the same day as everywhere else. No separate India theatrical date has been announced, so the 4 December cinema run is a select-theatres release.

7. Early Reviews Are Glowing

Ray Gunn has already played the festival circuit, including its BFI London Film Festival premiere, and the early verdict is strong. At the time of writing, the film holds an impressive 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from 54 reviews, earning it a Certified Fresh rating.

That is a remarkable score for an original animated film, and it explains why Netflix is giving Ray Gunn a theatrical run and a 70mm release. The studio clearly believes the film plays best on a big screen, and the critics who have seen it so far seem to agree.

The combination is hard to ignore: a beloved director, a thirty-year passion project, a stacked voice cast, a striking retrofuturistic world and a 94 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. Ray Gunn trailer 2 does not need to oversell any of that. It just shows you the city, introduces the detective and lets the case pull you in.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Ray Gunn releasing on Netflix?

Ray Gunn premieres globally on Netflix on 18 December 2026. It opens in select theatres, including limited 70mm screenings, on 4 December 2026.

Where can I watch the Ray Gunn trailer 2?

Ray Gunn trailer 2 is on the official Netflix YouTube channel, titled “Ray Gunn | Official Trailer #2 | Netflix”. The trailer is also embedded above.

Who voices Ray Gunn?

Sam Rockwell voices private eye Raymond Gunn. Scarlett Johansson voices pop star Venus Nova, and Tom Waits voices Eye-Ra, Gunn’s one-eyed alien partner.

Is Ray Gunn in theatres?

Yes, Ray Gunn gets a select-theatres release on 4 December 2026, including limited 70mm screenings. It is an awards-qualifying run ahead of the Netflix premiere on 18 December.

What is Ray Gunn about?

In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova. Brad Bird calls it The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers.

The Bottom Line

Ray Gunn trailer 2 is the moment this film stops being a curiosity and starts looking like one of the animated events of the year. The world is gorgeous, the cast is superb, the reviews are glowing, and the wait is now measured in weeks rather than years. Theatres get it on 4 December, Netflix gets it on 18 December, and the trailer is well worth your two minutes and forty-two seconds right now.