Netflix unveiled its 2026+ animation slate at Annecy, highlighting Ray Gunn from Brad Bird, a decades-long project set for a December release.

Ray Gunn features Sam Rockwell as Raymond Gunn, a noir-inspired detective in Metropia, solving a case involving aliens and the multimedia star Venus Nova (voiced by Scarlett Johansson).

KPop Demon Hunters became Netflix Animation’s most popular film and helped drive a record year, with accolades for Love, Death + Robots and Ultraman: Rising.

Sparks of Tomorrow is scheduled for July 5 and is set in an alternate early-20th-century Kyoto where steam power drives progress.

Blue Eye Samurai Season 2 continues the story with Mizu in London and Akemi and Taigen in Edo Castle, created by Amber Noizumi and Michael Green, animation by Blue Spirit.

Bird described Ray Gunn’s long development history, including a dormant period at Warner Bros. before securing new financing to move the project forward.

Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory is slated for 2027, with Taika Waititi attached to lead a caper-style story about Charlie Paley and friends fighting to save their homes.

Fool Night marks Sunrise and Shaft’s first co-production, a dark sci-fi manga adaptation by Kasumi Yasuda, directed by Atsushi Yukawa, set on a dystopian Earth with oxygen-replenishing seed tech.

Bass X Machina is planned for November 3, a Steampunk Western where a father enforces justice while protecting his family, animated by Studio Mir.

In the wake of Ray Gunn, Bird will not direct Incredibles 3; Peter Sohn will take the helm instead.

The opening sequence of Ray Gunn introduces Eyera and Gunn as detective partners amid shifting alien detectives and a robotic spy, with a moral moment where Gunn freezes a manager in ice but chooses to help her, reinforcing noir tone.

A later scene hints at Ray Gunn’s gadgetry through Gunn selecting a unique ray gun, indicating the film’s tech-forward style.