The Big Lebowski Meets Blade Runner In Scarlett Johansson's New Netflix Sci-Fi Ray Gunn

Published Jul 26, 2026, 1:02 PM EDT Dan Zinski is a freelance scribe currently contributing to ScreenRant as a movie and TV news writer. He previously wrote for FanSided, The Viking Age and Lightly Buzzed. “Genre-bending” is the word for Brad Bird. Set for release by Netflix December 18, the Ratatouille and Iron Giant director’s new effort Ray Gunn mashes up film-noir and sci-fi to tell the story of Earth’s last human private detective, voiced by Sam Rockwell. Bird’s latest animated film also stars Scarlett Johansson as pop star Venus Nova, Tom Waits as Ray Gunn’s alien sidekick Eyera, and Patton Oswalt as a sure-to-be-snarky hologram. In an interview with ScreenRant's Joe Deckelmeier at San Diego Comic-Con, Ray Gunn director Bird went into more detail about the film’s noir influences, pointing out that in fact “noir” is a much broader term than many realize. “I think that people describe it as noir, and it's like, ‘Okay, it's noir,’ but there's more comedy in it than most noir, and there's more action in it than most noir,” he pointed out in teasing the film’s mash-up tone. Bird continued, “You can talk about The Maltese Falcon and Chinatown and these great movies, but there are also things like The Big Lebowski, which is also noir. I mean, it's goofy noir, but it is noir, and so you start to realize that noir can take a variety of shapes. You think of dark nights and alleyways and stuff like that, but Chinatown is noir in the sunlight and it's just as noir as anything else.” Ray Gunn has been a long-time labor of love for Bird, who began developing the story more than 30 years ago, even before he made The Iron Giant. The story is set in a place called Metropia, whose look and feel are described as the world of the future as imagined by someone in 1939. Aliens live among humans, and flying cars zip to-and-fro among Art Deco architectural wonders. First-look images from Ray Gunn released back in April 2026 tease its distinctive look, showing the titular Ray Gunn as a spiky-haired detective with a penchant for day-drinking, and his sidekick Eyera as a spindly, one-eyed little green alien who also enjoys his whiskey. Johansson’s Venus Nova, the embattled pop star at the center of the story, looks every bit the classic noir femme fatale, with sleepy eyes and a peek-a-boo Veronica Lake hairdo. The image drop also includes one of a giant hologram Venus Nova looming over the city like something out of another, famous film that borrowed from both film noir and sci-fi traditions. But Blade Runner is not the only movie that influenced Bird on Ray Gunn, whose retro-futuristic world also owes something to Big Lebowski. Release Date December 18, 2026 Director Brad Bird Writers Brad Bird, Matthew Robbins Producers John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Lisa Beroud, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg Cast Sam Rockwell Raymond Gunn (voice)