Slugsy
What’s a private eye without some villains? Brad Bird’s anticipated animated film, Ray Gunn, is just a few months away, but we’re getting some fresher details about the upcoming film noir homage. Esquire has reported on some news about Ray Gunn (via What’s On Netflix) and we have now been introduced to Slugsy, the main villain of the film. Slugsy is portrayed by veteran voice actor Matt Berry, who you may have seen in person from the TV series What We Do in the Shadows. Slugsy is joined by his henchmen, Gunsol and Musker, who will both be voiced by Bird himself. You can check out the new photo of the villains below.
Brad Bird’s Retro Future
Brad Bird is no stranger to taking audiences to futuristic worlds through a retro aesthetic. His Incredibles films from Disney/Pixar are fan favorites due to a mix of the superhero and spy genres with a big chunk of the sci-fi elements mixed in. Now, Bird takes a similar approach to classic detective film noirs with the upcoming animated film from Netflix — Ray Gunn. The voice cast includes Sam Rockwell, who will be playing Raymond Gunn, Scarlett Johansson uses her breathy pipes to play Venus Nova, and Tom Waits’ angelic voice will portray Eyera.
The logline reads, “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.”
Welcome to the Ray Gunn era
Brad Bird not only directed the film, but it also came from a story he conceived and he co-wrote the script with Matthew Robbins. Bird branches away from Pixar to work with Skydance Animation for this film. The producers include Bird, John Lasseter, Lisa Beroud, David Ellison and Dana Goldberg producing for Skydance Animation.
Bird states, “RAY GUNN has been in my mind for over 30 years. The film is a blend of sci-fi and classic detective movies from the ’40s…it’s Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers. I’ve been a fan of both of those sort of genres, and blending them together seemed fun, and a chance to play with a lot of very cinematic elements, and extreme characters.” He also says, “There’s a big chunk of people who don’t watch animation. That’s a group I’m anxious to persuade because it’s an amazing art form that is way too limited in people’s minds. Animation as a medium is too interesting to limit what kind of stories can be told.”
His Venus Nova, Scarlett Johansson, talked about getting to work on this project, saying, “Having the opportunity to collaborate with Brad Bird is a career milestone for me; I have loved his work my entire life. This project is so uniquely special because it is a total realization of where Brad is currently on his artistic journey. I can’t wait for audiences to see this extraordinary animation that looks like nothing else out there.”
Ray Gunn has locked down a premiere date and will be entertaining audiences around Christmastime on December 18, 2026.
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