Brad Bird will look back on his career—from The Iron Giant to Mission: Impossible—at SDCC 2026, while also previewing Netflix’s Ray Gunn, which premieres December 18.
San Diego Comic-Con has a way of turning anticipation into momentum. This time, it’s Brad Bird who’s stepping into the spotlight with one foot planted in animation history—and the other pointed at what’s next.
Bird is set to join Collider at SDCC 2026 for a panel titled “Brad Bird: My Cinematic Journey. ” created to invite fans into the craft behind filmmaking. The conversation will be guided by Collider’s editor-in-chief. Steven Weintraub. and will span Bird’s career. including The Iron Giant. The Incredibles. Ratatouille. and Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol.
SDCC won’t just be about looking back. Bird will also bring fans an exclusive first look at his upcoming Skydance Animation and Netflix feature, Ray Gunn—sharing new details about the film’s story and style and what audiences can expect from his much-anticipated next film.
In a separate recent preview, Collider sat down with Bird at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. There, the writer and director previewed the first seven minutes of Ray Gunn. In that conversation. Bird described how the adult animated movie evolved over the 30 years he’s held on to the dream of seeing it made. tracing its path from a 2D animated tale to using the tools available today.
His goal now is to make the animation feel closer to something live-action. Ray Gunn, set to premiere on Netflix on December 18, follows private detective Raymond Gunn—voiced by Sam Rockwell—as the last human detective in a futuristic world where humans and aliens coexist.
The story unfolds in Metropia, a megacity inside an alternate 1939 universe, where ‘40s noir sensibilities collide with sci-fi. Gunn takes on a case that pulls him into a murder mystery—and into the gravitational pull of multimedia star Venus Nova, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
The panel details are still forming, and Collider is urging attendees to watch SDCC’s schedule updates for the time, location, and date of “Brad Bird: My Cinematic Journey,” which will be announced soon.
For fans who’ve followed Bird’s work for decades, the appeal here is simple: the man behind iconic worlds is bringing his next one closer—first in a short preview at Annecy, and now on the SDCC stage, where the countdown to December 18 can finally start to feel real.
Brad Bird SDCC 2026 Ray Gunn Netflix Sam Rockwell Scarlett Johansson The Iron Giant The Incredibles Ratatouille Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol Skydance Animation Annecy International Animation Film Festival Steven Weintraub Collider
Ray Gunn on Dec 18?? finally something good to watch I guess
I saw “adult animated” and immediately thought it was gonna be like The Incredibles but with aliens?? also SDCC tickets are like impossible so of course they tease it.
Wait so this Brad Bird panel at Comic-Con is about the Iron Giant guy, right? I’m confused why they said preview at Annecy for “first seven minutes” like that’s already the whole movie… and Sam Rockwell as a detective??? that sounds kinda random but I’m interested.
Honestly I don’t get the hype. Didn’t he do Ghost Protocol like… what 10 years ago? And now Netflix is dropping Ray Gunn December 18 like it’s gonna be some noir masterpiece. Also Metropia inside an alternate 1939 universe sounds like something they’re gonna explain badly in the first 5 minutes, so we’ll see. I hope Scarlett Johansson being in it means more than a voice cameo though.