The Incredibles Director’s New Movie Battles Disney’s Sequel Machine

The director of The Incredibles is back with a new animated movie that battles Disney‘s sequel machine.

Netflix has released the official trailer for Ray Gunn, a sci-fi detective story directed by Oscar-winner Brad Bird. Set in the futuristic world of Metropia in 1939, the animated saga follows Raymond Gunn (Sam Rockwell), a private eye brought into a case involving “aliens, murder, and a multimedia star named Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson).

Ray Gunn will try to buck the popular trend of animation relying too heavily on sequels from popular franchises, a strategy that Disney has implemented over the past few years.

Netflix’s Ray Gunn breaks away from the traditional Disney animated formula

Disney adjusted its post-pandemic animation strategy within its two subsidiaries: Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar. The underperformance of Strange World, Lightyear, and Wish caused Disney to greenlight more sequels to popular franchises. Inside Out 2, Moana 2, Zootopia 2, and Toy Story 5 all became billion-dollar hits. More sequels are on the way, including Frozen 3, Incredibles 3, and Coco 2.

There is nothing inherently wrong with Disney making sequels. It’s a profitable strategy that has worked. Disney will still mix in original movies as long as a sequel to a noteworthy franchise is not too far behind. But Disney and Pixar used to be the animation studios that built new franchises and pushed original stories that could transform into popular IP. That is no longer the case.

Netflix is now the studio that embraces original animation ideas. 2025’s KPop Demon Hunters won an Oscar and became Netflix’s most-watched movie of all time. While Ray Gunn likely won’t reach KPop Demon Hunters’ viewership, it’s still exciting to see Netflix embrace fresh ideas in animation, especially for adults.

Is it possible Ray Gunn doesn’t succeed? Of course. However, it’s a risk that makes sense. Bird is a two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker behind animated classics like The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Financing a new animated project from Bird is a defensible investment for Netflix.

Hollywood will always make sequels as long as they churn profits. Those aren’t going away. However, studios must invest in original projects. Ray Gunn feels like an answer to Disney’s reliance on sequels. Hopefully, it works out and paves the way for more risks in animation.

Source: Comingsoon.net