The first trailer of Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson’s 2026 sci-fi thriller Mercy was unveiled at New York Comic Con, and ScreenRant was in attendance.

The Mercy panel took place on Thursday, October 9. Pratt, co-star Kali Reiss, and director Timur Bekmambetov were all on hand, while Ferguson was not able to attend but sent a video message for the fans. The Mercy trailer played right at the top of the panel, before it was made available online.

The trailer opens with Pratt waking up strapped to a chair. Ferguson’s character appears on a screen, explaining the AI-powered judicial system in this story that serves as judge, jury, and executioner called Mercy. “Mercy keeps our city safe,” she says. As it turns out though, Pratt helped create the Mercy program, but now it is being used against him as he is accused of killing his wife. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence before he is executed.

Mercy is set to premiere in movie theaters on January 23, 2026. Watch the full Mercy trailer right here:

As Pratt shared in the panel, his character helped develop the Mercy program as an attempt to stop crime. When the movie takes place, he revealed that eight people had already been put through the program before his character is the one being strapped in.

Bekmambetov told attendees that this is a very different kind of Chris Pratt performance. “He plays a very dark and very vulnerable character. It’s a very dramatic story.” Pratt added, “You realize this is a man who may have committed this crime.”

Those at the panel at NYCC were also shown an exclusive scene between Pratt and Reis’ characters. In it, they discuss the files of the case and the crime scene over video, with the AI program recreating the crime scene.

Even though they have scenes together, Reis shared that she did not film a lot with Pratt. In many cases, they would film long takes on their own. Reis said that Pratt’s footage was often sH๏τ first, which she found helpful to see what he did with his performance.

Pratt, meanwhile, found it helpful that he was actually strapped down in the chair for long stretches, saying that created “a certain level of claustrophobia” which he found helpful for the role. Pratt still managed to get injured on set on one of the scenes where he wasn’t strapped into then chair.

The AI element of the movie was also a big point of the panel. As news around AI like Tilly Norwood and the first AI-directed movie has broken in recent weeks, Bekmambetov acknowledged the technology’s impact is having on the world, saying:

We live in a world today where AI is coming, is knocking on the door, and we don’t understand what will happen, how we’ll live in the world with it.

Still, Mercy is aiming to entertain audiences and be a worthwhile cinematic experience. Mercy will play on IMAX screens but also incorporates 3D technology. Though Bekmambetov says that it will be more like Augmented Reality (AR), teasing that “you will see how the screens [are] surrounding you.”

Again, Mercy releases in movie theaters on January 23, 2026.