Despicable Me 4: The Plan For Gru’s Dastardly Return

Despicable Me 4 will release on July 3, 2024, bringing back Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, and of course, the Minions.

By Rick Gonzales

Despicable Me is now one of the most successful franchises of all time. With its nearly $4.7 billion gross, it has passed the Shrek franchise, which recently topped the $4 billion mark with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. As the Despicable Me franchise closes in on $5 billion, there have to be plans for more. Well, Gru fans, you are not going to be disappointed because Despicable Me 4 is on the way.

THE DESPICABLE ME 4 RELEASE DATE IS JULY 3, 2024

Believe it or not, it was way back in 2017 that Illumination CEO, Christopher Meledandri, said that a Despicable Me 4 film was in development. We hadn’t heard much since that time, giving the feeling that maybe it wasn’t truly going to happen. In fact, it wasn’t until February 2022, almost five years later, that Universal and Illumination finally announced that yes, Despicable 4 is on the way, and they gave it a release date of July 3, 2024.

DESPICABLE ME 4 WILL FOCUS ON GRU’S FAMILY

Where Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, and Agnes go in Despicable Me 4 is being kept under lock and key. Well, for the most part. Steve Carell, who has voiced Gru in each animated feature, actually let slip a few plot details when he spoke to Digital Spy.

“It’s a continuation of the story. Gru and Lucy are married; they’re a family at this point. It’s the next step in their world with the Anti-Villain League and how their kids are included in the whole process,” he said.

So, now it appears crime-fighting will be a family affair. Of course, seeing his girls get involved with anything remotely dangerous goes against the fatherly Gru, but the “bad boy” side of the once ultimate bad guy may see things a little differently. No doubt it is going to be a fun ride.

THE DESPICABLE ME VOICE CAST

More to the point, four actors have been confirmed to reprise their roles for Despicable Me 4. These include Steve Carrell as Gru and joining him is Kristen Wiig as the voice of his wife, Lucy Wilde. Also returning are Miranda Cosgrove as Margo, Gru’s eldest daughter, and Steve Coogan as Silas Ramsbottom.

Of course, Despicable Me and Gru wouldn’t be what they are without those crazy Minions. Back in action is Pierre Coffin, who will return as the voice of our favorite Minions, Kevin, Stuart, and Bob. Coffin has voiced the Minions since the start to include the Despicable Me spin-offs, Minions and Minions: The Rise of Gru.

No official word has been given about who will be voicing Gru’s other daughters, Agnes and Edith. Previously, Dana Gaier had been handling the vocal duties for Edith, so there is a great chance she will return to that role.

As for Agnes, Elsie Fisher handled those duties for the first two Despicable Me films with Nev Scharrel taking over for the third film. It is highly likely that Scharrel returns for the fourth film as well.

CHRIS RENAUD IS BACK AS DIRECTOR

Back in action and sitting in the director’s chair is Chris Renaud. He is quite familiar with the franchise as he directed both the original Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. What may come as a surprise is that the script is being written by Mike White, the creator and writer of the popular, and very adult series, The White Lotus.

While it may seem like a surprise that White is handling the duties of a family fun film, he is no stranger to comedy and family fun as his writing credits include School of Rock (both film and series), Nacho Libre, The Emoji Movie, and The One and Only Ivan.

THE MINIONS ARE BACK

As mentioned, one can’t have the success of the Despicable Me franchise without the shenanigans of the Minions and undoubtedly they will play a big part in Despicable Me 4. They were such a big hit in the original and second films that they got their first spin-off in 2015 (Minions), and another in 2022 (Minions: The Rise of Gru). You can definitely expect them to be up to no good in 2024.

THE FRANCHISE HAS BEEN A MAJOR HIT

Obviously, there were high hopes when Illumination and Universal took on Sergio Pablos’ creation. The result, well the first one, was the highly successful and fun Despicable Me that cast Steve Carell as the voice of the evil but loveable Gru.

He was mean, he was despicable, and he was bent on taking over the world. He was joined by Dr. Nefarious and the always-in-trouble minions. But then three things happened to Gru all at once: Margo, Edith, and Agnes.

In the original movie, Gru took on the role of adoptive father not because he cared for the sisters but because he wanted to use them for nefarious reasons.

Unfortunately for Gru and his plans to dominate the world as the number one supervillain, the girls began to grow on him. Enough to where he started to change into what he loathed. A good person. It worked.

The second movie in the franchise saw Gru give up his life of crime and become a member of the Anti-Villain League (AVL) where he could use his knowledge of how criminals think to better catch said criminals. In this story, he is helping track a criminal with the assistance of Lucy Wilde (voiced by Kristen Wiig). Of course, Lucy becomes Gru’s love interest and they all move on to the third movie in the franchise.

The third movie follows Gru, the kids, and Lucy as both Gru and Lucy lose their jobs at the AVL for their inability to capture Balthazar Bratt, voiced by Trey Parker (South Park). Gru also finds out that he has a twin brother, Dru, who also has a past as a criminal.

The two team up to take on Bratt with the brothers eventually winning that battle. But the job lures Dru back to a life of crime, where he steals Gru’s aircraft, slaps a “D” on it for good measure, and flies off into the unknown. Both Gru and Lucy, having been reinstated to the AVL, decide to give Dru a five-minute head start before they go on the chase.

How can you not be excited about a Despicable Me 4? The combination of Gru and the Minions alone is worth the price of admission but adding in his daughters to help keep Gru on the straight and narrow (for the most part) is where the fun lies. July 3, 2024, can’t get here soon enough.

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