There's less than a month to go until Despicable Me 4 arrives in theaters, and Illumination has released a new promo which takes a shot of Black Adam star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Warner Bros.' tax write-offs, and the MCU.
The pro wrestler and actor vowed to change the "hierarchy of power" in the DC Extended Universe with the 2022 movie, only for it to flop at the box office and bomb with critics and fans alike. From there, Johnson's plans to take over the franchise failed and he was promptly ousted when James Gunn and Peter Safran took charge of DC Studios.
As for the 100-year slate of "Mega Minions" movies, it's a tongue-in-cheek dig at Marvel Studios and its habit of revealing slates of movies and TV shows years before they're released.
It's all meant in good fun, though we're sure Johnson doesn't appreciate being made fun of in this way. He was dead serious about taking over the DCEU, going so far as to bring Henry Cavill back as Superman behind the backs of key DC Films executives. As for Illumination's shots at Warner Bros., they're arguably well-deserved.
In the first Despicable Me movie in seven years, Gru, the world's favourite supervillain-turned-Anti-Villain League agent, returns for an exciting, bold new era of Minions mayhem in Illumination's Despicable Me 4.
Following the 2022 summer blockbuster phenomenon of Illumination's Minions: The Rise of Gru, which earned almost $1 billion worldwide, the biggest global animated franchise in history now begins a new chapter as Gru (Steve Carell) and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and their girls - Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Madison Polan) - welcome a new member to the Gru family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad.
Gru faces a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Sofia Vergara), and the family is forced to go on the run.
You can watch this new promo for Despicable Me 4 below (via Toonado.com).
Despicable Me 4 also features fresh new characters voiced by Joey King (Bullet Train), Emmy winner Stephen Colbert (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and Chloe Fineman (Saturday Night Live). Pierre Coffin returns as the iconic voice of the Minions and Oscar nominee Steve Coogan is back as Silas Ramsbottom.
Packed with non-stop action and filled with Illumination's signature subversive humour, Despicable Me 4 is directed by a co-creator of the Minions, Oscar nominee Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets), and is produced by Illumination's visionary founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and by Brett Hoffman (executive producer, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Minions: The Rise of Gru).
The movie is co-directed by Patrick Delage (animation director Sing 2 and The Secret Life of Pets 2), and the screenplay is by the Emmy-winning creator of White Lotus, Mike White, and the veteran writer of every Despicable Me film, Ken Daurio.
Despicable Me 4 is set to be released in theaters on July 3.