The Despicable Me franchise has always revolved around Gru, his family, and the Minions. Despite the new installments, director Chris Renaud has confirmed that the characters’ ages will never change.
Speaking to Deadline, Renaud — who directed Despicable Me 1, 2, and 4, and served as an executive producer on Despicable Me 3 — addressed the recurring question of whether Gru’s children Margo (12), Edith (9), Agnes (6), or newborn Gru Jr. would ever age.
Renaud humorously noted that they often get asked about this but have decided to follow The Simpsons‘ approach, keeping all characters frozen in time. “It’s funny, it comes up a lot. I don’t think the audience cares,” Renaud said.
“We could do a story about Margo being 18 and going to college… but we’ve taken a The Simpsons approach that nobody ages. They’re frozen in time. I’ve seen the film with an audience quite a few times and I don’t feel people are coming out and seeing it as an issue, asking, ‘Why didn’t Margo grow up?’”
What is Despicable Me 4 About?
The latest Despicable Me 4 clip features most of Gru’s Minions at the Anti-Villain League, where five of them are selected to become test subjects for a super serum experiment, transforming them into elite agents with unique powers.
The fourth installment is directed by Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage from a screenplay by The White Lotus creator Mike White and Ken Daurio.
Returning cast members include Steve Carell as Gru, Miranda Cosgrove as Margo, Kristen Wiig as Lucy, Dana Gaier as Edith, Madison Polan as Agnes, Steve Coogan as Silas Ramsbottom, and Pierre Coffin as the Minions.
Newcomers to the franchise are Will Ferrell, Sofia Vergara, Joey King, Stephen Colbert, and Chloe Fineman. The film is produced by Chris Meledandri and Brett Hoffman.
“In the first Despicable Me movie in seven years, Gru, the world’s favorite supervillain-turned-Anti-Villain League agent, returns for an exciting, bold new era of Minions mayhem in Illumination’s Despicable Me 4,” reads the synopsis.
“The film begins a new chapter with Gru and Lucy and their girls welcoming 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 and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Vergara), and the family is forced to go on the run.”
