Almost seven years have passed since the last time we saw Gru and his family engaging in all sorts of shenanigans. The 2024 movie schedule is about to break that drought though, thanks to the release of Despicable Me 4 hitting theaters this summer.
While we may not have as many upcoming Marvel movies as we’re used to on the big screen, Illumination’s latest sequel has introduced a super twist to its Minions. It’s a move that sets up some interesting implications, with one especially being pleasant for Universal Orlando Resort fans. Let’s get into the mega implications of this impending four-quel.
Introducing The Mega Minions!
With what we know about Despicable Me 4 showing that Gru (Steve Carell) and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) have their hands full with baby Gru Jr., someone’s gotta help save the world. The Anti-Villain League didn’t just hire a bunch of Minions in order to enable their meme-friendly shenanigans, and Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan) seems to have a solution to this very comedic problem. Behold the Mega Minions!
Selected by Silas in the name of science and comedy, the AVL’s chief promises one of two results that could come from this very familiar looking experiment:
You will be the first to test our Super Serum, designed to turn you into cutting edge agents. Or, you might explode.
That’s a doozy of a warning label if I’ve ever heard one. And before any lawyers from Marvel Studios, Stark Industries or the United States government start to flex their filing fingers, relax. This is a “Super Serum” not a “Super Soldier Serum,” and while the pods look similar to the one Steve Rogers climbed out of in 1943, this miracle of modern medicine yields some wildly different results.
Rather than just creating a Captain America clone, the Mega Minion team of Despicable Me 4 is an Avengers-style mashup. With our featured yellow funny men embodying the powers of The Hulk, Mister Fantastic, Cyclops, The Thing, and… a vague flying bullet, this mega Marvel mashup could mean some pretty exciting theme park news could be part of everything new at Universal Orlando Resort.
Why Universal Orlando Fans Will Probably Love The Mega Minions
Universal Parks have been pretty sweet on both the Minions and the Despicable Me movies for some time. With multiple rides and character meet and greets keeping the series booming in-between rides, the Mega Minions would be a fantastic addition that’d keep things nice and fresh.
Also, with this summer marking the arrival of DreamWorks Land’s opening date, another potential usage of these new takes on classic heroes could make investing in those get-ups worth it for Universal Parks. Though I’m most proud of thinking up how Universal’s Islands of Adventure would benefit from this hypothetical addition, as it ties into a long standing issue with Marvel’s presence in the park.
While it’s not exactly that new Spider-Man ride film I think Universal Islands of Adventure could use, having the Mega Minions would be a breath of fresh banana-scented air. With these small stature superheroes clearly inspired by Marvel characters, they’d fit in perfectly with the attractions and fixtures on display in that park section.
Both campuses of Universal Orlando Resort would be able to use costumed versions of these characters to do meet and greets with young fans. Of course, this depends on how well Despicable Me 4 performs at the summer box office. We’ll see how that story pans out later this summer, as the continuing adventures of the Gru Crew is slated to hit theaters on July 3rd.
For those of you looking for Minion mayhem of yesteryear, most of the Despicable Me franchise is available for easy streaming, through the power of Peacock subscription.