Emily Blackwood is a writer and editor at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2023. Her work has previously appeared in National Geographic, SELF and HuffPost.
Gru and his lovable yet chaotic Minions have been household names for over a decade. The first film, which debuted in July 2010, has led to an entire franchise of movies, spinoffs, short films, video games and even theme park attractions.
Despicable Me stars Steve Carell as the voice of everyone's favorite supervillain-turned-dad who plans to wow the world with his criminal mastery by stealing the moon. But when he develops an emotional attachment to the three sisters he adopts to help with his heist, he starts to wonder if there's more to life than nefarious deeds.
The films have not only attracted more big names to the cast -- like Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Stephen Colbert and Sofía Vergara -- but also broken some records. Despicable Me 4, the latest installment, earned $88 million during its theatrical release in July 2024. Variety reported that those earnings made it the first animated franchise to gross over $5 billion -- a level only 14 other franchises have reached.
Even though he's the protagonist, Gru is far from the main character. His loyal (and often misguided) Minions have become breakout stars of their own movies. Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment released two successful Minions spinoff films and most recently, announced that a third movie would hit the big screen in June 2027.
Looking to catch up on Gru and Minions' hilarious misadventures? Here's how to watch and where to stream every movie in the Despicable Me franchise in chronological order.
Before they found Gru, the Minions had served many evil masters -- but they were historically bad at keeping them alive. Set as a prequel to the original Despicable Me movie, Minions follows Kevin, Stuart and Bob as they venture to New York City to find their next villainous leader.
With his hired team of Minions by his side, 12-year-old Gru embarks on his dream of becoming the world's greatest supervillain. When his quest gets him kidnapped by a malevolent team of evil-doers, it's up to his newly employed yellow servants to set him free.
Audiences were introduced to Gru and his gang of Minions in 2010 with the franchise's first film, Despicable Me.
It tells the story of a supervillain and criminal mastermind who adopts three orphaned girls -- Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) -- as part of a massive scheme to steal the moon. But when they start to see him as a father figure, Gru must decide between his life of crime and his new role as dad.
In this 2013 sequel, Gru has officially retired from villainy and is now a devoted father to Margo, Edith and Agnes. Still, global authorities call upon him for help, and he reluctantly teams up with an undercover agent named Lucy Wilde (Wiig) to identify a mysterious criminal and recover the highly potent chemical agent they stole.
The franchise's third installment follows Gru as he discovers he has a long-lost twin brother named Dru (also voiced by Carell) who wants to collaborate on one final criminal heist. Together, the twins work to stop a scorned-child-actor-turned-villain from destroying Hollywood.
Gru and Lucy welcome a new baby boy in Despicable Me 4 -- but an old rival seeking revenge puts the whole family in danger. Forced to hide out in a safe house, Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, Agnes and Gru Jr. must keep their old identities a secret while trying to fend off the nefarious plot against them.
The fourth installment was released in theatres in July 2024 and featured new characters voiced by Vergara, Ferrell, Joey King and Chloe Fineman.