How Old Gru Is In Minions 2 (& The Prequel’s Timeline Explained)

Gru is young in Minions: Rise of Gru, but how old is the wanna-be super villain and how does the prequels’ timeline fit in with Despicable Me?

Minions: Rise of Gru highlights the story of Gru as a budding super villain, and his age positions him at a pivotal point in the Despicable Me prequels’ timeline. Ditching school to blast people with cheese rays, Gru and his tiny yellow friends get up to many despicable antics in Minions 2, but his real dream is to join the Vicious 6. Like a version of the Legion of Doom in the Despicable Me universe, this cohort of chaos is led by Wild Knuckles, Gru’s favorite super villain and a legend in Evildom, though his position as head horrible honcho is precarious.

Gru’s interview with the Vicious 6 doesn’t go well, and to make matters worse he’s kidnapped by Wild Knuckles, who has been freshly betrayed by his fellow supervillains for being too old to lead the team. With Minions 2′s incredible cast of voice actors, including comedy greats Steve Carell as Gru and Alan Arkin as Wild Knuckles, Gru using the opportunity to bond with his antihero is particularly hilarious, and Michelle Yeoh teaching the minions the skills to mount a rescue mission to save their “mini boss” is also a riot. Minions 2 does a lot to establish the Gru that fans know and love in the Despicable Me timeline but when does it actually fit in that timeline.

RELATED: Minions 2’s Fans Will Be Furious At Its Despicable Me Plot Hole

Gru Is 11 Years Old In Minions: The Rise Of Gru

Full of the vigor of a preteen, Gru is 11 years old in Rise of Gru (via Illumination) and doesn’t for a second believe he’s too young to join the Vicious 6. He cares more about becoming the greatest supervillain in the world than a fifth-grade book report and thinks that the Vicious 6 will give him legitimacy. Just like Minions showed the development of the minions and answered questions like why some minions have one eye or two, Rise of Gru reveals some of Gru’s earliest inventions as a supervillain, as well as some of his earliest maniacal plans.

The minions aren’t very organized and seem to be in the infancy of their own abilities (particularly Stuart, Kevin, and Bob), and Gru is at an age when he thinks he doesn’t really need the minions anymore to become a true supervillain. He learns from Wild Knuckles that the greatest supervillain of all is the one who leans on their friends and doesn’t try to do everything alone, a life lesson that young Gru takes to heart. This shows character development for Gru, and also establishes a better relationship with his minions, even if it doesn’t establish him as the misanthrope he is in Despicable Me.

When Minions 2 Takes Place In The Despicable Me Timeline

As far as when Minions 2 takes place in the Despicable Me timeline, Stuart, Kevin, and Bob witnessing Gru freeze Scarlet Overkill with a homemade ray gun at the end of Minions is the beginning of their relationship, and the sequel takes up right after they campaign to become Gru’s lackeys. Therefore, meeting Gru and then rescuing him from the Vicious 6 takes place between 1968 and 1976, but it’s not until 2012 that Gru adopts Margo, Edith, and Agnes in Despicable Me. There are several decades of unaccounted dastardly deeds for which Gru is striving to be named the world’s greatest supervillain.

With the impending release of Despicable Me 4, which sees the minions following Gru’s wayward brother after the events of Despicable Me 3, he may have to prove his villainy to win them back. There are plenty of Gru and minion shenanigans that can be explored in a sequel to Minions: Rise of Gru, however, particularly during Gru’s teenage and young adult years. At some point, the movie franchise will finally need to show how Gru goes from being a giddy 11-year-old would-be supervillain into the real deal.

MORE: Minions: Rise Of Gru’s Ending Proves We Need Another Despicable Me Prequel