Two highly popular animated movies featuring the voice of Steve Carell will be leaving Netflix next month. The first Despicable Me film was released in 2010 and became a global phenomenon due to its heartwarming story and adorable henchmen, the Minions, who later spawned their own successful movie series. A sequel to the film found even greater success.
Despicable Me 1 and 2 are leaving Netflix next month
Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 will not be part of Netflix’s catalog starting Wednesday, April 1, 2026 (via What’s on Netflix).
The story of the franchise begins with a supervillain named Gru as he adopts three orphan girls. He aims to use them in his scheme to bring down another villain named Vector, who stole his plans to steal the moon. Eventually, Gru becomes attached to the girls and later saves them from Vector with the help of his yellow, pill-shaped henchmen, the Minions.
In the sequel, secret agent Lucy asks Gru, who’s retired from villainy, to retrieve a powerful mutagen. However, during their investigation, he believes that a Mexican restaurant owner is El Macho, a supervillain who was thought to be dead. Gru suspects that El Macho wants to use the mutagen to take over the world.
The first Despicable Me movie debuted in theaters on July 9, 2010, followed by its first sequel on July 3, 2013. Cumulatively, the animated films have earned more than $1.5 billion at the global box office. The franchise also includes two more Despicable Me sequels and three Minions spin-offs. The third Minions film, Minions & Monsters, will arrive in theaters on July 1, 2026. The franchise as a whole surpassed $5 billion.
Spanish animator Sergio Pablos developed the original film. He co-wrote the script for the first movie with Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. The studio, Illumination Entertainment, later brought in Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud to direct it. The two returned to helm the sequel as well.
The early iterations of the script featured robots rather than Minions, per Vanity Fair. But the directors later worked with Eric Guillon, the film’s character designer, to create the pill-shaped creatures. They were inspired by the Oompa-Loompas from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and the Jawas from Star Wars (via The LA Times).
On Rotten Tomatoes, Despicable Me has an approval rating of 80%, while Despicable Me 2‘s score stands at 75%. Additionally, the second film earned two Oscar nominations.
