All the ‘Minions’ Movies in Chronological Order

Illumination’s yellow henchmen have been causing chaos on the big screen for over a decade now, and the franchise keeps growing in directions that make it tricky to know where to start. Between prequels, sequels, and spinoffs, the ‘Despicable Me’ universe has become a sprawling, decades-spanning saga about evolution, mischief, and one particularly grumpy supervillain.

If you’re planning a marathon and want the story to actually make sense, watching in chronological order is the way to go. Here’s the complete ‘Minions’ and ‘Despicable Me‘ timeline, from the earliest Minion misadventures to Gru’s latest family drama.

Chronological Watch Order For the Minions Franchise

For anyone catching up before jumping back into theaters, here’s the full lineup in universe order. It starts with ‘Minions & Monsters’ (2026), followed by ‘Minions’ (2015), ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ (2022), ‘Despicable Me’ (2010), ‘Despicable Me 2’ (2013), ‘Despicable Me 3’ (2017), and finally ‘Despicable Me 4’ (2024).

That’s seven films spanning from the 1920s all the way to Gru’s modern family life, and each one adds another piece to how these iconic yellow creatures ended up working for the world’s least intimidating supervillain.

‘Minions & Monsters’ (2026)

The newest entry in the franchise pushes the timeline back even further than fans have ever seen. Set in 1920s Hollywood during the early years of the movie business, the film follows a new tribe of ever-evolving Minions who overwhelm a movie set and nearly take down the whole production. Their chaos accidentally makes them stars, though their fame does not last forever.

Their star quickly fades once talkies come into fashion, so the Minions try their hand at making their own monster movie. It is a fittingly ridiculous origin story for a franchise built on happy accidents. The film’s voice cast reportedly includes Pierre Coffin, Jeff Bridges, Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jesse Eisenberg, Trey Parker, and Zoey Deutch.

Placing this one first in the chronological order might surprise longtime fans, but it makes sense once you consider the decade it’s set in. It predates every other film in the series by decades, giving the Minions their earliest documented adventure on screen.

‘Minions’ (2015)

Before ‘Minions & Monsters’ existed, this was considered the true origin story, and it still functions as one within the timeline. The film opens 3.8 million years BC, tracing the creation and evolution of the Minions, a race of yellow creatures who exist to serve the most villainous master they can find. They spend eons attaching themselves to history’s worst leaders, only to accidentally cause their demise every time.

The main story eventually settles into 1968, where Kevin, Stuart, and Bob search for a new master and find the world’s first female supervillain, Scarlet Overkill, voiced by Sandra Bullock. The trio’s mission to serve her spirals into a groovy sixties adventure full of double-crosses and disasters. Critics were mixed on the film, but audiences clearly weren’t, since it scored just 56 percent on Rotten Tomatoes while still pushing past a billion dollars worldwide.

The film closes with a brief appearance from a young Gru, planting the seed for the next chapter in the timeline.

‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ (2022)

This is where Gru himself finally enters the picture, years before he becomes the scheming adult audiences met in 2010. Set in 1976, eleven-year-old Gru dreams of joining the notorious supervillain group the Vicious 6, only to be mocked when he tries to apply. Instead, he ends up crossing paths with the Minions for the very first time.

The Minions set out to rescue their new young master from the Vicious 6’s former leader, Wild Knuckles, voiced by Alan Arkin. The bond formed between Gru and his tiny yellow henchmen here becomes the emotional backbone for everything that follows in the franchise. It’s a scrappier, more personal story than the earlier prequel, and it earned solid reviews, with the film landing a 70 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

By the time the credits roll, Gru is fully on his path toward the moon-stealing villain fans first met over a decade earlier.

‘Despicable Me’ (2010)

The film that started the entire franchise jumps the timeline forward into the modern day, with Gru now a fully grown, established supervillain. Gru plots to steal the moon in a story that blends heist comedy with unexpected family drama, ultimately grossing over 540 million dollars worldwide. To pull off his scheme, he adopts three orphan girls named Margo, Edith, and Agnes, purely as pawns in his plan.

Gru’s rivalry with fellow villain Vector drives much of the plot, and his adoption of the girls sets the entire franchise’s emotional arc in motion. What begins as a cynical, self-serving scheme slowly transforms into genuine fatherhood, and the film’s mix of slapstick comedy and heart is a big part of why the franchise took off the way it did.

By the end, Gru gives up the moon entirely, choosing his newfound family over his old reputation as a world-class villain.

‘Despicable Me 2’ (2013)

Set not long after the first film, this sequel finds Gru trying to figure out what an ex-supervillain does with his life. The Anti-Villain League sends an agent named Lucy Wilde to recruit Gru, who reluctantly joins their cause to help track down whoever is behind a major heist. The mission puts him face to face with mutated Minions and a returning face from his past.

Gru eventually rescues Lucy from a dangerous villain named El Macho, and the two go on more than a hundred dates before eventually getting married. That marriage makes Lucy the new mother figure to Margo, Edith, and Agnes, rounding out Gru’s found family even further.

The film leans harder into the romantic comedy side of things while still delivering plenty of Minion mayhem for younger viewers.

‘Despicable Me 3’ (2017)

By the third mainline film, Gru’s life takes another unexpected turn when a long lost relative shows up out of nowhere. Gru discovers he has a villainous twin brother named Dru, while a new baddie named Balthazar Bratt causes fresh chaos for the Anti-Villain League. The reveal forces Gru to reckon with the villainous life he left behind.

The situation is complicated further when Gru’s own Minions grow disenchanted and abandon their boss, putting a strain on his relationship with Lucy and the girls. It’s a more chaotic entry that leans into nostalgia, particularly through Bratt’s obsession with the 1980s.

The film balances Gru’s temptation to return to villainy with his growing commitment to the family he’s built.

‘Despicable Me 4’ (2024)

The most recent mainline film picks up with Gru and Lucy adjusting to parenthood all over again, this time with a newborn son. The franchise’s sixth film adds a new family member in baby Gru Jr. and introduces a new big bad voiced by Will Ferrell. As if a new baby wasn’t enough chaos, Gru also finds himself dealing with a vengeful enemy from his past.

Gru struggles to connect with his biological son after years spent raising three adopted daughters, all while trying to stop new villains Maxime Le Mal and his partner Valentina. The family is ultimately forced into witness protection as the threat against them escalates.

With the timeline pushing forward once again, this entry currently caps off the mainline ‘Despicable Me’ story, at least until the next chapter arrives.

Now that the whole timeline is laid out from the Minions’ earliest days in Hollywood to Gru’s most recent family chaos, which era of this franchise do you think tells the strongest story?