Minions: The Rise Of Gru Clip: Otto Feels The Need For Speed

For over a decade, the world has been forced to bend to our horrific pop culture overlords, the Minions. The yellow, Twinkie-shaped henchmen of reformed supervillain Gru, the Minions' popularity have made the "Despicable Me" franchise the highest-grossing animated film series in history. In addition to the feature films, the "Despicable Me" franchise includes 14 short films, a television special, several video games, a theme park attraction at Universal Studios, and for some reason all of the cringey memes your Great Aunt shares on Facebook about wines and Covid vaccines.

As the series heads toward its fifth installment, the sequel to the spin-off prequel (yes, you read that correctly) "Minions: The Rise of Gru," tells the story of a 12-year-old Gru in the suburbs hatching a plan to become evil enough to be accepted into the supervillain group known as the Vicious 6. If this sounds like the plot of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog" but from the perspective of a child, it's because that is exactly what it sounds like. Gru's interview doesn't go well, so he and the Minions steal a precious stone from them and wind up the enemies of the apex of evil. Now, Gru and the Minions must look for help from an unlikely source: the former leader of the Vicious 6, the dastardly Wild Knuckles.

Universal Pictures has released an exclusive first look at "Minions: The Rise of Gru," centered on everyone's favorite Minion, Otto.

Otto's off on the world's most epic tricycle journey, leaving the suburbs behind and going cross-country through the rain, under ponds, between the forests, alongside a stunt driver riding a motorcycle, and flying through the air off a massive ramp across the Grand Canyon. Otto isn't the only one on a journey, as the clip also shows fellow Minions Kevin, Stuart, and Bob on adventures of their own, including flying a plane, DJ'ing a party, disguising themselves as farm animals, controlling a trolley, and training in a dojo. The slapstick comedy is well on display, so prepare to watch this 500x once your little ones get their hands on it.

Steve Carell returns as Gru as well as Pierre Coffin as the voice of the Minions. Joining them are Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, Alan Arkin, RZA, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand, and Julie Andrews.

"Minions: The Rise of Gru" is set to debut in theaters on July 1, 2022. There's no word yet on streaming availability, but we'll keep you updated as the release date creeps closer.