In Despicable Me 4 (2024), Gru attends a reunion at his alma mater, Lycée Pas Bon, where he encounters his old rival, Maxime Le Mal. Maxime, harboring resentment from a past incident, has augmented himself with cockroach traits and plots to transform humanity into human-cockroach hybrids, starting with Gru’s son, Gru Jr. After Maxime’s escape from prison with the help of his girlfriend Valentina, Gru’s family is relocated under new identities for their safety. Meanwhile, five Minions—Dave, Mel, Gus, Tim, and Jerry—are selected for a program to become “Mega Minions” with superpowers, though their mission leads to unintended chaos.

In their new town, the family meets the Prescotts and their daughter Poppy, an aspiring villainess who blackmails Gru into assisting her in stealing the school’s mascot. This act inadvertently exposes Gru’s location to Maxime, leading to the kidnapping of Gru Jr. In a climactic confrontation, Gru rescues his son, who had been transformed into a cockroach hybrid, and, with the help of the Mega Minions, defeats Maxime. Dr. Nefario reverses Gru Jr.’s transformation, and Gru reconciles with Maxime in prison, culminating in a joint performance for fellow inmates.