The film sees reformed supervillain and secret agent Gru relocate his family to a safe house when his old rival Maxime Le Mal seeks revenge.

Heitor Pereira and Pharrell Williams returned from previous installments to compose the score and write original songs and themes, respectively.

Despicable Me 4 debuted at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on June 9, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 3.

Assuming new names and identities as part of a witness protection program, Gru is a solar panel salesman, and Lucy is a hairdressing stylist.

In their new well-off residential town, Gru and his family meet their neighbors, the Prescotts: parents Perry and Patsy and their teen daughter, Poppy.

She blackmails Gru into blowing his cover unless he helps her pull off a heist to steal Lycée Pas Bon's mascot, a honey badger named Lenny, so she can enroll there.

To show their reconciliation, the pair performs "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" for the prisoners, which include several of Gru's past adversaries, while Poppy enrolls at Lycée Pas Bon.

[8][10] Cameos at the end of the film include several returning villains like Vector, El Macho and Balthazar Bratt with Jason Segel, Benjamin Brat and Trey Parker reprising their roles respectively.

[15] In January 2024, it was announced that The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) executive producer Brett Hoffman and Daurio had been added as co-producer and co-writer, respectively.

[17] The filmmakers aimed to delve deeper into the film's many aspects to have a "proper balance" in the story, since Minions: The Rise of Gru was delayed in July 2022.

The filmmakers researched initial concepts of the idea,[20] taking inspiration from the Marvel Comics team Fantastic Four and the Pixar film The Incredibles (2004).

[21][22] To differentiate the Mega Minions and give them a "fresh interpretation", Renaud wanted to avoid similarities to the large number of media related to superheroes, so he considered them as having "[t]heir incompetence and their Minion-esque qualities".

[17] In January 2024, it was announced that Carell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Pierre Coffin, and Steve Coogan would return to reprise their respective roles as Gru, Lucy Wilde, Margo, Edith, the Minions, and Silas Ramsbottom, while Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofía Vergara, Stephen Colbert, Chloe Fineman, and Madison Polan (replacing Nev Scharrel who in turn replaced Elsie Fisher) would join the voice cast, respectively voicing Maxime Le Mal, Poppy Prescott, Valentina, Perry Prescott, Patsy Prescott, and Agnes.

[28] The trailer features the songs "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses and "Maneater" by Hall & Oates, as well as in television showings, "Through the Fire and Flames" by DragonForce.

CBR reported that the trailer showcased "the struggles of welcoming in a new member of the Gru family" and included the debut of Will Ferrell's Maxime Le Mal.

[29] An additional trailer was revealed on February 11 during Super Bowl LVIII, being narrated by Jon Hamm, who previously voiced Herb Overkill in the 2015 spin-off film Minions, and featuring cameos by Ferrell and Steve Carell.

[31] Brennan Kline of Screen Rant appreciated that the clip solidified the "important element" of Gru's domestic family man status in the sequel.

Journalist Diego Peralta pointed out a sequence in which one of the super-powered minions destroys a part of their base with laser vision and said that villains Maxime and Valentina "are more dangerous than any threat Gru has faced before.

Physical copies contain behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, recreational activities, an overview of the franchise's adversaries, and two short films—Game Over and Over and Benny's Birthday.

The website's consensus reads: "Fast paced and teeming with slapstick gags, Despicable Me 4 is as overstuffed as a piñata but full of enough candy to give audiences an enjoyable sugar rush.

"[56] A similar appraisal can be found in Screen Rant,[57] as well as in The Hollywood Reporter, observing, for example, the underdeveloped role of the villain in the midst of the various plot lines: "Running a brisk 95 minutes, Despicable Me 4 doesn't leave enough time for Maxime to enact his plans in a way that packs an emotional punch.