Despicable Me Director Clarifies Possible Female Minions & Their Immortality

Minions & Monsters and Despicable Me director finally clears up Minions lore.

Minions & Monsters is the most recent installment of the titular franchise. It is the third film in the Minions prequel movie series and the seventh chapter in the overall Despicable Me franchise. It stars Pierre Coffin, who also directed the movie, as the voices of the Minions alongside a star-studded cast. The lineup features Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, Phil LaMarr, and Trey Parker.

The new movie Minions & Monsters has re-opened a few questions regarding the origins of the iconic animated species. Among the biggest mysteries are whether Minions can die, if there are any female Minions, or how they reproduce. And, in a new interview with The Guardian, Coffin answers all of the above.

According to Coffin, Minions are immortal. Rather than aging and eventually dying like humans, they simply continue to live on. That explanation fits with what audiences have seen throughout the films, where the same characters have appeared in multiple time periods without showing any signs of growing older.The Guardian

While the franchise doesn’t currently have any known female Minions, the idea of introducing them isn’t completely off the table. The director explained that he believes Universal would like to do it one day. However, he added that he personally didn’t think it would be a good idea because if he were a woman, he would see it more as a token tossed his way to appease him more than anything else.

He even went as far as to say that bringing female Minions into the franchise would be “the beginning of the end.” But, at the moment, Coffin said that there aren’t any solid plans to do it. However, he’s also not saying that it will never happen in the future, because the franchise will continue to grow and, if the opportunity arises, female Minions could be brought in.

Additionally, the director revealed that the thought had crossed his mind before. One idea he had involved the Minions discovering an island inhabited by another group that consisted entirely of female Minions. However, that storyline didn’t go very far and was ultimately abandoned.

When asked about how the creatures reproduced, Coffin’s answer was very straightforward, they didn’t. Instead of offering an explanation, the director said that there isn’t one and the creatures just exist. His response was baffling but at the same time very fitting for the hilarious nature of the massive franchise.

Minions & Monsters is playing in theaters now.