A new trailer has arrived for Minions: The Rise of Gru, the Despicable Me franchise prequel that has suffered a release delay of around two years thanks to the pandemic. Well, it’s finally close to hitting cinemas, so mark the date: June 23rd in Australia and July 1st in the U.S.

We head back to the 1970s and meet a 12-year-old Gru, who is again voiced by Steve Carell. Young Gru is a big fan of the supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6 and, with the help of his loyal followers, the Minions, he hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them. He gets an opportunity when the villains kick out their leader, legendary fighter Wild Knuckles (voiced by Alan Arkin). The interview doesn’t go according to plan. In fact, when Gru outsmarts them, he suddenly finds himself becoming the mortal enemy of the apex of evil.

Quite the voice cast here, including Taraji P. Henson as cool and confident leader Belle Bottom, Jean-Claude Van Damme as Jean Clawed, Lucy Lawless as Nunchuck, Dolph Lundgren as Svengeance, and Danny Trejo as Stronghold. Russell Brand reprises his Despicable Me 2 voice role as Dr. Nefario, albeit as a younger, aspiring mad scientist this time around; Michelle Yeoh voices Master Chow, an acupuncturist with mad Kung Fu skills; and Oscar winner Julie Andrews voices Gru’s maddeningly self-absorbed mom.

After directing Despicable Me 3 and Minions, Kyle Balda returns at the helm for Minions: The Rise of Gru, with Brad Ableson (The Simpsons) and Jonathan del Val (The Secret Life of Pets films) co-directing.

Take a look at the big new trailer, crafted with an edit of Eminem’s Oscar-winning hit “Lose Yourself”, below.

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