The One Thing About Despicable Me's Gru That Makes No Sense

We bet Illumination thought they were so smart. We bet that they thought they could shake their jabbering little, banana-obsessed minions at us and we wouldn't see one of the most egregious plot holes and inconsistencies in their billion-dollar franchise happening in every single film. Well guess again, folks! Not even an earworm-level Pharrell song can drown out a huge issue involving the franchise's leading villain-turned-hero, Gru (Steve Carrell), that doesn't make a lick of sense. That's right — we're talking about how his age varies throughout the "Despicable Me" timeline.

After four films and two spin-offs (the latest being the generally well-received "Despicable Me 4"), one dedicated viewer of the "Despicable Me" franchise took to the internet to highlight just how bonkers the films have been in handling the age of Carrell's turtleneck-loving legend, and the results will astound you (maybe). U/charladoo on r/Movies argues that Gru and his age have moved all over the place since he made his big screen debut in 2010, and the study that was conducted to confirm it certainly deserves some recognition.

"In the first 'Despicable Me' when Gru is adopting the girls it says that he was born in 1960 which would put his age at 64. In 'Despicable me 4' it says he is in the high school class of 1985, assuming he was 17 when he graduated from high school then he would put his age at 57." The math mix-up doesn't stop there either. Thanks to a classic '80s song, we see Gru's age continue to flit about through the rest of the films.

Upon further investigation into the mystery of Gru's age, u/Charladoo revealed that the franchise's frontman's actual birth date becomes even more convoluted thanks to Boy George and his former band, Culture Club. "In 'Despicable Me 4' Gru says that he stole the crown when he was 11, he stole the crown in 1976 which means that he is 59," they explained. "In 'Despicable Me 4' it is stated that when Gru was in 9th grade he sang the song Karma Chameleon was the talent show. It is later stated in the flim that 'Karma Chameleon' was popular at the time he sang it which means Gru most likely sang in the year it was released,1983 assuming that he was 14 in 1983 that would mean that he would be 55 today."

As the main character of a franchise that is now worth $5.3 billion, it feels time will forever remain on the side of Gru, his family, and the rest of his babbling army that brought dungarees back in style through their audience-pleasing antics and indecipherable-yet-hilarious language. Given that the last film was about adding yet another child to the litter, perhaps "Despicable Me 5" will finally see Gru settle down and spend the film figuring out just how many candles to put on his birthday cake before a slow version of "Happy" plays in the background.

Want to dive even deeper into "Despicable Me" lore? Here's some things (besides Gru's age) that only adults would notice in "Despicable Me 4."