Did you know that the screenplay for the forthcoming animated feature film Despicable Me 4 comes to us from Mike White, best known these days as the auteur behind HBO’s extremely prestige-y wealth satire The White Lotus? This is not a joke but an absolutely true fact — and honestly, when you watch the trailer, the connection between the two properties really shows.
Here are the five ways the Despicable Me 4 trailer is flagrantly pandering to fans of The White Lotus. (Warning: Spoilers for both seasons of The White Lotus ensue!)
There’s Aquatic Peril
No one could possibly forget the Season Two finale of The White Lotus, in which Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) realizes she’s been lured onto a yacht to be killed. Similarly, in the opening moments of the DM4 trailer, one Minion is living his fantasy in a floatie when another attacks him with a pool noodle. If you’re on the water in a Mike White joint, keep your head on a swivel.
The ‘Best Mom Ever’ Is A Cute Redhead
In the first season of The White Lotus, White cast Connie Britton as Nicole Mossbacher, a Sheryl Sandberg-esque businesswoman and mother of two. Lucy Wilde (voice of Kristen Wiig), wife to Gru (Steve Carell), is also a carrot-topped matriarch, if not one whose mane is impressive enough to get written up in Southern Living.
Fathers and Sons Have Issues
Gru Jr., a new addition to the family in DM4, is apparently not impressed by his despicable father — just like Quinn Mossbacher (Fred Hechinger) in The White Lotus Season One and Albie Di Grasso (Adam DiMarco) in Season Two. Is it because Gru harbors deep resentment against his own father’s late-in-life coming-out, like Mark Mossbacher (Steve Zahn), or because Gru is habitually unfaithful to his wife, like Dominic Di Grasso (Michael Imperioli)? Maybe!
No One Respects the Help
A minion overfills a microwave with popcorn, filling an entire room and plastering himself against the door. Does Edith (Dana Gaier) care? No, she blithely fills a bucket and leaves Ron to his fate, which is possible suffocation — actually quite a bit worse than whatever may happen to Season One White Lotus character Kai (Kekoa Scott Kekumano) when he gets rooked into an insurance fraud theft scheme for which he’s the only one to suffer consequences.
Unexpected Things Are Getting Stuck in Butts
Unlike the incident in Episode Five of the second season of The White Lotus, this one is probably safe for your kids to witness.