Entertainment

Guide: Despicable Me 4’s new characters joining Gru’s family

In cinemas starting July 3

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Universal Pictures’ Despicable Me 4 is showing in cinemas starting July 3, 2024. By now, viewers already know that it’s going to be about Gru’s growing family and an old nemesis.

But the latest installment of the film franchise will not only welcome Gru Jr. and Maxime Le Mal. The main protagonist will encounter new characters, giving audiences a lot to ponder as they progress with the movie’s main storyline. Here’s a quick guide for some details about all of them.

Maxime Le Mal

Voiced by Emmy winner Will Ferrell, Le Mal is Gru’s high school nemesis. After Gru embarrasses Maxime by having him arrested at their class reunion, the latter has just carried out with a revenge plot. This will include kidnapping Gru’s youngest child to make it complicated for him and his family.

Valentina

Meanwhile, Valentina (Sofia Vergara), is Maxime’s femme fatale girlfriend and sidekick. She joins Maxime on his ship for his mission to destroy Gru’s family.

Poppy Prescott

While Gru goes undercover to protect his family from the vengeful Le Mal, the Anti-Villain League (AVL) relocates them to Mayflower. The organization also gives all of Gru’s family members new identities. Will in this high-end village, Gru meets Poppy (Joey King), a mysterious teenage neighbor who apparently dreams of becoming a supervillain. She quickly identifies Gru, and threatens to blackmail him. How will the villain-turned-good guy and father four handle this mess?

Perry and Patsy Prescott

Joining Poppy is her father Perry (Stephen Colbert). He owns Prescott Motors, and is married to his socialite wife Patsy (Chloe Fineman). Gru and Lucy Wilde will have to interact with the well-off couple to blend in while in Mayflower.

Mega Minions

Lastly, while Gru and his family are living an under-the-radar life, the AVL has enlisted five minions to receive superpowers, turning them into Mega Minions. Mega Dave has the power of super strength. Mega Tim can stretch over a mile long. Moreover, Mega Mel can unleash an unstoppable laser blast. Then there’s Mega Gus who can fly and Mega Jerry who has assumed the shape and indestructible nature of a boulder. Will they be able to affect Le Mal’s evil plans?

Entertainment

Prime Video unveils Philippine slate: More originals, licensed titles

1st ever local slate announcement graced by stars

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Prime Video unveiled seven Filipino Prime Original series and more licensed and exclusive content to look forward to during the streaming platform’s first-ever local slate announcement in the market.

Additional titles are likewise coming to Prime Video — including new Korean shows — as well as the live broadcast of the NBA Playoffs and Finals 2026.

The launch event was graced by some of Philippine showbiz’s best stars, like Jericho Rosales, Marian Rivera, Sharon Cuneta, Barbie Forteza, Kim Chiu, Joshua Garcia, Angelica Panganiban, Zanjoe Marudo, Ivana Alawi, Janine Gutierrez, and more.

The lineup marks a significant expansion of Prime Video’s investment in the Philippines. This includes collaborations with network giants ABS-CBN and GMA, for premium storytelling that spans drama, politics, suspense, romance, crime, and comedy.

Part of the slate available on Prime Video are:

  • Linlang
  • Saving Grace
  • The Silent Noise
  • Love Is Never Gone
  • The Loyalty Game
  • Honor Thy Mother
  • Kopino
  • Behind Closed Doors

A new season of Last One Laughing Philippines, featuring Vice Ganda, will also be available soon.

Meanwhile, these exclusive licensed Filipino films are joining the lineup:

  • Samahan ng mga Makasalanan
  • Gabi ng Lagim
  • Bayaniverse trilogy: Quezon, Heneral Luna, Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral
  • Bar Boys: After School
  • Open Endings

Global hits, K-dramas, and anime titles available or soon to be on the streaming platform include:

  • The Boys
  • Fallout
  • The Summer I Turned Pretty
  • GOOD BOY
  • Marry My Husband
  • A Love Other Than Yours
  • Final Table
  • Nine to Six
  • Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX
  • Demon Slayer

Viewers can avail of a Prime Video subscription for as low as just PhP 149/month — a great value given all the local and foreign content available to stream on the platform.

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Entertainment

Godzilla Minus Zero trailer teases the kaiju’s arrival in New York

The movie premieres in November.

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Godzilla Minus One was one of my favorite movies in 2023. Only the second live-action Godzilla in the ongoing Reiwa era, Minus One reintroduced the Japanese version of the legendary kaiju to contrast the blockbuster approach of the American Legendary Pictures franchise. Now, the award-winning movie is getting a sequel: Godzilla Minus Zero.

Set as a direct sequel to the 2023 film, Godzilla Minus Zero takes place in 1949, a few years after the events of the past movie. As the end of the last film portends, the eponymous monster survives the catastrophic attack against it. But as to how it survived and what it’s targeting next, we’ll just have to wait and see.

In a newly released teaser trailer, Minus Zero will once again feature the return of the previous film’s Koichi and Noriko. The latter of which is still sporting the scars of surviving Godzilla’s attack on Ginza. Koichi, however, finds himself back in the cockpit of a fighter plane to unknown purposes.

That’s not all. Godzilla is apparently ditching the Pacific Ocean for the Atlantic. In a brief scene that will surely become iconic as time goes by, the kaiju traipses gingerly but menacingly past the Statue of Liberty.

Thankfully, it’s not a long wait before we find out what the world’s favorite kaiju is up to this time. Godzilla Minus Zero will premiere in Japanese cinemas on November 3 and American cinemas on November 6.

SEE ALSO: Godzilla Minus One is now on Netflix

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Entertainment

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse gets first stills ahead of 2027 release

Miles races against time

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April 2026 new stills | Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
All Images C/O: "Columbia Pictures"

Sony Pictures Animation has released new stills for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. It offers an early look at the highly anticipated conclusion to its Spider-Verse trilogy. The film is set to arrive in Philippine cinemas in 2027.

Miles Morales returns for the final chapter of Sony’s Oscar-winning animated saga, following the events of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. This time, he finds himself hunted by Miguel O’Hara and the Spider Society. This forces him to navigate the farthest reaches of the multiverse to find a way home.

Written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham, the film centers on a race against time. Miles must save not just his family, but the fragile balance of the Spider-Verse itself.

Closing out the Spider-Verse trilogy

The Spider-Verse series began with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which introduced audiences to a multiverse of Spider-People and redefined animated superhero storytelling with its bold visual style. It went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Its sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, expanded that concept further, introducing the Spider Society—a vast network of Spider-heroes led by Miguel O’Hara—and ending on a cliffhanger that set up Miles’ most personal and high-stakes journey yet.

A multiverse under pressure

In Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, Miles is pushed into the darkest corners of the multiverse. Betrayed by allies and pursued across dimensions, he must confront what it means to be Spider-Man while trying to hold together the people and realities he cares about most.

The film delivers the emotional and narrative payoff to a trilogy that blends coming-of-age storytelling with multiversal stakes—closing out Miles Morales’ arc in what Sony Pictures Animation promises is its most ambitious chapter yet.

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse opens in Philippine cinemas in 2027.

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