First Trailer for 'Despicable Me' Spinoff 'Minions' Shows Minions Throughout History

When Universal debuted Despicable Me a couple of years ago they never could have expected it to be the phenomenon it turned out to be. Originally designed as a starring vehicle for Steve Carell, voicing the supervillain Gru, most popular characters to emerge were actually his little yellow sidekicks, the minions. Now you can find them everywhere: on t-shirts, as toys, in their own amusement park ride at Universal Studios, and now they've got their own movie.

Universal has revealed the first trailer for Minions, a Despicable Me spinoff that works as an origin story. Directed by Pierre Coffin and featuring the voices of Jon Hamm, Sandra Bullock, Steve Coogan, Michael Keaton, and Allison Janney, the story shows how the Minions serving evil throughout history, until finally an ambitious trio set out to find a new master. Their best prospect turns out to be Scarlet Overkill (Bullock), the world's first female supervillain.

Basically, this looks like everything fans could want from a Minions movie, and with the first two Despicable Me films grossing more than $1.5B Universal is in no hurry to change the formula. Minions opens July 10th 2015.