Despite winning the hearts of moviegoers all over the world, Sandra Bullock does have a bad side. She proved she can be a hardass in The Proposal, though her tough exterior quickly crumbled away to reveal a soft spot. However, for the Despicable Me prequel Minions, the Oscar-winning actress is getting down with her bad self as supervillain Scarlet Overkill. And the first look at her animated character has hit the web.
USA Today revealed the first photo of the villain the little Twinkie-looking minions will be serving in their first spin-off feature film. These lil’ guys always seek to serve the worst criminals known to man, and the producers of the film call her "a dangerously charming woman" with a "lethal uppercut." Of course, because it’s the Despicable Me franchise and it’s Bullock playing the role, producer Chris Meledandri says that she’s still "a character you cannot help but fall in love with."
While plot details for Minions have been wrapped up tight in the past, we know a great deal more about the prequel now that we’re a few months away from its July 1 release. The film takes place in the late 1960s, a time where the doting housewife served as the quintessential image of womanhood. Even in this dark time for feminism, however, Scarlet stands on top. Her husband and fellow villain Herb, voiced by Mad Men star Jon Hamm, is so doting of her that he took her last name in their marriage.
As we’ll see earlier in Minions, our favorite bumbling band of misfits have been serving villains since the dawn of time, but they’ve been accidentally caused the destruction of all their previous masters: Egyptian pharaohs, Napoleon, Dracula and even a T-Rex. After hiding out underground for generations, Kevin, Stuart and Bob head out in search of a new master, but what they find is an evil mistress. Based on their track record, Mrs. Overkill should watch her step with these little ones. According to USA Today, Overkill is also the one who introduces the minions to all the high-tech gadgets and weaponry, including lava guns and hypnotizing helmets.
This new supervillainess of Minions seems like Universal’s answer to the demand for more female-driven characters. While Despicable Me 2 did have Kristen Wiig teaming up with Steve Carell’s Gru as secret agent Lucy, another female character wasn’t treated so well. Shannon, the one Gru goes out on a date with, is depicted as a leopard print-wearing floozy who’s is not only drugged during dinner but whose passed out body is physically flung around before being disposed at her house. The whole scenario was played out as comedy. Still, we hope Overkill will do better in this department.
