Forgive me if this has been pointed out before, but after watching Despicable Me 3 I cannot ignore the very real probability that Marlena Gru (Gru’s mom) was a villainess.
Now obviously this is going to involve some spoilers to explain, so now that I have given you a fair warning please read at your own peril:
How do you think his parents met? I mean, what kind of woman do you think a successful supervillain would have settled down with, anyway? Remember that they were married, not just dating.
Gru canonically becomes a supervillain because of her. Whether he did so to emulate or to spite her is another story, but having not known about his father it’s unlikely that he chose that route for his father’s sake.
And before you argue that one, let me point out that I distinctly remember Gru talking to her on the phone in the first movie, saying something like “I’m planning something very big, and you’re going to be proud of me!” He’s talking about the moon heist. If she didn’t know he was a villain, and that he was responsible for the heist, then she would have no reason to be proud of him for it. Conclusion? She not only knows Gru is a villain, but Gru has some reason for believing that evil deeds will make her proud.
She’s freaking rich. In DM3, Gru visits her house. It’s huge. It has a big swimming pool. And she’s hired swim instructors for more or less the sole purpose of being her eye candy. I doubt retirement homes are that nice, and I sincerely doubt she got all that money from Gru. Remember that the first movie deals with Gru’s bank problems... He hasn’t had money in a long time by this point, and he’s certainly not paying her now. Honestly, she’d probably take his money if he offered, but I imagine it’d be more to teach him a lesson than anything. I don’t think she’d be happy about it. Now where did she get all this wealth, I wonder?
(Well, I suppose it’s possible that she inherited it from Gru’s dad when they divorced, but I would think a villain would be smarter than to allow something like that to happen.)
It would explain why she’s never proud. Sure, he built a functional rocket... but she’s probably built her own missiles and whatnot before. Big deal. The only thing special about it is the fact that he did it at such a young age... and she probably attributes that to her own genes.
She’s cruel. I mean, evil cruel. I imagine she sees a lot of Gru’s dad in him and it angers her, which could be one reason why she’s so unsupportive.
...Which could be why she shows pride only AFTER he finds something else to do with his life besides villainy. Maybe she was upset that he followed in his parents’ footsteps?
You know who her attitude reminds me of? Vector’s dad. You know, Mr. Perkins, at the bank? The guy who smiles at his son’s picture when no one is looking, then proceeds to yell at his son in person like one minute later? Yeah. That guy. They both kind of have that “I love you but I can’t tell you I love you or this world is going to chew you up and spit you out” vibe. Also a “You should really just leave it to me to set your life up for you otherwise you’re going to muck it up and get yourself hurt you don’t know what’s best for you” vibe.
(^ Do I think this makes them shippable? No. Honestly they’d probably hate each other. But I do like the idea of Gru and Vector being forced into an uncomfortable siblinghood. So... Eh.)
