Why There Are No Female Minions

There’s a reason all the heroes in the new Despicable Me spin-off are male.

Minions, which is on track to earn $100 million in its opening weekend, stars a female villain and an all-male cast of yellow, pill-shaped heroes.

It’s unusual for a movie to rely so heavily on a cast of males, but Minions creator Pierre Coffin says it’s thanks to their general cloddishness.

“Seeing how dumb and stupid they often are, I just couldn’t imagine Minions being girls,” Coffin told TheWrap.

The creatures can’t reproduce or divide themselves, Coffin has said — and maybe that’s a good thing.

[TheWrap]

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock stars as Scarlet Overkill, an ambitious supervillain.

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm voices Herb Overkill, the supportive husband of supervillain Scarlett Overkill.

Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton voices Walter Nelson, a well intentioned husband and father of a family of bank robbers on a road trip to Villain-Con in Orlando.

Allison Janney

Allison Janney plays Madge Nelson, Walter’s wife and matriarch of their family of bank-robbers.

Pierre Coffin

Director Pierre Coffin reprises his role as the voices of the minions that he also played in Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2.

Read next: This Is How Minions Took Over the World

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