Spoilers for Megamind will be unmarked. You Have Been Warned
Megamind vs The Doom Syndicate is a 2024 Peacock original film, and the sequel to the 2010 film Megamind.
Taking place two days after where the first movie left off, Megamind, thrust into his new role as the hero of Metro City, finds the job a bit more difficult than expected. His minion wants a promotion, Roxanne tells him heroes aren't allowed to blow up buildings for some reason, and, to make matters worse, Megamind's old villain buddies come to town, thinking his recent heroism is all a ploy to take over Metro City once and for all (and they want in)!
The film was released on March 1, 2024, acting as the Pilot Movie for a TV series, Megamind Rules!, released on the same day.
The film provides examples of:
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In the Megamind: Ultimate Showdown video game where they made their first appearance, the Doom Syndicate were formed by Hal/Tighten to take revenge on Megamind, well after the latter had already undergone his Heel–Face Turn. In this version, Megamind himself is the Syndicate's former leader and worked with them when he was still a villain some time before the events of the first film, while Hal is not involved in any way. The members of the Syndicate itself are also completely different.
- Adaptational Dumbass: While Megamind was always a bit of a Ditzy Genius, the "genius" part tended to outweigh the "ditzy" part. In this movie Megamind seems completely dependent on Chum and Roxanne to take care of him, bumbles around in fights and his inventions malfunction on the regular.
- Abnormal Ammo: To fight the Doom Syndicate, Megamind and Roxanne use weapons that fire tennis balls.
- Ascended Fangirl: Keiko Morita starts the movie off as the head of Megamind's fan club, but as the movie goes on, she gets to fight crime alongside Megamind himself and is eventually taken on as his protégé.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Right after the Doom Syndicate breaks out of prison, Megamind contacts Roxanne in a panic, claiming his life is in danger. Roxanne arrives ready and armed - and it's revealed Megamind merely wanted her to tell him how to use the toaster and had no idea the Syndicate was out and about.
- When the Doom Syndicate reunites with Megamind, Pierre tells Behemoth to "let [Megamind] have it" and Behemoth raises his fists as if to crush their former leader - only to rain down a fist-full of confetti on a confused Megamind, revealing that the Doom Syndicate believe Megamind being good now is all an act and part of a super messed up evil plan.
- Bird-Poop Gag: A gag has a parakeet poop on its perch.
- Cardboard Prison: The prison that holds the Doom Syndicate apparently did not think to put the four super-powered criminals into specialized cells to neutralize their abilities or even just keep them separate to prevent them from planning an escape. When they eventually decide to break out and reunite with Megamind no one can put up any meaningful resistance to them. What makes this even more egregious is that such measures were taken for their leader Megamind in the previous movie.
- Chekhov M.I.A.: Megamind reveals that before the Doom Syndicate, he had a mentor who taught him everything about evil but they had a falling out and he went to pieces (literally). Said evil mentor, named Machiavillian, shows up as a Brain in a Jar at the end of the movie to declare himself the new leader of the Doom Syndicate and promises revenge on Megamind.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The faulty electric cage used by a Brainbot against the Go Fish Gang. Megamind uses it against the Doom Syndicate later on, but fails to fix it and it once again breaks down.
- The flash grenade Megamind gives to Keiko, which is used by her to take down Lord Nighty-Knight in the climax.
- Commonality Connection: Keiko reveals that much like Megamind, she too had a Friendless Background and acted like a "bad kid" simply because that's what everyone assumed her to be. When Megamind stopped Titan and became a hero, she was motivated to do the same.
- Didn't Think This Through: Megamind uses his Brainbot to activate a Porta-Prison on the Doom Syndicate and gloat to them about how he really is a hero and is sending them all to prison but completely forgot that that particular Brainbot had been malfunctioning at the beginning of the movie and a really annoyed Doom Syndicate is instantly set free by its glitching out.
- Facepalm: In frustration and embarrassment, Megamind facepalms when a machine intended to capture the Fish Gang doesn't work properly.
- Flanderization: Megamind was a bit of a Ditzy Genius in the original movie, with him having difficulty pronouncing certain words and a Complexity Addiction that constantly makes his plans backfire. In the sequel, this is exaggerated into him being incapable of working without Chum and not understanding that a toaster needs electricity to work.
- Forgot About His Powers: During the entire course of the film, Megamind keeps trying to find a way on how to stop the Doom Syndicate when judging by how incompetent the entire team is, he could just very easily shoot them with the Dehydration Gun but he doesn't at all, instead using it on the Fish Gang during the house warming.
- Gasp!: Played for Laughs. After learning toasters need electricity to work, Megamind gasps in shock.
- Got Me Doing It: When Megamind talks about forming the Doom Syndicate after he left villain school, Roxanne repeats his pronunciation of "shool" before correcting herself.
- Just Eat Gilligan: Throughout the majority of the movie, Megamind is constantly trying to stall the Doom Syndicate, who completely trust him, in order to figure out their plans without tipping them off to the fact that he's given up villainy. It's established that he still has the dehydration gun from the movie as he uses it to pacify a shark and, later, three criminals who were close to revealing the truth about him, making it clear that it doesn't need to cool down. The plot would be significantly cut short if Megamind simply exploits their trust to get them all alone and use the dehydration gun on them.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- Minion explains in the beginning of the film that he had to change his name after receiving a cease and desist order from the fast-food chain "Mr. Minion's Meatsicles". The character's name was indeed changed for branding reasons, albeit due to Illumination, another Universal-owned studio, having their own Minion characters.
- Megamind is surprised when Chum reminds him it's only been two days since he became the defender of Metro City, and remarks "Time certainly drags when you're a good guy", lampshading the
Sequel Gap.
- Locked Out of the Loop: The members of the Doom Syndicate had been imprisoned some time before the events of the original Megamind film. As such, they are completely unaware that Megamind has given up villainy, believing it to be part of a plan to take over the city, and greet him like an old friend as they invite him to join their next evil scheme, forcing Megamind to play along in order to figure out their plans.
- Logo Joke: The Dreamworks logo is shown as a background prop, Megamind later comes out to tells his henchmen to take the prop away.
- Maybe Ever After: After the first movie's ending implied Megamind and Roxanne might become a couple, this film makes no definitive statements on what their relationship is now. Even when Behemoth points out they have obvious romantic tension, their only answer to that is "It's complicated."
- Meaningful Echo: "It's either a paperweight or a flash grenade," said by Megamind at the start of the movie as a gag and by Keiko at the end of the movie as a Pre-Mortem One-Liner to Nighty-Knight.
- Mythology Gag: Sorta, doubles as a Development Gag: The Doom Syndicate are based off an unused group of the same name that were intended to appear in the first movie, and also appeared in its tie-in video game.
- Never My Fault: Lady Doppler blames Roxanne for her losing the weather forecaster job at their old station, but Roxanne points out she was fired because she got every single forecast wrong and also became evil.
- Previously on…: The movie starts with Megamind giving a visual recap of the first film for all his new fans.
- Put on a Bus: Near the end of the movie, the mayor vacates his post and leaves Metro City after failing to deal with the crisis caused by the Doom Syndicate. This conveniently leaves the spot open for Roxanne to take over.
- Remember the New Guy?: Roxanne instantly recognizes the Doom Syndicate when she sees them (and Lady Doppler is apparently the former weatherperson at her TV station), but had no idea that Megamind used to be part of it, much less the founding member! On top of this, Megamind also had an evil mentor that was never mentioned in the first movie, but shows up at the end as a Sequel Hook.
- Retcon: The original film implies that Megamind grew up alone and friendless, with Minion/Chum and the Brainbots as his only companions. This movie reveals that he had a group of friends in the form of the supervillain team he led, the Doom Syndicate, and teamed up with them against Metro Man numerous times.
- Smarter Than You Look: Behemoth speaks entirely in Hulk Speak and makes some dim-witted observations throughout the movie that paint him as being really dumb. But he turns out to be a surprisingly cunning strategist in the climax who nearly outwits Megamind.
- Stock Footage: Clips from the first movie are used during Megamind's "recap" of the first film.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The trailer spoils Keiko taking out Lord Nighty-Knight with the flash grenade Megamind gave her.
- Unreliable Narrator: In Megamind's recap of the first movie in the opening, the plot twist of Metroman being alive & having faked his death is not shown or mentioned at all. Not helped by the fact that he is never mentioned for the rest of the movie or the follow-up TV series until the very end of the season 1 finale, which ends up being a shock for any viewer who didn't watch the first movie or watched it too long ago & didn't remember it. For them, Megamind really did kill Metroman for good.
