Is Mega Minion Jerry...just the Thing?

Okay, so I'll admit that I don't get the Minions. I recognize that they're a cultural phenomenon, part of a blockbuster movie franchise, and in ten years, kids who grew up watching the characters will write academic papers on them, but my eyes just get a bit glossy every time a commercial for their latest appearance comes on. That's okay, because not everything has to be made for me, but I've generally done my best to ignore Despicable Me and any of the offshoots of the last however many years.

But when I see the Thing, I take notice, and let me tell you, the Thing appears in the new Despicable Me 4 movie that comes out...when does it come out? Soon? I'm assuming it comes out soon. The point is, one of the Minions is clearly the Thing.

Thirty seconds of searching tells me that the Thing in this movie is called Mega Minion Jerry, and that he is part of the Mega Minions, a group that forms a superhero team after gaining powers from an experiment. One of Jerry's powers is apparently the ability to eat lots of things (suspiciously also like the Thing). So, okay, we have a rocky superhero with blue overalls and a slightly lighter than orange complexion. This is the Thing.

The Minions also have a pretty good presence in the toy aisle. Your friend (and mine) Larry sent me this image from a recent shopping trip:

Jerry also, apparently, barrels things over. He clobbers them, if you will.

So the only question that remains, then, is how official is this connection? The Minions have that gobbledygook speech pattern, right? Will this one say "it's clobberin' time" or something like it? Does one of the other Mega Minions stretch? Will Jerry develop a terrible smoking habit?? Do I have to actually watch this movie to find out?!

I haven't bought any of the toys yet. I'm considering it.