The Shrek franchise will seemingly be expanding after Shrek 5, with a beloved supporting character getting his time in the spotlight. The trailer for the long-awaited Shrek 5 dropped in February 2025, which confirmed that the movie would see a major time jump, with Mike Myers’ Shrek’s now-teenage daughter played by Zendaya.

Shrek has been delivering laugh-out-loud, fairy-tale-turned-upside-down adventures for more than 20 years, always accompanied by his fiery wife Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and most often his friends Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). While Puss has led his own successful spinoff movies, Donkey has not gotten that chance – but that is changing.

ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley spoke with Eddie Murphy for his new film The Pickup, when the conversation turned to the Shrek franchise. Murphy revealed that the voice cast is still recording Shrek 5, but that he will soon be starting work on a Donkey spinoff movie, beginning in September. Check out Murphy’s full comments below:

EXCLUSIVE: ScreenRant: I know Shrek 5 is coming out next year, and you said around this time last year that you had begun recording your lines. Are you done in the booth? Are they just doing the animation right now?

Eddie Murphy: No, they’re still doing voiceover stuff. We’re still in the booth, and literally, we’re still doing Shrek. We start in September on Donkey, we’re doing a Donkey one, and that’ll be three years from now, but we’re about two years into Shrek 5. Still in the booth and about to start Donkey in September.

ScreenRant: Is Donkey going to be a movie or a TV show?

Eddie Murphy: No, Donkey’s going to be like how Puss in Boots had his own movie, Donkey’s going to have his own movie, own little story with his dragon wife and his kids that are half-dragon and half-donkeys. They’ve written this funny story. We’re doing that, starting that in September.

What A Donkey Spinoff Movie Means For The Shrek Franchise

Shrek Is Continuing To Offer New & Hilarious Stories

Donkey’s spinoff has the potential to be a fantastic, groundbreaking addition to the Shrek franchise, especially if it features some different artistic choices, like its predecessor, the Puss in Boots spinoff series. 2011’s Puss in Boots was a solid success, grossing almost $555 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).

However, it was 2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish that really impressed people with its story and stylized 3D animation. The negative reaction to Shrek 5‘s animation style offers some feedback to DreamWorks, and they can develop the look of Donkey’s movie accordingly.

In terms of story, Donkey has been a crucial character for as long as the Shrek franchise has been around — notably, he was Shrek’s sidekick before Puss was. Telling a story where he takes on the lead role has some risks, but hopefully, it will be a clever new angle on the Shrek saga.

Our Take On Eddie Murphy’s Donkey Spinoff Movie

Donkey-Dragon Baby Chaos

The subverted fairy tale genre has been somewhat overdone since Shrek debuted in 2001, even though the Puss in Boots movies did a great job with figures like Humpty Dumpty and Goldilocks. However, what’s great about Donkey is that he is an original character, whom DreamWorks can celebrate with a solo movie.

Additionally, Donkey, Dragon, and their family of “Dronkey” babies are still one of the most bizarre things in the Shrek series. Which is why Donkey’s solo movie has the unrestricted potential to be amazingly weird. It will be a few years yet before this spinoff, and we all get to enjoy Shrek 5 first, but the future is brighter than ever for this classic character.