‘Shrek 5' Featured Only 1 of Shrek’s Kids — What Happened to the Others?

Many Shrek fans became believers again when another iteration of the ogre-friendly franchise was announced to be released. The fifth Shrek movie, which has yet to receive an official name, reunited fans with many of fan-favorite characters, including its eponymous star, played by Mike Myers, Fiona (Cameron Diaz), and, of course, it isn’t a party without Donkey, voiced by no other than Eddie Murphy.

Shrek 5, as fans have affectionately named it, also introduced an older version of a familiar character. The trailer confirmed that Zendaya signed on to play the couple’s daughter, Felicia.

While seeing Zendaya in the Shrek 5 lineup elated fans, her presence also raised concerns about Shrek and Fiona’s other children. In Shrek Forever After, the green lovers had three babies: Fergus, Farkle, and Felicia. So, did Shrek kick his children out of his swamp? Let’s get to the bottom of this — for the children!

Shrek and Fiona’s three kids played a significant role in Shrek the Third and Forever After. When they weren’t present for Shrek 5, fans had no choice but to make up several conspiracy theories about why their children were noticeably missing. The theories turned dark pretty quickly, with one fan suggesting on Reddit that Fergus and Ferkle were victims of a sinister ogre tradition referenced in Shrek The Third.

In the film, Shrek mentions that ogres tend to eat their children and jokingly recalls when his father attempted to eat him by giving him “a bath in barbeque sauce" and putting an apple in his mouth (via The Direct). Fans wondered if there may have been some truth to Shrek’s jokes, proving the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Some fellow users entertained the theory, while others jumped to Shrek’s defense, stating nothing we’ve seen of him in the previous films suggests he could eat his kids.

“Do you really think Shrek strikes you as the kind of guy that would eat his children?” one fan asked, with another snarkily replying, “It was a hard winter.”

Between the bleak assumptions about Shrek’s family, other fans had more kid-friendly and practical reasons why all of his children weren’t in the Shrek 5 trailer. One fan theorized that we could see the other kids in the film, noting that the trailer released in March 2025 was likely to be purposely centered around Zendaya.

“I keep on seeing this complaint,” the Reddit user wrote of Shrek and Fiona’s other kids’ absence in Shrek 5. “They're not going to show every character that will be in the movie in the teaser. Zendaya was just the big star in the cast, so they had to show her off, and the boys were less important. They didn't just forget them.”

“If they don't actually show up in the movie, you have the right to crucify me,” they added.

The fan’s theory sounds more like the truth, especially since the voice actors for Fergus and Farkle, as the film’s IMDb states, only lists Mike, Cameron, Eddie, and Zendaya as cast members. However, we can’t imagine a Shrek movie without Antonio Banderas’s Puss In Boots. Still, he has yet to sign on to the new Shrek film.

Shrek 5 is expected to be released in December 2026.