I’m a lifelong Star Wars guy, but before I was swinging wrapping paper tubes around pretending I was Luke Skywalker, I was swinging wrapping paper tubes around pretending I was He-Man, “The Most Powerful Man in the Universe.”
Mattel’s Masters of the Universe ruled my toy world pretty much as soon as I had a toy world. Even though I came into the action figure line at the tail end of its existence – when it started to get real weird with Snake Men, the Evil Horde and characters like Stinkor, Mosquitor and Moss Man – I loved the variety of creatures and vehicles. The fact that there was a long-running cartoon that could help inform my toy storylines made things even better.
There have been numerous attempts to rekindle interest in the franchise following its initial boom. There was the ill-received 1987 live-action film starring Dolph Lundgren, a futuristic rebrand just a few years later, a 2002 relaunch that never quite found an audience and a controversial Kevin Smith Netflix series that killed He-Man in the first episode (he got better). Now, we have a big-budget live-action film directed by Travis Knight (Bumblebee) starring Nicholas Galitzine, Jared Leto, Cami Mendes, Idris Elba, Alison Brie and Kristen Wiig.
The teaser trailer for the film – which will release in theaters June 5 – features loads of fan service, from glimpses of characters like Trap Jaw and Mekanek to behind-the-scenes Mattel nods like an appearance from Vikor, an early concept of He-Man designed by MOTU mastermind Mark Taylor. Castle Grayskull looks exactly like how I always envisioned Castle Grayskull in my head when I was playing with the original playset, which was the coolest doll house of all time if we’re being real with ourselves.
Based on the trailer, Eternia’s He-Man, a.k.a. Prince Adam (Galitzine), is sent away from the forces of evil as a child to live on Earth, where he is ultimately reunited with his iconic Power Sword. He makes his way home to Eternia, is called to adventure and then proceeds to fight monstrous porcupines, cyborgs and, of course, skeletons. Fingers crossed for a She-Ra tease in the post-credits scene.
I like how unabashedly goofy this movie looks and, by all accounts, this should be a fun time at the movie theater. Heck, I got chills when I saw He-Man and Skeletor squaring off at the end of the trailer. But I do wonder if this franchise has what it takes to compete at the box office when even the Marvel Cinematic Universe is having a tough time packing theaters lately. After so many failed attempts to introduce this property to new audiences, is Jared Leto as Skeletor the one that will work? Regardless of how it will ultimately be received by audiences, this looks like it has the power so far.
Watch the teaser trailer for Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe below!
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