It looks like things are starting to really come together for the Masters of the Universe movie from Kudo and the Two Strings and Bumblebee director Travis Knight.
First up, let’s get the synopsis out of the way:
10-year-old Prince Adam crashed to Earth in a spaceship and was separated from his magical Power Sword—the only link to his home on Eternia. After tracking it down almost two decades later, Prince Adam is whisked back across space to defend his home planet against the evil forces of Skeletor. But to defeat such a powerful villain, Prince Adam will first need to uncover the mysteries of his past and become He-Man: the most powerful man in the Universe!
UPDATED: Jared Leto cast as Skeletor in Travis Knight’s He-Man movie
Ok, so there’s a very concerning detail in that synopsis: Prince Adam AKA He-Man is on Earth… why? This seems to be a needless Superman-esque original to the character that never existed before (yes, I know his mother is from Earth) and harkens back to the fun but terrible 1980s live-action Masters of the Universe movie starring Dolph Lungren as Adam/He-Man.
The leaked images, below, seemed to confirm the Earth details, although I cannot lie, Nicholas Galitzine’s pink shirt and purple trousers are a nice nod to Prince Adam’s clothes in the original animated series and, as we’ll see shortly, the Sword of Power, which channel’s He-Man’s power, looks perfect:
On the differences, star Galitzine said of the new approach to the lore: “Look, what I will say is our version is quite different from the original animation, which we all agree was camp within its own right and worked so well for the time. But there’s been a couple of iterations, obviously since there was the Revelation version of Master of the Universe, and the comics themselves.”
He goes on: “And we’re very much treating our script as a Bible, you know. But it’s kind of amazing to hear what this show meant to a lot of people. It was really formative for a lot of people, so it’s exciting to do something that will have a nostalgia element as well as hopefully attract a bunch of new fans.”
FIRST LOOK: He-Man gets in on the multiverse action over at DC
Now, look, in recent years, fans of many franchises know that when they hear terms like ‘quite different’, ‘for the time’, ‘nostalgia element’ and ‘attract new fans’, that it’s quite likely a cause for concern and means that the thing you love is going to be bastardised and twisted beyond recognition but there IS also good reason to be excited.
The first reason is the cast.
As well as Galitzine as Adam/He-Man, we have Blade Runner 2049 and Suicide Squad’s Jared Leto as Skeletor, Firefly and Deadpool’s Morena Baccarin as Sorcess, Riverale’s Camila Mendes as Teela, Community and Scream 4’s Alison Brie and Evil-Lyn and, the one I’m most excited for, Idris Elba as Man-At-Arms. It’s a cracking cast and you’d have to imagine this cast, along with Knight’s direction – Kubo and Bumblebee were both superb – there’s something great cooking.
The second reason for excitement is the first official image of He-Man, well, part of him, revealed yesterday:
See? That image is perfect…
He-Man is a difficult one for sure; it’s one of the 1980s’ purest creations, it’s silly, it’s funny and it’s daft, but then again, so are Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja (Hero) Turtles and we all know how ingrained in our society they have become.
To do He-Man and the Masters of the Universe properly, you need to lean into the silly, the magic, the characters, you need to take a dose of Conan the Barbarian and smack it into some Ninja Turtles and sprinkle on just a dusting of Looney Tunes and you’re half-way there.
I’m really hoping that, come summer 2026, we’re getting the Masters of the Universe movie we’ve been waiting four decades for.
Thoughts? I know you have them… let me know.
Directed by Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings, Bumblebee), the Masters of the Universe reboot is set to hit theaters on June 5, 2026.
First look of Nicholas Galitzine on the set of “Masters Of The Universe” as He-Man! pic.twitter.com/UCyddp42er
— Team Taynick (@teamtaynick) February 14, 2025
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Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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