We have a new trailer today for Amazon MGM’s new live-action Masters Of The Universe movie. While not the story I would have wanted, and that’s where I’ve been the most critical, it looked good visually when they finally got off that silly dirt planet and back to Eternia where the story belongs.
Unlike the previous trailer, the focus is more on the drama and action. We have a better look at the effects, the characters, the Power Sword, and something I wanted to see for a while: a really good look at Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, not just (former) Prince Adam. We still get a joke at the end, but this one is all about the stuff we want to go to a Masters Of The Universe story for: the heroic warriors versus the evil warriors.
Does that mean it’s good? Not necessarily. It also doesn’t mean it’s bad. It just means we finally get the important part and at this point I’m out of interesting ways to pad out an intro, so let’s look at the darn thing. Sorry, homepage.
Let’s get the complaining out of the way so we can focus on the good parts. Galitzine makes a good Adam but I’m still not sold on him as He-Man. One of the few things the previous movie got right was getting someone with big muscles to play He-Man. Galitzine may have a better physique than mine, but that’s hardly a goal to achieve on his part. While the action figures (and thus the animated counterparts) has slimed down a bit over the years, he still comes up a bit short in selling the idea that he’s the most powerful man in the universe. And even though they’re ditching the secret identity idea he still looks like Adam in He-Man’s outfit, something even fans bring up about the original Filmation series and something later versions have done well in changing. The 2003 series even had “Adam” looking a bit younger and certainly weaker than “He-Man” while The New Adventures Of He-Man went so far as using different voice actors for both identities. (Interestingly, Garry Chalk went from playing He-Man in New Adventures to playing Man-At-Arms in the 2003 series.) He might be a good actor (what I’ve seen seems to be working) but his body type isn’t quite there, though unless that’s really good computer work he clearly worked out for the role.
I’m still not sold on the story. They basically gave Adam the “Bruce Wayne” treatment except left his mom alive. (It looks like they killed Randor and it’s too bad, because the dude’s stop on.) I don’t need Adam trying to liberate Eternia. I saw that in a fancomic but it was a fan story and one that tried to work the original and “New Adventures” versions of He-Man together. Both of the Netflix shows went with a similar plot, as did the DC Comics, without involving Earth and the other live-action movie had Skeletor freshly taking over Grayskull but not necessarily solidifying control of Eternia just yet. That’s all the most recent versions of this franchise. It’s becoming stuck in a rut. I’m not against it critically and it might still be an amazing story. It’s just not the origin story I want to see. Going back to the 2003 series, that origin story was almost perfect. I wish I could still show it here.
Everything else does look good, though. The costumes, even the He-Man one, both match the original figures and fit for the world they’re trying to create. I wish there was more color and sunlight, but that’s just because Hollywood seems to currently fear both. It makes sense that Earth is the brighter setting in this story. Race swap aside, Man-At-Arms’ outfit looks correct. You need to see the tie-in action figures to get a better look at them, but in the right light they do look, hero and evil alike.
Speaking of which, did I see King Hiss and an snakeman in that trailer? They’re supposed to be a fourth threat, not one of the groups on Adam’s side. Curious to see how badly they screwed that up, but the one dude running for his life from Battlecat does look like Hiss. Did he downgrade to Skeletor’s flunkie? I would have save the Snake Men for maybe the third or fourth movie. Assuming they wouldn’t just use Skeletor in a sequel, we need the Horde next with or without She-Ra. Not sure if they should bother with the Mutants from the second line unless they can come off as a real threat and not a bunch of dimbulbs easily manipulated by Skeletor.
Castle Grayskull…is growing on me. Still not sure about the structures surrounding it, but Grayskull itself is good. The Power Sword is clearly inspired by the original toy and looks like they just poured one piece of metal into a sword. It does work. I don’t recognize the vehicles off-hand, though I’ve seen suggestions that the flying spinning wheels of death were supposed to be Rotons. I’m not so sure, but I’m not an expert and I haven’t seen images of vehicles in the new movie toyline. They’re not even solicited yet.
Allegedly Dolph Lundgren, who played an Adamless He-Man in the first live-action movie, will have a cameo, like when Lou Ferrigno showed up in one of the 2000s Hulk movies (I forget which one if not both). I would like a nice tribute somehow to the late John Erwin, who voiced He-Man in the original Filmation series. There have been others since (like the aforementioned Chalk role), but he’s the original and left us in 2024, so it would just feel right to have THE He-Man voice honored.
All said, personal biases aside, it does look like it could be a really good movie. Since Hollywood is no longer worthy of the benefit of the doubt, especially after the director’s comments on Skeletor plus the Man-At-Arms race swap (at least Teela already was canonically adopted since the early years) and Adam’s friend in the ending joke of the trailer, I’ll have to be convinced this is the He-Man that fans have been wanting after what Netflix and DC both did to the character and the world of Eternia, but at least it looks like it could be a good movie in general regardless of adaptation. We’ll have to see when the movie hits theaters on June 5th.
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