MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2026)

By The Power of Grayskull.....

For the first time in thirty-nine years, He-Man and the other Masters of the Universe are back on the big screen!  After being sent to Earth as a young boy more than fifteen years ago to hide him from the evil Skeletor (Oscar-winner Jared Leto), Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) has finally found his sword and is returning to his homeland of Eternia to reclaim his legacy.  Of course, it gets more complicated than that as not only has much of Eternia (including Castle Grayskull where he's from) been decimated and taken over by Skeletor and his minions but Adam has to figure out HOW to use the sword and become the hero he was always meant to be.....He-Man. ;) Oscar-nominated filmmaker Travis Knight (Kubo & the Two Strings, Coraline, Bumblebee) directs this modernized adaptation of the He-Man legend which originated on a popular animated show in the '80's.  Also included in the cast are Idris Elba as Duncan/Man-At-Arms, Camila Mendes as Teela, and Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, among several others.....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Transcript

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE - 2026

Directed by Travis Knight

Starring Nicholas Galitzine, Jared Leto, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, Alison Brie, Kristen Wiig, James Purefoy, Charlotte Riley, Morena Baccarin, Johannes Haukure Johannesson, Jon Xue Zhang, Sam C. Wilson, Sasheer Zamata, and Kristen Wiig

Genre: Fantasy Adventure (Audio clip)

Masters of the Universe is just a rambunctious, sincere, and silly blast of a good time! Yes there are flaws as some jokes are repeated a few too many times with too many characters often falling over each other to deliver the next punchline. But now after more than a decade of the Marvel-ization of mass entertainment with every other one trying to be the next Thor Ragnarok (solid but overrated) or Guardians of the Galaxy (mediocre and overrated)...director Travis Knight (Bumblebee, Kubo & the Two Strings) has accomplished something a BIT more special than films like those: a pretty sharp blend of irreverence and sincerity filled with crisp, well-shot action AND most importantly....a well-matched hero and villain who are equally fun to watch. :) 

Over the past several months, it has been amusing (and somewhat understandable) to watch how exhaustively Amazon/MGM has labored to barely acknowledge the character of Skeletor in this films marketing campaign, mainly to obscure the fact that he's played by Oscar-winner (remember?) Jared Leto. Obviously Leto has become box office poison in recent years which is ironic because hiding his character in the promotion could be a major factor with this film underperforming. 🤔

And that's because his vocal performance here as the iconic villain is TERRIFIC....even better than Frank Langella's Skele-turn in the otherwise lousy '87 version. This is NOT a sympathetic villain nor someone you're supposed to empathize with - he's just a deliciously single-minded dickhead (well actually skull-head) with a fragile ego who LOVES to villain! 😆 He's very much in the tradition of '90's villains like Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) or Dustin Hoffman's Captain Hook (Hook.....NOT a fan of that movie but Hoffman kills it). He's almost Dr. Evil-like with his propensity to cackle but he does still come off as sufficiently menacing on-screen and just LOOKS great too. (I don't believe it's Leto inhabiting the costume/performance capture on-screen but I could be wrong.) 

And UNLIKE both aforementioned '90's films, fortunately Skeletor is not squaring off a lame hero. 🤫 Because despite being saddled with some clunky on-the-nose dialogue seemingly poking fun at today's "woke" pronouns-obsessed culture (at least according to Fox News) AND some distracting visual trickery trying to hide his bulked-up physique while his character is on Earth (Jeremy Jahns called it first but it's still super-obvious 😆), Nicholas Galitzine (The Idea of You, Bottoms) pretty much nails the character of Prince Adam. He is just so likeable and genuinely charismatic....he pulls off the costume and he looks convincing with the action. 

At first glance, he might SEEM like a Thor knock-off but this is some who's much more unsure of himself and even when having to deliver a few too many "wink wink" bits of dialogue poking fun at himself, Galitzine still makes him genuinely endearing. This SHOULD be a star-making performance though he might end up being overshadowed by SO much of what surrounds this character including some fun scene-stealing turns from the always charming Idris Elba (as Duncan/Man-At-Arms, given gratefully much more to do here than in any of the Thor films) and Camila Mendes (Riverdale, Palm Springs) who's quite winning as Teela while holding her own in the action department. 

It should probably go without saying that the source material for so much of this big-budget candy-colored nuttiness wasn't exactly on the level of Tolkien, George RR Martin, nor even Stan Lee taking credit for Jack Kirby...the original '80's He-Man: Masters of the Universe" was a glorified toy commercial cobbled together with elements lifted from other fantasy properties. 😁 And that's ok....it was FUN and apparently later rebooted versions were also fun.  As a former fan of the '80's cartoon, I WILL say that memorable action fig....er characters like Ram Man, Tri-Klops, and Mekaneck are all executed well on-screen. ;) 

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):

And most importantly....the MUSIC: Daniel Pemberton delivers a fantastic, rousing score with a major assist from guitarist Brian May. Yes the SAME Brian May from Queen so it's no accident if the musical soundscape will remind you of not only Queen's all-time synth-rock score for previous episode Flash Gordon but also ANOTHER '80's fantasy gem which just had its 40th Anniversary and was also a recent previous episode.  I was just DELIGHTED to hear one particular Queen song kick in during a fight sequence in the third act….just a fun, well-placed needle-drop borrowed from that other film's soundtrack as well. ;) (Audio clip) 

Even though the prominence of those Brian May guitar riffs might feel like shameless pandering to nostalgic Gen-Xer's like myself, they still fit the tone and setting of this film perfectly!  And what results is a genuinely KICK-ASS main theme, just fun hero’s music which has it all: a catchy beat, choral chants, and rip-roaring electric guitar – we hear this during the opening and closing of the film….and in snippets throughout, from Daniel Pemberton and Brian May, I give you….the AWESOME…. “ETERNIA!” (Audio clip)

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

Does every supporting character work? Not particularly....Alison Brie is doing her best with copious amounts of side-eying as villainess Evil-Lyn but just isn't given enough to do, James Purefoy seems well-cast as King Randor (Adam's father) but just feels too stiff, and sadly....there are two SNL alums, Sasheer Zamata and Kristen Wiig (as the voice of Roboto) who are TRYING to bring the funny, though several of their jokes just don't land. 🫣 

Probably the biggest overriding issue with this film is that it simply has an overstuffed screenplay with a mixture of meta-textual stuff which KINDA works and hero’s journey narrative which mostly works.  And it comes to us from some genuinely talented writers including Chris Butler (Kobo...), Dave Callaham (previous episode Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse), and The Brothers Nee (Aaron and Adam who recently collaborated on previous episode and underrated comedy, The Lost City).  But as written, there are just TOO many jokes which are not only redundant but simply unnecessary…..this setting and story is already LOADED with a lot of potential visual comedy.  

For instance….one of Skeletor’s evil henchmen is nicknamed, “SPIKOR” and take a wild guess as to what his most obvious physical traint is?  Yup he’s covered with SPIKES….and during one fun, extended fight sequence, we see the expected side effect of this: as He-Man is fending him off and tossing him aside….he gets STUCK in the surround wall or against other henchmen….BECAUSE of the SPIKES.  If done well, that shit’s just FUNNY….and with a few throwaway gags, i is!  That works and BECAUSE that works, we don’t ALSO need half a dozen attempts to make  the SAME joke about FISTING….which doesn’t work.  Less is sometimes more, the humor was always inherently there in the material, and bottom line, the writers here were just trying too hard. (Audio clip) 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Not to spoil too much but ANY semi-knowledgeable fan of this property is here for a key moment…..and it occurs TWICE in the film and it doesn’t disappoint.  I prefer the first one which I think occurs about 45 minutes in – all involved pretty nail it, most notably the director who chooses JUST the right angles..  The moment involves a man, a sword, and FOUR key words… (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

Even though I don’t agree with every directorial choice he made – or lack thereof, resulting in a runtime which is probably about 10 to 15 minutes too long – I simply can’t dismiss the joy, the heart, and the creativity which he CLEARLY brought to this project….this movie just never feels like a cynical cash-grab nor a naked attempt to milk ‘80’s nostalgia.  It looks great, it sounds great, it has a straightforward story, and it DOES move well. For delivering yet another entertaining gem which the whole family can enjoy, Travis Knight is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

If I’m being honest….maybe I was a BIT skewed by just how much my nine-year-old son completely ate it up (as did my wife) but this movie's got it where it counts: likeable hero, fun villain, entertaining action (good swordplay!), kick-ass music, and just the right amount of heart. It knows what it is and I simply enjoyed the hell out of it. 🙂

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And that ends another BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL review!