Masters of the Universe Just Beat Marvel At Its Own Game

By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated 5 seconds ago

The ‘80s is the decade that just keeps giving, with its countless colorful franchises being reinvented for the modern day. This is especially true of IPs that were originally made to sell toys, which is why beloved cartoons like Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been repeatedly remade into live-action movies. However, He-Man failed to make the leap into modernity: after the 1987 live-action film featuring Dolph Lundgren became a critical and commercial bomb, the franchise steered clear of the big screen, with only a few controversial animated revivals to keep the brand alive.

Now, though, a new Masters of the Universe movie has hacked and slashed its way into theaters. When news of this movie was first announced, even the beefy barbarian’s biggest fans were worried it would be a disaster. Given how badly most Hollywood revivals go, it was easy to imagine that this film would change up crucial lore fans loved about the original show, or maybe transform the cartoon’s legendarily campy tone into something so grimdark only edgelords could enjoy it. 

Fortunately, we had nothing to worry about: Masters of the Universe is the new gold standard for franchise revivals, one that will leave old-school fans grinning while winning over new audiences with a sexy, silly, and utterly spectacular sci-fi thrill ride.

A Bone To Pick With He-Man

The premise of Masters of the Universe is that when Skeletor (Jared Leto) and his evil army attack the city of Eternos, its only prince (Nicholas Galitzine) is sent to Earth for his own safety. He brings with him a sword filled with magic power, but he loses it almost as soon as he arrives. Fifteen years later, he’s close to finding the sword, a weapon that can transform him into a hulking He-Man and, even more importantly, transport him back to his home world of Eternia.

However, this hero will need all of the sword’s power and all of the help he can get from his old mentor (Idris Elba) and childhood best friend (Camila Mendes) to defeat the combined forces of darkness and lead the world of Eternia into a new golden age. Along the way, he will need to learn more about what it means to be both man and He-Man, the wisdom necessary to rally a battered-down rebellion into a fighting force that can take Skeletor down for good.

The Most Faithful Designs

As an ‘80s kid who had way too many He-Man figures, the first thing that pleasantly surprised me about Masters of the Universe is how faithful the character designs are to the original cartoon. He-Man’s iconic look is replicated so faithfully that Nicholas Galitzine (a great comedic actor who sells the transition from puny prince to battling barbarian) looks like a walking, talking action figure. The same can be said for Teela, and Camila Mendes imbues this character with the perfect balance of grace, strength, and beauty. Familiar villains like Beast Man and Evil-Lyn are scarier than ever before, and I was particularly impressed by Trap Jaw, whom the movie transforms into a one-man walking army.

But the wildest character to behold is, without a doubt, Skeletor. He is the perfect live-action incarnation of his iconic cartoon design, one whose skull-faced visage expresses a surprising range of emotion. The CGI used to do so is very effective, and it helps bring to life some of this character’s most gloriously goofy faces straight out of the ‘80s. In his own way, Skeletor symbolizes the greatest selling point of this movie to the franchise’s older fans: this is the cartoon brought to life, full stop, with no fussy concerns over modernizing the designs or sanding off the adorable cheesiness of the characters.

Between the accurate costume and the unrestrained, gonzo performance from Jared Leto (who is almost shockingly good here), the movie has everything you could want from this iconic villain. The sneers, the monologuing, the humor, it’s all here, and Skeletor is simultaneously the funniest and the scariest character in the movie. At times, this can create a slightly distracting tonal whiplash. Overall, though, Skeletor will please the fans who wanted him to be a pastel goth meme king and those who wanted an intimidating villain who is as ruthless as he is relentless.

Crude And Campy, Through And Through

Speaking of humor, it’s worth noting that almost everything in Masters of the Universe has its tongue firmly in cheek. There are occasional serious moments, like when He-Man has heart-to-heart conversations with his dad about being a good son and with his old mentor about what it means to be a man. For the most part, though, the movie is in the vein of a Guardians of the Galaxy-style irreverent sci-fi adventure. Between the steady supply of jokes, the film is a breezy thrill ride, one that goes by remarkably fast despite the two-hour, fifteen-minute runtime. 

Some humor is aimed squarely at adults, and not everything lands. For example, this adaptation of an old kids’ cartoon has a lot of jokes about fisting, and there are some sexual innuendoes Skeletor tosses to He-Man that are sure to raise a few eyebrows. In one of the movie’s crudest moments, Teela jokingly calls Cringer (He-Man’s talking tiger who hates fighting) a “p*ssy,” getting an accordingly shocked reaction from He-Man. It got a relatively shocked reaction from my theater, which is fair: for a film being marketed as a family-friendly sci-fi blockbuster, there are a lot of things in Masters of the Universe that you probably wouldn’t want your kids repeating. 

At the same time, it’s pretty refreshing to see a blockbuster refuse to play things safe, and like Marvel’s Guardians movies, it’s fun to see good guys who are rough-around-the-edges instead of squeaky-clean exemplars of morality and goodness.

An Action-Packed Fantasy Epic

Masters of the Universe packs in far more action than I was actually expecting. Unlike the 1987 movie, this latest film spends only a small fraction of time on Earth, and those scenes are worth it because they crescendo with a nerve-wracking fight scene with Beastman. Honestly, while the new He-Man movie doesn’t break the sci-fi mold, it does deliver many different kinds of battle scenes sure to get your heart pumping. 

This includes one-on-one showdowns (like He-Man and Skeletor, or Man-at-Arms and Trap Jaw), big group battles (like the initial attack on Eternos and the later, desperate assault on Castle Grayskull), and even multiple, high-flying scenes of starship combat. This variety helps keep things fresh, while witty writing and wonderfully earnest acting help to ground every CGI-laden fight scene with humanity.

Not Too Woke, Not Too Weird

Speaking of humanity, the movie walks a very fine line between being an ‘80s homage and being a modern action opus. There are some very 21st-century lessons here about the need to temper power with empathy and the importance of solving the occasional problem without violence. Nonetheless, a brief scene at Prince Adam’s Human Resources underscores how mind-numbing touchy-feely mantras can be and how many of those touting them are secretly control freaks relishing in the surprisingly robust power they have over others. 

Throw in He-Man’s early worries that he isn’t manly enough and some Man-at-Arms speeches about how wars are won by soldiers and not poets and you have a movie that will mollify just about anyone who worried it would be too “woke.” At the same time, Masters of the Universe stays mercifully clear of politics, presenting itself as an epic clash of good versus evil that you can enjoy regardless of who you voted for.

Easter Eggs As Far As The Eye Can See

If you are a big fan of He-Man from way back, you’ll probably love one aspect of Masters of the Universe more than anything else: the Easter eggs! There are practically too many to count, including a cameo from Dolph Lundgren (the original live-action He-Man) and several references to the 1987 film. At one point, Prince Adam tracks his sword to a comics and collectibles store called the Fright Zone, which is named after Hordak’s base of operations in She-Ra. That store also prominently features Big Jim, the toy line that preceded He-Man and provided the mold that would become Cringer.

There are multiple great music drops, including the original cartoon theme and, hilariously, Four Non-Blondes’ “What’s Up,” which was featured in the greatest He-Man fan video ever made. 

Plus, without spoiling things, there are two different mid-credits scenes and one post-credits scene sure to make older fans grin harder than they have in decades. In short, the more you know about this sprawling fictional universe, the more you’ll enjoy this ambitious new film.

Notably, these Easter eggs are inserted pretty seamlessly into the film. Masters of the Universe is very accessible to complete newbies, and you can enjoy all of these weird little moments at face value, even if you don’t know what they are homaging. When you do get the references, though (“whoa, did He-Man just thunder punch Skeletor?!?”), it just makes some already-awesome scenes that much cooler. Careful, though: the more you recognize, the more likely you are to speed home and bust out all your favorite childhood He-Man toys.

Nostalgia You’ll Feel Right In Your Bones

Collectively, these Easter eggs help to cement something that becomes apparent very early into the film: Masters of the Universe is a true labor of love, made by a director (Travis Knight), writer, and producers who have a clear passion for the source material. It’s not perfect, but this movie is leaps and bounds better than most sci-fi revivals, and it’s infinitely better than The Mandalorian and Grogu, the new Star Wars movie oozing its way down the box office ranks with the slimy tenacity of a Hutt.

Against all the odds, this revival of a classic ‘80s property is better than fans could have possibly hoped for. It’s full of dynamic action, fun characters, witty dialogue, and one gloriously scenery-chewing performance after another. Totally, this is basically the love child of Conan the Destroyer and Thor: Ragnarok, which is fitting for a franchise that has always blended sci-fi with fantasy. Masters of the Universe is an unrelenting thrill ride of action and adventure, one that winks at the camera a little more aggressively (and a little more infectiously) with every scene.

Looking for an unapologetic love letter to a bygone decade that served as the perfect intersection of action schlock and action figure? Good news, kiddos: for the first time since the ‘80s, He-Man has the power!

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2026) SCORE