Masters of the Universe (2026)

Heroes are forged.

The last time we saw MOTU in the big screen was 39 years ago. If you want to read about that film, you can click here. 

Boy the world has changed since 1987! The lurking presence of official critics, plus an algorithm that thrives on negativity has certainly decided who's in and who's out.  This modern world of zeroes and ones, has us seeing only content we like. The rest is deemed invisible, and when it occasionally  shows up in our screens, we become Skeletor and can't stand living in a shared world with different cultures, political views, and favorite food. Masters of the Universe is a 44 year old property, AKA franchise, that has been here as long as I have. I'm 44 years old too, and I still feel I am entitled to say "I Have the power!". 

Fisto & Teela.

Survival of the fittest.

In 44 years MOTU, has reinvented itself through comic books, animated sequels, never-ending action figure releases, pop culture, memes, and streaming services. The new film director Travis Knight knows this all too well. He was in charge of revitalizing the Transformers franchise with what I think is the best live action movie from the series: Bumblebee. So, as soon as I heard his name, I thought this could receive the same treatment. I was partially right. The new MOTU movie is spectacular. Every reference, story, scenery, battle moves, and original concepts are all here. Even the memes, that 4 Non Blondes one hit wonder, and more. 

Amazon, love it or hate it, produced the film thinking ahead. A movie franchise, and all the byproducts that come with it. While the film preserves the original magic from the Saturday morning cartoon, it also embraces the pop culture that helped He-Man continue to live in the most unexpected places. Reddit, memes, Youtube songs became the familiar face to generations that were not born in the 1980s, and perhaps never cared for the 2000 reboot and the more recent Netflix series. Yet, they know He-Man is here. And so is Skeletor. 

 

One of the early leaked film pictures.

Adam is ready to do what's right.

He-Man of the 21st Century

When a character story arc is solid, you can go back to telling the story over and over. The hero's journey, AKA, the Monomyth, one of the most frequent narrative styles used for superheroes, literary classics, and whatnot, is exactly what we need to return to that familiar place known as Eternia.

The monomyth is broken into 3 sections: Departure, Initiation and Return. The MOTU film is clearly about that. 

Departure:

Adam Glenn has to escape to Earth in order to survive the Skeletor invasion of Eternia. As you and I know, Earth is the birthplace of Queen Marleena, so it's only fitting he may find solace and sanctuary there. The sword of power works as some kind of key/GPS that when the time is right will bring Adam back to his beloved family. Sadly, he loses the sword while traveling to Earth. So, obviously, he'll have to retrieve the sword if he's to ever see his homeworld again.

Initiation:

Once he finds the sword, the sword emits a traceable signal that brings Teela to Earth, and sadly Beastman. We know how obsessed Skeletor was with the sword of power, as he believed the weapon to be the ultimate key to access the secrets of Castle Grey Skull, and ultimately its massive god-like power. Adam is a Human Resources man, not a warrior by any means. Once he's taken home, he has to quickly adapt to his homeworld and with the little knowledge and training he had, he eventually is forced to wield the sword of power and yes, scream "By the power of Gray Skull! I have the power!"

Return:

The consequences of learning on the go, will push He-Man to the ultimate test, and the inevitable: He must defeat Skeletor in order to free his people, save his family, and become the man he thinks he's supposed to be. Queue Stone Temple Pilots' Creep "I'm half the man I used to be" verse. While seeing how powerful he can be, he needs to learn to control his powers, and boy does he feel miserable after he finds out first hand, there are casualties of war. Beaten he realizes the real reason why the Sorceress chose him as the champion of Eternia, and this truly feels like seeing a Filmation episode where at the end they tell you about what makes a hero. 

 

Evil returns.

 

...and so does Good!

Add to that journey a proper sense of humor aimed at kids from the 1980s, not kids from today. The obvious jokes on characters' names like Fisto, & Ram-Man are there, but there are other jokes that assess the antiquated perception of what a villain is, and what he/she stands for. Yes, Skeletor's maniac laughter is there. Skeletor's evil conquest speech? check! Skeletor's purpose speech? Check!. There's even room for humor based on He-Man's physique, which reminded me of a friend whose wife was suspicious of him because he collected muscular men action figures.  

In a nutshell, MOTU is the film we all dreamed of 39 years ago. The director, artists,  producers, and actors aligned to deliver the best nerd-themed movie in recent years.  Not even superhero films have been able of keeping the lore intact because the corporate industry is obsessed with reaching wider audiences. Niche films can also be lucrative, and this may be a good example of it.