The long road back to Eternia is almost over, folks. Travis Knight’s live-action movie of Masters of the Universe just released a surprisingly charming teaser and an interesting, but less charming somehow, trailer. Here’s what Alasdair Stuart noticed.

The teaser is weirdly very sweet and melds the original animated intro with super quick shots of Adam, Man-At-Arms and a particularly lovely version of the Power Sword. There’s also some nice hints about this being a story from simpler times, and how perhaps a hero like that is needed again…

Then we got the full length trailer late last week.

0.01 – Sorceress?

The eagle we see may well be Zoar, initially a courier eagle who was retconned into being an alternate form of the Sorceress, who we glimpse here. Note the rainbow-like tail feathers and how that relates to the Sorceress’ costume.

0.06 – Castle Greyskull

Castle Greyskull looks GREAT. Big and chunky and functional and at the same time just a little goofy looking. I’m really excited to see how it plays out on screen.

0.15 – Battle Cats on the Gates

It goes by quickly but there are two enormous cat statues on the gates. Looks like Battle Cat has a history…

0.18 – Adam Exiled

The idea that Adam was old enough to know he wasn’t from Earth when he was sent here has a lot of potential. It also neatly skewers the ‘chosen one’ narrative these stories normally have, and gives him a ‘return to confidence’ arc that looks set to be a lot of fun.

0.22 – Room

Adam’s room. Look closely and you’ll see a lot of sketches of a familiar looking sword…

0.25 – Missed a trick

I’m sure there are likeness rights reasons for not doing this, but wouldn’t it be cool to have the MGM lion swapped out for Cringer or Battle Cat?

0.31 – Palace Guard

Notice the chest plates on these soldiers. He-Man’s is in the exact same place, just in a different rig. It’s a nice piece of visual design that teaches us who the good guys are without having to say a word.

0.37 – Pronouns

The HE/HIM moment here has got a lot of the worst elements of the internet up in arms but it bothered me for a different reason. Representation and courtesy like pronouns is really, really simple. It hurts no one and it helps a lot of people. So setting it up as a joke bothers me, a lot.

But Travis Knight, the director here, is very good at what he does and especially good at that exact sort of kindness. Look at the emotional complexity in his previous movies like ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and Bumblebee. I wonder whether the pronouns here are intended more to reflect who Adam is. Someone more comfortable with himself than he knows quite yet. He-Man, almost literally.

1.01 – Sword

The power sword is a lovely design, one that looks like it’s come over directly from the series. I love how bright it is and how light it seems, as well as still having weight and heft.

1.05 – Big Jim Camper

The toy shop is a treasure trove of weird Hasbro pulls. We don’t see him fully, but the statue holding ‘his’ sword looks a lot like Vikor, a character initially designed as an early prototype of He-Man who ended up being written in as a separate person later. The Big Jim sets you see in the back of the set are also from around that time.

1.13 – Eagle into words

Look very closely and you’ll see what looks a lot like the Sorceress’ eagle transform into some of the words here, which is a nice touch.

1.19 – Laugh

This is what sold me. This shot of Adam, laughing with joy at how his ridiculous life is real. Love it.

1.24 – Heroes Shot

Robot dude! Man-At-Arms! Adam! Leela! Cringer!

I have no idea who the robot is! I’m guessing it may well be Roboto, who is apparently voiced by Kristen Wiig. If so, that’s a very cool choice. And we also get a good look at Cringer who looks fantastic, and convincingly like a very large cat which is great. No word yet on who’s voicing him but Alan Oppenheimer (who also voiced He-Man and Skeletor!) is still alive and it would be lovely to have him back in some form.

1.30 – Man-at-Arms having fun

Idris Elba whooping with joy as he fires an enormous gun. Yeah I’m in.

1.32 – Slowmo Hero walk

This is a feast for long-term fans. The large skeletons on either side of the gateway look a lot like the old Battle Bones transporter, a really cool dinosaur skeleton you clipped figures between the ribs of. Also just visible at the back of Adam’s team is the splendidly named Mekaneck. He’s the chap in the triangular glasses. He has an extendable neck and is a spy for the good guys. Nice to see some of the other characters in there!

1.40 – Fisto

Yes he’s called Fisto, move past it. The large angry gentleman with the single metal boxing glove is played by Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson who you’ve seen in a bunch of places including The Witcher, Captain America: Brave New World and Succession.

1.46 – Trapjaw

It’s super fast again but the large gentleman with the skull plate Adam’s fighting is Trapjaw, one of Skeletor’s funkiest looking henchmen. He’s got a great look, big red skull plate, enormous metal jaw, hook arm. He’s a fun time.

1.48 – Beast-Man

It’s fast but that’s Beast-Man, one of Skeletor’s henchmen, on what looks a lot like a road on Earth. Does the fight come to Earth, or does it start there and finish in Eternia?

1.54 – Man-At-Arms as Force Multiplier

I’ve always liked Man-At-Arms as a character and I’m really happy with what they’re doing with him here. Idris Elba going full Brian Blessed is enormous fun, but doing so with a tricked out suit of armour with gadgets galore (including JETS?!)? I’m so there.

2.05 – Straight up and down He-Man

That’s just He-Man! I’m sure bigger fans will have a lot of notes about his appearance but for me? This is great! Loin cloth! Chest plate! Enormous sword! Hell yes!

2.20 – Skeletor

Skeletor is one of the most iconic villain designs of his era and this is a lovely take on him. Unfortunately, the real world does impinge a little here, given he’s being played by Jared Leto. Leto, always controversial, is doubly so at the moment due to allegations about his behaviour with nine women, his long-standing ‘method’ approach to acting and the near total alienation of his audience that’s a result of this. Tron: Ares was a bomb because of his presence, and it’s hard not to see Skeletor’s first appearance here as a reflecting of that. It’s Skeletor, for God’s sake, a villain famous for his cackle. To have him appear and not speak feels like the production is very aware of its Leto problem and is doing its best to deal with it.

 

We’ll find out if it does on 5th June.

Posted on 0 By PS News Posted in News Tagged #
PS's avatar

PS

Leave a comment