Thumbnail Image by Dave Wilkins
He-Man’s first foray into theaters in 1987 didn’t exactly go as planned, but the once-mighty TV and toy phenomenon is finally poised to get the reboot treatment. Even though the first movie was a flop, the new Masters of the Universe is far more likely to blow you away. Here’s why.
To say that the 1987 film Masters of the Universe was a bit of a disappointment would be a massive understatement. The movie starred Dolph Lundgren as He-Man, Frank Langella as the villainous Skeletor, and a young Courteney Cox as a newly introduced Earthling character named Julia Winston. Cox’s character, in a way, embodied many fans’ major problems with the film. There wasn’t anything wrong with the future Friends star’s performance, per se, but her having such a key role in the film left fans hugely frustrated — for two reasons.
First, Julia is from Earth — which is also where most of the film takes place. By contrast, the cartoon and comics were based on the planet Eternia, a fantastical land that combined elements of sword and sorcery with science fiction. By taking He-Man out of that familiar setting and transporting him to Earth, the movie was forced to tell a fish-out-of-water story that prevented fans from getting to experience He-Man in his element. Secondly, Julia Winston never appeared in the cartoon, the comics, or the toy line. She was a character created solely for the film, and she wasn’t the only one. Despite having dozens of well-liked and fascinating characters at their disposal, the filmmakers chose to forego them all in favor of their own like keyboard-playing Kevin.
The creative team behind the new Masters of the Universe surely know just what went wrong with the original, and there’s no way they’re going to repeat the mistakes of the past. Sorry, Kevin.
It may be 2019, but these days you’d be forgiven for thinking it was actually 1989. Everywhere you look in pop culture, the decade of big hair, neon clothing, and Reaganomics seems to be taking over. Just look at what’s on TV these days: Modern reboots of classic ’80s series MacGyver and Magnum P.I. are both important blocks of CBS’ primetime lineup, while ABC’s comedy lineup is partly anchored by the ’80s-set The Goldbergs and The Conners, a continuation of ’80s hit Roseanne. On top of all that, Netflix has a Voltron reboot, the Full House follow-up Fuller House, ’80s wrestling drama GLOW, and, of course, the massively popular Stranger Things, which even got Coca-Cola to bring back New Coke — one of the biggest product failures of all time — as a tie-in. Netflix also produces She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, a reboot of He-Man’s female-focused spinoff series, which debuted in 1985. Keep watching the video to see why Masters of the Universe will blow you away!
#HeMan #MastersOfTheUniverse
The long wait | 0:17
Back to the ’80s | 1:41
Noah Centineo | 3:11
Sci-fi & fantasy | 4:49
He-Man and friends | 6:21
New tech | 7:39
Skeletor’s promise | 8:57