Like a lot of kids in the 80s, I watched a lot of Masters of the Universe and had a lot of the action figures. As an adult, I can recognize that, well, that show (probably) wasn’t very good. I don’t really plan to rewatch it any time soon. The things that entertained me when I was 8 don’t always entertain me now. But now that Kevin Smith, professional geek, has revived the idea in what he called a “sequel” to the old show for Netflix, I will admit to being a wee bit skeptical. Is there really anything involving He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, to say nothing of his friends and allies, that can be anything more than some sort of nostalgia wank?
Well, there was only one real way to find out as Netflix dropped the first five episodes of the first season last week. That may not give out more than a taste, but that can be enough to see where exactly Smith is taking the concept from here.
The revival series opens in a way that wouldn’t look out of place to fans of the Filmation series. There’s a quick recap of the backstory on how Prince Adam of Eternia, by lifting his magic sword and reciting the proper words, transforms into He-Man, a secret known only to a handful of individuals. From there, He-Man battles the evil forces of Skeletor to defend the secrets and mystical might of Castle Greyskull, a place that apparently would be easily captured without the defense of He-Man and his various allies.
Seriously, was the Sorceress ever actually good at anything but offering cryptic advice?
As it is, Skeletor (voice of Mark Hamill) is up to that again, attacking Greyskull with his army of minions, most prominently Evil-Lyn (Lena Headey). He-Man (Chris Wood) rides out on Battle Cat with his own allies, most notably newly-promoted captain of the guard Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar). But Skeletor apparently picked up on something he didn’t know before and has a new plan of attack. The nature of this attack is a bit different than most, and then something happens that, essentially, sidelines both He-Man and Skeletor while possibly destroying all magic in Eternia, a fact that could lead to the end of the universe itself.
That is about as much as I care to speak of here. Despite the expectations, it’s worth noting the title of the show is Masters of the Universe, a plural, and the series does something I honestly didn’t expect: it’s more about He-Man and Skeletor’s various supporting characters than it is about the central two. Yes, both He-Man and Skeletor have a role to play, but the series is more about the history and legacy of the various Champions of Eternia of which He-Man was only the latest in a long line. The death of magic on Eternia has actually created stakes for the characters; there is no reset button as the first episode ends. And in this version, characters can die.
What follows is a look at characters lost without their respective leaders. Teela strikes out on her own with new character Andra (Tiffany Smith). Her father Man-at-Arms (Liam Cunningham) is more of a nomadic hero, and the episode devoted to him really expands on what made the character special. The Sorceress (Susan Eisenberg) is holding the last of the planet’s magic together while Evil-Lyn seems to be working to restore magic, Beast-Man (Kevin Michael Richardson) acting as her personal bodyguard. And then there’s Tri-Klops (Henry Rollins) who has started a cult worshiping science and technology with a few of Skeletor’s other minions. And even if the series is doing things like adding continuity and allowing for a higher degree of violence, it’s still basically Masters of the Universe, faithful to the established lore such as it is. It’s just trying to make these characters a bit deeper than their original purpose of selling action figures. I mean, what this series did with Orko (Griffin Newman) alone shows the creators really wanted to dig into these characters and even give that clumsy magician an epic moment or two along the way.
And, quite frankly, the series is fun. It’s a bit deeper than the old show, but it’s still basically the adventures of He-Man and his friends. The voice cast seems to be made up of a who’s who of people that, quite frankly, Kevin Smith would hire (yes, his daughter Harley Quinn and his good pal Jason Mewes have roles), and I suspect I know where this series is ultimately going, and if it does, it’s going to anger a lot of longtime He-Man fans in a way that, quite frankly, wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. As far as 80s childhood revivals go, I dig this a lot more than I did the revamped Voltron, and I never got past one episode of the new Transformers since the characters annoyed me too much. But this Masters of the Universe isn’t up to the standard set (perhaps ironically) by She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, a series that really dug into the characters by mostly presenting the whole thing as how personal relationships matter as much as anything in a world where evil may just be emotionally rejected people lashing out. But basically, I found Masters of the Universe: Revelations to be fun, and I will gladly watch the back half of this first season when it eventually drops onto Netflix.
Grade: B
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