Note to the reader: This review contains spoilers for the 2026 Masters of the Universe movie.

Masters of the Universe… what can I say? It is hard to give an objective review of something so close to your heart. I have been a He-Man and She-Ra fan since practically birth, and it has followed me since the 1980s, despite its popularity never quite regaining the billion-dollar status it had in that tubular decade.

Fans of MOTU know that a movie has been stuck in development hell for well over a decade. We never got the planned sequel to the 1987 live action motion picture, which is probably a good thing, and many iterations of this new movie simply did not sound good.

It seems the script was still not quite up to par once it reached Netflix a few years back, and finally came into acceptable form once Amazon took over and brought in director Travis Knight and writer Chris Butler, both fans of MOTU from their own childhoods.

The movie primarily uses the original Filmation cartoon series as its backdrop, while updating elements within the overall story and visual style to appeal to modern audiences.

One of those elements is humor. Many fans have longed for a “Lord of the Rings” type take on MOTU. I am not one of them. If I want “Lord of the Rings,” I will watch that. And I don’t, because I find it boring. Masters of the Universe is its own thing. It is a melting pot of barbarians, fantasy, science, technology, fantastical creatures, and larger than life characters.

Where the movie really shines with this humor is in how it handles Skeletor. He is a perfect mix of laughter and menace. In fact, he is most reminiscent of a version of Skeletor many fans may not be too familiar with: Campbell Lane’s performance from the shorter-lived New Adventures of He-Man cartoon.

Roboto fills the usual Orko role, providing humorous commentary on what is happening during various scenes. And, of course, they keep Adam just a tad bit goofy, much like Filmation Adam, who was always trying to hide the fact that he was actually a mighty warrior.

However, the movie does often go one or two steps too far with its jokes. I expected innuendo around the character of Fisto, but they should have ended it with the comment Prince Adam makes about Fisto and a goblin. Joke received. Joke done. Instead, they kept going and mixed Ram Man jokes into it.

Roboto herself goes a bit too far right at the end of the movie. When Prince Adam finally reveals the name he has created for himself, Roboto responds to He-Man with something like, “That one is worse than the others!” This would have been a perfect opportunity for Roboto to praise the name of He-Man, maybe with something simple like, “I like it!” That would have worked especially well since Adam was the only character to empathize with Roboto and extend friendship when we first meet her in the movie.

I am not sure why we need to make fun of the main character’s name when He-Man is no more generic than celebrated names like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and plenty of others.

On the flip side, I did like the creative way the movie explains the fanciful names of the Masters of the Universe characters. Prince Adam, desperate to retain his memories from Eternia while stuck on Earth, draws as many pictures as he can of everything from Eternia, from landmarks to people. He also gives everyone unique names that fit their personalities or abilities. So, while that makes Teela question the use of “Trap Jaw,” it helps explain the names without having to give everyone the dreaded “real name.”

Fans of MOTU know that the “Classics Bios” introduced many brand-new real names for the bulk of the MOTU character lineup. I have always hated this. Let the characters be. This is a fantasy property, for goodness’ sake. I am also not sure why Evil-Lyn was an acceptable name, but He-Man was not.

Now, the dreaded aspect of this movie was Earth. As I mentioned above, Prince Adam is stuck on Earth. Thankfully, this movie does a much better job with the Earth elements and uses a very short amount of runtime for them. First, kudos to the movie for at least letting the audience know that Adam’s mother, Queen Marlena, is from Earth. We even get to see her astronaut helmet in the background of her dressing room in Eternos Palace. This information was actually in the original script for the 1987 movie, but was cut. I am glad they kept it here to help ground everything.

It also provides one of my absolute favorite scenes in the movie, which involves the Sorceress opening the portal to Earth and young Prince Adam entering it. The Sorceress is a complete badass in this scene. I was so happy she actually got to do something in this movie. When she deflected Skeletor’s attack and turned into Zoar, I cheered.

For fans still on the fence, Earth is about 20 minutes tops of the entire movie, and there is something special within that section to keep fans on a good journey.

What really scores with this movie, though, is its focus on the character of Prince Adam. Oftentimes with Masters of the Universe, Skeletor seems to get all the hype. And while Jared Leto’s performance here as Skeletor is quite good, Skeletor does not steal the show here like Frank Langella did in the 1987 movie. This movie is about He-Man, and I am so happy that is the case. And, Nicholas Galitzine was perfectly cast in this role. You need a really good actor to sell a character like He-Man. Nicholas Galitzine gets the Eternian Oscar in my book.

And how is Prince Adam the focus here? We get to see Adam’s journey. We get to see Adam displaying friendship, compassion, caring, and empathy. When he finally receives the power, he is jarred by how he uses it. There is a scene where he is brutally and violently fighting Skeletor’s minions within Snake Mountain. As a fan who does not really think He-Man should kill, even if it is a creature or a goblin-like human, I was a bit taken aback.

But after subsequent viewings, I realized this part of the movie is their way of illustrating the Filmation episode “The Problem with Power,” and perhaps doing it in an even better way. In the movie, He-Man is so focused on defeating the bad guys and saving his father that he does not think before making his last move. And just like in “The Problem with Power,” his actions have killed an innocent.

The movie does not have Adam throw the power away, however. He learns from his mistakes and sees that while he may have the power of a god in his hand, he is still just a man. And sometimes, even a man with all the power needs help from his friends. Think things through. Make a plan. Teamwork.

Now to the best part, and something that has been hinted at before, but I love that this movie solidifies it. In recent reboots and continuations of Masters of the Universe, there has been a running theme that as long as someone obtains the Sword of Power, they can transform and obtain the powers of Grayskull. For example, in the Netflix MOTU cartoon Revelation, both Skeletor and Evil-Lyn easily use the sword to become gods. I hated this. When Adam called upon the power without the sword and turned into a raging Hulk-type character, I hated this too.

By contrast, in Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, it is revealed that even when the Sword of Protection is shattered, Adora can still turn into She-Ra because the power is within her. This is the same aspect they use at the end of this movie. And I loved it.

In a beautifully done scene between the Sorceress and a nearly dead Adam, perhaps my second favorite scene in the movie, the Sorceress questions Adam as to why he thinks he no longer has the power simply because the sword has been broken by Skeletor. He realizes that when he says, “I have the power,” it means exactly that. The power is within Adam. He was chosen as the vessel of this power because of his character: understanding, empathy, and humanity. Past champions may have represented brute strength, but Adam is something more.

For me, this solidifies that despite receiving new characters like King Grayskull, who have diluted some of the uniqueness of He-Man and She-Ra, the twins Adam and Adora are still the ones with the foretold destiny to be the protectors of the power. The power is within them. It is not something easily obtained by simply stealing a sword.

And for that, thank you.

When I left the theater as a child after seeing the 1987 movie, I asked my dad three questions: “Why didn’t He-Man transform?”, “Why didn’t they use the music from the cartoon?”, and “Where was She-Ra?”

Can you believe it? This movie answered all three of my four-year-old criticisms of the 1987 movie.

Not only did we get Prince Adam transforming into He-Man, but we got two transformation sequences complete with both “By the Power of Grayskull!” and “I have the power!” And while I did not expect them to mimic the Filmation sequence exactly, I thought they did a good job. I especially loved the shot of lightning coming down to hit the sword during the first transformation.

No complaints about the score here, either. While the bulk of the movie is new music, it absolutely gives me Masters of the Universe vibes. I have been listening to Daniel Pemberton’s score since it dropped. The “Eternia” theme that plays throughout the movie is so magical that I now instantly identify it with MOTU. I also especially love the tracks “Journey to Snake Mountain,” “Sky Fight,” and, of course, “A Job For He-Man.”

“A Job For He-Man” is essentially Pemberton’s take on the iconic He-Man and the Masters of the Universe theme song used in the Filmation cartoon, composed by Shuki Levy. And he understood the assignment. So much so that we even get to hear the Filmation She-Ra: Princess of Power theme in the end credits.

And why is that? While I expected and truly hoped that an end credits scene would reference She-Ra, I did not expect we would see her in the flesh. I absolutely knew that when they cut back to Queen Marlena and Duncan at the end, she would somehow mention that her daughter was still missing, perhaps even cryptically.

That happened, and so much more.

In a complete turn of shock, we got to see She-Ra, the Filmation Fright Zone, and even a name drop of “Force Captain Adora.” Travis Knight, take my money. I have loved watching the recent interviews where he was finally allowed to talk about wanting She-Ra included in the movie somehow, someway.

Now, is this the end? Of course not. The post-credits scene makes me think Evil-Lyn will be taking Skeletor’s skull to Hordak. Will we get a sequel? Who knows.

But I am so thankful for this amazing movie I never thought I would ever get to experience.

Check out Masters Cast: The First and Longest Running He-Man and She-Ra Podcast’s reaction and review of the new movie: