Masters of the Universe: Kevin Smith Addresses Show’s He-Man Controversy

Kevin Smith is one of the most prominent voices in the geek community, and the director has risen to the occasion. From comics to video games and beyond, the filmmaker is invested in all things nerdy, and that culminated in his most recent gig. Mattel and Netflix brought Smith in to oversee their revival of Masters of the Universe, and the director is now addressing the whole He-Man controversy that netizens cannot get over.

So, please be warned! There are major spoilers below for Masters of the Universe: Revelation!

If you have watched the new series, you now that this revival follows Prince Adam and his cohorts in time with thee original ’80s cartoon. Episode one shows the hero transform into He-Man as usual when Skeletor launches an attack to take away Eternia’s magic… and it works. The plot changes the land forever and kills He-Man along with Skeletor in the end.

As you can imagine, these deaths left fans stunned, and Masters of the Universe: Revelation spends much of its time afterwards exploring Eternia in the aftermath. By the end of part one, Prince Adam is returned to life following his friends’ journey, but all is not restored. The hero is mortally wounded when Skeletor reappears to steal the Sword of Power, and the cliffhanger leaves the villain in power.

Between his death and loss, some fans of He-Man have been left fuming. A group of them have hit up social media to lament the show’s removal of He-Man, but Smith says such an idea is laughable.

“I see people online go, ‘Hey man, they’re getting rid of He-Man!’” he told Variety. “Like, you really f-cking think Mattel Television, who hired me and paid me money, wants to do a f-cking ‘Masters of the Universe’ show without He-Man? Grow the f-ck up, man. Like, that blew my mind, bunch of people being like, ‘Oh, I smell it. This is a bait and switch.’”

Even star Chris Wood stood up to defend He-Man’s story so far. The actor, who voices Prince Adam and his counterpart, told fans they needed to experience the series entirely before passing judgement.

“Adam’s not dead; he’s very wounded,” he stressed. “If you want to light the whole world on fire, in terms of destroying a fandom, you’d take He-Man out and be like, ‘That’s it, he’s gone, bye!’ Now what they’ve done is they’ve found really interesting ways to turn the dynamics of the show on its head and raise the stakes to a point that the original never saw.”

“I would say keep keep watching, with the biggest wink that an audio-only interview can give. In a world that’s filled with magic and supernatural powers, anything is possible.”

Clearly, the team behind Masters of the Universe: Revelation isn’t worried about the critiques coming for He-Man. The hero is dealing with some heavy stuff in this revival, and his story is far from over. And with work continuing on part two, Netflix’s take on Eternia will have new episodes ready before long.

What do you think of this revival’s big plot twist? Do you mind He-Man‘s absence so far…? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.