‘Masters of the Universe’ Scriptwriter Reveals Why His Script Was Tossed

Over the years, there have been several attempts to bring Masters of the Universe to the big screen, and now we know what that could have looked like.

In a recent interview with Collider, Truth or Dare director Jeff Wadlow revealed his plans for a Masters of the Universe movie, which he was attached to back in 2014. As he explained, he had brought the studio a sort of upbeat and humorous take on the iconic fantasy franchise, but that wasn’t what Sony was looking for at the time.

“I had a really irreverent take on Masters of the Universe, and the studio, at the time, was very focused on a Game of Thrones/Lord of the Rings take.” Wadlow revealed. “I love He-Man. I still have all my original figures from the ’80s. That’s how I got the job. I brought them in and put them on the table and was like, ‘This is why I’m a director!’ I wrote a scene where Prince Adam meets Ram Man and says to him, ‘So, they call you Ram Man, huh?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah.’ And he goes, ‘Do you like that name?’ And Ram Man goes, ‘I’m owning it.’ So, there was an irreverence to it, but at the time, that just didn’t gel with what they wanted to do.”

But as Wadlow argued, his version of Masters of the Universe would probably fit more with the current genre movie landscape, following the success of more comedically-heavy films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok.

“It’s interesting now, with Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy.” Wadlow continued. “I think that’s sort of what I was trying to do, but either I was too early or they just never saw it that way. That’s the weird thing about making movies in the studio system. You can have a take and a real point of view, but if it doesn’t line up with the point of view of the people who are writing the checks, it doesn’t matter.”

Considering the most recent updates surrounding Masters of the Universe, who knows what will happen next? Maybe following the recent exit of David Goyer, Wadlow or some other director could take the film to that more lighthearted place (but probably without any He-Man and Skeletor dance numbers).

Would you have liked to see this more irreverent version of Masters of the Universe? Let us know what you think in the comments below.