Masters of the Universe Is What Marvel’s $760 Million Box Office Sequel Should’ve Really Been

Travis Knight’s Masters of the Universe movie is the sequel Marvel should have made back in 2022. Director Travis Knight has earned a reputation for adapting ’80s franchises in the best possible way. Masters of the Universe has more heart than muscle, and that’s the way it should be; the film is absolutely joyous, celebrating He-Man and the heroes of Eternia in the very best way. It lovingly recreates so many Masters of the Universe character, mainly drawing inspiration from the beloved Filmation animated series.

There are deeper cuts, of course, including a stunning number of Easter eggs. Adam thinks of Teela as a “warrior goddess,” for example, a reference to her origin story in the first Masters of the Universe minicomics; Skeletor nods to his being a demon, subtly acknowledging those same almost-forgotten stores. And yet, as deep as Knight’s love of lore may be, the film owes just as much to a very different franchise as it does to Masters of the Universe.

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Stylistically, Masters of the Universe is a clear spiritual successor to Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok. It’s there in everything from the colorscheme to the (superb) soundtrack; the same bright, over-the-top colorscheme, the joyful portal fantasy, and fairly shallow characterizations for all but the main heroes. This is a film that doesn’t take itself seriously, and simply wants to give audiences a good time. It pulls it off admirably well, as proven by the 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The similarities are even more striking, though, when you look at the plot. The third act sees the Power Sword broken, directly paralleling Mjolnir’s destruction in Ragnarok. There, Thor realized he was the God of Thunder, not of hammers, and that the power of the gods lay in him rather than in his weapon. In Masters of the Universe, Adam learns he is the one who “has the power,” not the sword, and is therefore able to transform back into He-Man – and even reconstruct the sword, simply because he chooses to do so. The character arcs aren’t identical, but they’re remarkably close.

Masters of the Universe Perfect Thor: Ragnarok’s Flaws

Masters of the Universe may be a spiritual successor to Ragnarok, but it actually improves on the blockbuster hit. There are two reasons; the first, simply being that Knight and the film’s writers clearly love every one of their characters, and handle them with care and respect. In contrast, Waititi openly told The Empire Film Podcast that he didn’t really care about the MCU heroes and villains he was dealing with.

“When you look at comic book characters we don’t have anything in common with them,” he explained, “especially not with this rich kid space Viking or this bipolar, angry green beast. So you’ve got to bring them into situations that all of us have been in, we’ve all been annoyed about our behavior and felt guilt about that.” In contrast, Knight and his creative team know full well viewers care about Adam, Man-At-Arms, and the like, and go to great effort to stress how relatable they are. In this respect, Masters of the Universe is the polar opposite of Ragnarok.

The second key difference lies in the approach to humor. Masters of the Universe is absolutely packed with jokes and one-liners, but generally tries not to damage its own sense of drama because of them. They are part of the package, but seldom dominate. In contrast, Waititi openly admits there are jokes in Ragnarok that have “no business being in cinema, let alone in a Thor film.” A one-liner literally strips emotion from the destruction of Asgard, probably the greatest sign of Waititi’s excess.

Masters of the Universe is a Better Ragnarok Sequel than Love and Thunder

Thor: Ragnarok was a hit for Marvel, grossing $855 million worldwide and earning an 87% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Naturally, the studio doubled down on Waititi’s approach, hiring him for the inevitable sequel; Thor: Love and Thunder, which released in 2022. Unfortunately, the sequel pushed all Waititi’s weaknesses to excess; the sequel played everything for laughs, undermining any sense of drama, and lacked the discipline needed to create a coherent narrative. It still grossed $760.9 million, but even star Chris Hemsworth has admitted it went too far.

Oddly, then, Masters of the Universe is more of a sequel than the one Marvel actually made. Travis Knight understood what made Ragnarok a success, and he emphasizes those elements while abandoning Waititi’s weaknesses. In doing so, he creates a film that actually seems to improve on the original, and is certainly much better than Love and Thunder. Hopefully, despite Masters of the Universe‘s box office, this will be the template that shows fantasy films how to work magic at theaters going forward.

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