Masters of the Universe will soon be in theaters, giving a whole new generation a chance to experience the lore of He-Man and his world. The new film, from Bumblebee director Travis Knight, sees Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) stranded on Earth, cut off from his powers as He-Man, and his duty to protect his homeland of Eternia. Of course, the movie truly begins when Adam is reunited with the mythical Sword of Power, and finally makes his way back home after 15 years. However, the “home” Adam knew is now more, as his archnemesis Skeletor (Jared Leto) has conquered the kingdom. Adam must reunite his Eternia’s heroes and tap back into his power as He-Man, before Skeletor can finish them off.
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This new take on He-Man seems to be exciting both longtime fans and newcomers (kids), which is an impressive accomplishment. There have been at least five He-Man/Masters of the Universe TV shows since the 1980s; however, the original series seems to be influencing this 2026 film more than anything. Travis Knight’s Transformers spinoff film proved that he knows the deep lore of these iconic Millennial animated series, which raises a very interesting question about Masters of the Universe…
He-Man Was Surprsingly Gentle
He-Man is a Herculean champion who rides af fierce tiger in battle armor and wields an all-powerful sword. That all said, any fan of the original ’80s cartoon knows that He-Man never, ever, uses his formidable weapon in violence against another living being. He-Man used the Sword of Power in battle plenty of times: to strike down robotic foes, to cut through physical barriers, or to block energy blasts or other projectiles.
However, He-Man never used his sword to cut or kill any other living being, whether it was Skeletor or any of his beastial henchmen. Part of the original series’ charm was seeing the cutaway animations of He-Man tossing villains into things like mud puddles or bodies of water to take them out of the fight, rather than slicing them up or beating them down.
Master of the Universe Will Get Rougher & Tougher With He-Man’s War
Masters of the Universe (2026) is rated PG-13 “for sequences of violence/action, some suggestive material, and language.” That rating suggests that we could see more violence from this new take on He-Man, but does that mean it will be He-Man himself who is rougher? Or just the forces around him, in a world where Skeletor rules?
One look at the trailers for Master of the Universe confirms that He-Man will definitely be using his sword against Skeletor’s foot soldiers, although it remains to be seen if those creatures can be defined as “living things.” It’s also clear that Travis Knight once again knows his stuff when it comes to lore, as there are scenes of He-Man doing some classic tosses (hurling machines into one another), or using the Sword of Power to emit bursts or blasts of energy, which knock foes back with concussive force. Those are nice head nods to the animated series, and surely there will be many other similar Easter eggs buried in the film.
Travis Knight is directing Masters of the Universe from a script by Chris Butler (ParaNorman), The Nee Brother (The Lost City), and David Callaham (Mortal Kombat, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse). The film star Nicholas Galitzine and Jared Leto, with Idris Elba as Duncan/Man-at-Arms, Camila Mendes as Teela, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, Morena Baccarin as The Sorceress, Kristen Wiig as the voice of Roboto, James Purefoy and Charlotte Riley as King Randor and Queen Marlena, with Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Fisto, Jon Xue Zhang as Ram Man, Sam C. Wilson as Trap Jaw, James Wilkinson as Mekaneck, Kojo Attah as Tri-Klops, James Apps as Spikor, and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Goat Man.
The film will be released in theaters on June 5th. Let us know your thoughts on the latest trailers over on the ComicBook Forum!
