Masters of the Universe Directors Tease He-Man's Origin Story

After many attached stars and directors developing their own take, it seems like a live-action reboot of the Masters of the Universe may finally happen (fingers crossed at least), and in a new interview it's been confirmed the creative team is taking things back to the beginning. The new film, currently in the works at Netflix, is set to be directed by the Nee Brothers Aaron and Adam (upcoming The Lost City), having penned the screenplay with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings writer David Callaham, and featuring Kyle Allen (West Side Story) in the lead role. Speaking with Screen Rant, the Nee Brothers talked up their take, and Allen's portrayal, calling the film an origin.

"I think with Masters of the Universe, for us, from growing up with it, we just wanted to make something that captured that fun and color and bright and vibrance and the empowerment that it gave little kids," Adam Nee told the outlet. "We just wanted to capture that. So that's what we hope to have." Aaron Nee added, "Yeah, and Kyle's perfect for it because we also want to take a new audience on this adventure. So we're treating it as an origin story, and Kyle, there's not a more perfect person to come in and embody that."

The Nee Brothers are the latest to be tapped to helm the live-action Masters of the Universe movie, joining the ranks of John Stevenson (Kung-Fu Panda), Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians), McG (Terminator Salvation), and David S. Goyer (Man of Steel) who were previously attached but later dropped out. Production is eyeing a start date later this year, but that same thing has been said before about Masters of the Universe movies in the past. Allen is set to take on the role of Prince Adam/He-Man in the film after actor Noah Centineo dropped out of the project, who seemingly departed after he'd been hired to play Atom Smasher in the Black Adam movie.

Netflix is quickly becoming the home of all things Masters of the Universe as last year saw the debut of Masters of the Universe: Revelation, the continuation of the original cartoon series, and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a new animated reboot of the property for younger fans. He-Man adjacent property She-Ra and the Princesses of Power was also on Netflix as well, running for five seasons from 2018 to 2020.