Fan Trailer Imagines ‘He-Man’ if it Was Made in the ’40s

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is no stranger to different interpretations, but a new fan video might be among the most creative.

Youtuber Darth Blender recently debuted his latest project, which imagines the world of Masters of the Universe if it was brought to life in the 1940s. Using clips of everything from Flash Gordon to Creature from the Black Lagoon to Star Trek, the video paints Prince Adam’s transformation into a pretty perfect 1940s serial.

In a way, this is just the latest unexpectedly-awesome thing tied to the Masters of the Universe world, albeit on a fan-made level. The characters have been the inspiration for everything from elevator ads to impressively-detailed comics to Dirty Dancing-inspired commercials. There has been a bit of an effort to bring the franchise into the modern era, in the form of a live-action Masters of the Universe film.

A reboot of Masters of the Universe has been in the making since at least 2007. The project has been trapped in development hell on several occasions. In 2016, McG was attached to direct the film but had left the project by mid-2017, with David Goyer having the same fate over the past year. While it’s unknown if the new project will meet its official 2019 release date, fans will be eager to see what happens next.

“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.” Jeff Wadlow, who was attached to direct the film back in 2014, revealed in an interview earlier this year. “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.”

“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.”

What do you think of this fan-made He-Man and the Masters of the Universe trailer? Let us know what you think in the comments below.