Review: ‘Masters Of The Universe’
Long-Awaited He-Man Movie Is Everything Fans Hoped It Would Be And More
By Travis Hopson
June 2, 2026
I’m going to say something I never expected to say: Masters of the Universe is incredible! It’s the movie that I wanted the dark, brooding, and cheesy 1987 movie to be so badly, even as I enjoyed aspects of it, such as Dolph Lundgren’s performance. But I had literally all of the He-Man toys growing up, and the franchise is still near and dear to my heart. One of the problems I’ve had with the various comic books and animated shows recently is they fail to capture just how light-hearted and fun the original was. Well, that’s not a problem that anyone is going to have with Travis Knight’s long-awaited Masters of the Universe, which is a blast of nostalgic joy from start to finish.
On paper, the casting of Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam/He-Man is an odd choice. He’s known mainly for his comedy stuff, such as in the film Bottoms. But when you get a hint of how tongue-in-cheek and self-aware Masters of the Universe is, you understand how sneaky brilliant it was. Galitzine, who has the body of a jock and, frequently, the dopey demeanor to match, is perfect at capturing the duality within He-Man. Sometimes he’s an all-powerful barbarian god or something, other times he’s a wimpy girly man who wears a lot of pink. Hey, this was the ’80s and we’re lucky he didn’t get called a sissy back then.
Masters of the Universe begins with a cool prelude that shows how Skeletor (Jared Leto, and if you thought his Joker was wild, you ain’t seen shit yet!) took over and destroyed Eternia, homeland to Prince Adam and his parents, the king (James Purefoy) and queen (Charlotte Riley). Adam was always the runt of the litter. He’s a thorn in the side of his combat trainer, Duncan aka Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba), and a concern for the king who wants his son to grow up to be a warrior who can defend Eternia. Adam’s only friend is Teela (Camila Mendes), and of course, his timid pet cat, Cringer. When Skeletor attacks, Adam is whisked away to Castle Grayskull, where he is given the Sword of Power and transported to Earth. He loses the sword on the journey, and spends the next fifteen years trying to find it.
The first portion of the film deals largely with Adam’s time on Earth, where his stories about being from a faraway planet full of fantastical creatures make him seem like a lunatic. There’s some fun fish-out-of-water stuff here, especially when Adam tries to go out on dates, or fit in at his crappy job in HR. But unlike the 1987 movie, the bulk of the film is not set on Earth, thank goodness. It isn’t long before Adam finds the sword (of course, nerds are involved), just in time to get attacked by Beast Man and rescued by Teela, who is all grown up now and a badass soldier in the fight against Skeletor’s rule.
A veritable army of writers took a shot at scripting Masters of the Universe, but it’s clear they all had the same agenda, which is to not take this stuff too seriously. He-Man is one of the weirder toy franchises out there, and I was glad to see that they didn’t try to make it something it wasn’t. We’re talking about characters where one hero is stocky so they call him Ram Man, another has a giant fist, so they call him Fisto, and one dude has a periscope neck so he’s called Mekaneck. They actually come up with a good reason why their names sound like they were made up by a 10-year-old boy, because they were!
That said, Masters of the Universe dials down the humor when it comes to the actual life-or-death stakes involved. The heroes of Eternia have been through some rough times, and they are all scarred by it. Perhaps the best subplot belongs to Elba, whose Duncan was the strongest hero and most fearsome warrior in the king’s army. But when he fails to protect the kingdom, he sinks into an alcoholic depression and must remember the swashbuckling hero he used to be.
Others in the supporting cast are just as good. Mendes makes quite an impression as Teela, so much so that she carries large chunks of the action all by herself while Adam is still figuring out his shit. Alison Brie makes the most of limited screen time as dark sorceress Evil-Lyn, and I can see her having an expanded role in a future movie. And as much as I want to do what I usually do and run down Leto for ruining another movie, I can’t do that. Not only is his overly theatrical idiolect spot on for the showboating Skeletor, but he manages to be at least somewhat intimidating and completely ridiculous at the same time. The best stuff with Skeletor must not be spoiled. See it for yourself!
That said, some purists will inevitably feel that it goes too far into comedy, but I think it strikes a really good balance. Also, the film doesn’t shy away in poking fun at the overly macho themes that were such a part of the original line. This is very much a modern interpretation of He-Man, where being manly is about more than just having big muscles. Some are going to hate that, too. Probably call it “woke” or something.
Most importantly, Masters of the Universe manages to make you believe in both Prince Adam and He-Man as saviors of Eternia. It would be so easy to paint Adam as an idiot, but he’s not. And while he’s definitely not equipped physically or emotionally to be leading a war against Skeletor, Adam is no coward, either. That’s crucial, especially when he finally holds up that sword and shouts, “By the Power of Grayskull, I Have the Power!!!” If you grew up loving He-Man toys as I did, you’ll want to hold up your Mattel sword and chant it right along with him. The ’80s synth score by Daniel Pemberton and Queen’s Brian May adds tremendously to the old school vibe.
Masters of the Universe has been literally decades in the making. I’ve spent so much time and energy writing about failed relaunches that I could literally do it in my sleep, and probably have. Now that the movie is here and it’s everything we could’ve hoped for, I hope that people will show up and support it because this can’t be a one-shot effort. There are too many stories still to be told, and too many characters who have yet to have their moment to shine on the big screen. You have the power to keep He-Man alive, so use it!
Amazon MGM Studios will release Masters of the Universe in theaters on June 5th.