He-Man fans, it’s time to feel the hype. Our first look at Netflix’s upcoming reboot of the classic 80s animated property has arrived in the form of this new batch of images from the upcoming series Masters of the Universe: Revelation.
There are so many reasons to be excited for this one. In contrast to Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and a CG-animated He-Man show that’s also in the works, Revelation isn’t aimed at a new generation but is a love letter to the original, with the storyline even following on from the end of the 80s series. What’s more, fan favorite filmmaker Kevin Smith is at the helm, serving as showrunner. And then there’s the ridiculously talented voice cast, led by Supergirl‘s Chris Wood.
In these new stills, we get our first look at the redesigned Prince Adam of Eternia, alongside his various allies and enemies. Including his nemesis Skeletor (voiced by the one and only Mark Hamill), Evil-Lyn (Lena Headley), Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Queen Marlena (Alicia Silverstone) and legendary Batman star Kevin Conroy as Mer-Man. Original Skeletor vocal actor, Alan Oppenheimer, is also back, now in the role of Moss-Man.
Though it’ll maintain continuity with the classic show, which lasted for 130 episodes from 1983-1985, the fact that it’s aimed at a more mature audience means that Revelation will be able to explore deeper themes and, overall, just treat the characters and the mythology in a more adult way. As Smith explained to Entertainment Weekly:
“We get to see them engage not just in clashing swords, but in far deeper conversations than we’ve ever seen them before,” he explains. “It’s not just simply like these two dudes [He-Man and Skeletor] have been trying to beat each other up for decades. We get to tell stories of abuse. We get to kind of tell stories of isolation, grief. We use these characters as long as they’ve been around — and most people consider them toys or action figures — to tell insanely human stories set in a very inhuman world.”
10 episodes of Masters of the Universe: Revelation have been produced so far and have been split into two halves. The five episodes of Part 1 are set to become available on Netflix in a couple of months’ time, on July 23rd.