I know Masters of the Universe isn’t horror by any stretch of the imagination. It is quirky, fun, and nostalgic. It was also a huge part of my early childhood, so I’m going to talk about it.  If you’re not aware of the franchise, “Masters of the Universe” is a toy line from the ‘80s that had a mini-comic, children’s books, and then eventually a cartoon series from Filmation. He-Man ran for two seasons, around 130 episodes total. As my brother and I didn’t watch a ton of TV as kid , our interactions were mostly through the toys and kid’s books. 

• Directed by: Travis Knight
• Written by: Chris Butler. Aaron Nee. Adam Nee
• Starring: Nicholas Galitzine. Camila Mendes. Idris Elba

It would be wrong of me to deny that as I kid, I had a LOT of toys. It would be wrong of me to deny that, as I kid, I had a LOT of toys. When our parents got us into a franchise, we were fully invested and the big ones I think of with my childhood are Star Wars and He-Man. Later we got into the Turtles, but that’s another story.  Today we’re talking about Eternia. 

Childhood Balance

I’ve mentioned this before, but I think what my parents looked for in franchises to introduce to us was primarily characters that could be divided equally. They didn’t want us fighting needlessly over favorites. Now, I’m going to be completely honest, I don’t remember if they divided characters or if we chose them. I’m leaning towards the latter, with some mild influence from them. 

Either way, what I do know is despite the fact that the female warrior Teela exists in MOTU along with the all-powerful Sorceress, my brother got He-Man stuff and I got Skeletor.  My love for this villainous skull-headed sorcerer is over 40 years old at this point and not going away any time soon. So, when the first trailer for the 2026 Masters of the Universe live-action movie hit, I knew that my appreciation would live or die based on how Skeletor was portrayed. 

For The Love of Evil

In some ways, that makes this an easy review. He’s awesome, end of discussion. However, there’s no way H³ lets me get away with a two-word review after I dragged him to a 10am showing after being out all night at a concert. I also made him buy fancy souvenir cups in hopes of getting the random Skeletor collectible. (I did not, so that means we have to go back, right?)  

Skeletor is part of my childhood. I can vividly remember setting up epic battles with all our figures in our basement. The smell and feel of the molded plastic and rubber is ingrained in me. Because we didn’t watch the show as much, I can’t look at the narrative of the movie and say this felt like watching the cartoon, although there are certainly elements that pay homage to it.  

What I can say is the fight scenes felt like playing with my brother. They were big and ludicrous in all the right ways.   While they defied any strategic logic, they were awesome in one very specific way. Young Ghoul would have loved it as would have Brother of Ghoul. Older Ghoul found it hilarious and entertaining. 

How to do Nostalgia

That part really gets to the heart of my review.  Masters of the Universe accomplishes something for me that I feel is pretty hard to pull off. It’s aware of all versions of the franchise and acknowledges them, while still working to tell a story with themes and character.  

A lot of discussion references the tongue-in-cheek-style of humor that is used. I don’t think they could have gone in a different direction. The story starts out seriously enough but begins to address the ridiculousness of the lore by tackling it head on. The narrative clearly identifies that these elements that seem outlandish to adults are awesome to their intended audience: children. Reframing some of these sillier conventions gives all audiences permission to relax into the narrative. It also does this without falling too far into self-parody. 

All This and Theme Too!

There is a story Masters of the Universe wants to tell, with a theme that, on the surface, seems obvious.  “This is one of those, just be yourself things isn’t it?”, you might be asking.  Yes…and no. Ok, this might be a bit spoiler-y. There’s a bit of a subtle twist on the whole “I have the power” thing. The Sorceress’ motivational speech to Adam is pretty great. She’s getting him all hyped for battle and telling him why she picked him to be the champion.  It’s not because he’s a sweet, sensitive soul. It’s because he can be sensitive, as well as being able to beat the crap out of people. He doesn’t resolve this fight by talking his way through it, even though he might try.  Some villains are just too evil for that. When he does decide to use his full power, it’s earth-shaking.

Evil for the Sake of Evil

Not every person can be reasoned with, and not every conflict will be solved through conversation. A good leader is one who can tell the difference and doesn’t always resort to fists first. They also don’t shy away from battle when necessary to defend their family.  There is nuance to that theme, and it requires character arcs and development. This is more than I expected from a movie about a toy line. 

Adam is incredibly likeable as a character who is not what he feels he should be. He’s a great foil to the leading character, Skeletor (mostly kidding). He’s earnest about trying to find the right way to help and I enjoyed him more than I expected.  

As always, the villains get all the great lines, and Jared Leto as Skeletor nails it. He’s funny and intimidating all at once. Best part: no sympathetic backstory.  He’s evil, period.  The character also looks amazing. The world as a whole looks great, as all the familiar faces come to life with surprising accuracy.  

Final Thoughts

Masters of the Universe is not going to be for everyone, which is kind of a shame since it had a hefty budget. It’s a movie made out of love for the franchise and references many of the iterations that come before it, including the original live action film with Dolph Lundgren.  If you are a fan, there is a lot to enjoy, but only if you don’t mind feeling like a kid again.