Masters of the Universe reboot is a perfect summertime fantasy adventure

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

It might sound goofy or hyperbolic, but Masters of the Universe is probably your best ticket to a good time in the theater this summer.

Directed by Travis Knight and released June 5, it’s one of the rare instances when a reboot lands closer to the original source material than its predecessor, in this case the now-ancient 1987 Masters of the Universe, which was itself a reboot of the cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which ran for two seasons from 1983-’84 and as reruns for many years after.

The revitalized MotU is fun on every level, reveling in the essential silliness and over-the-top camp of the original cartoon while bringing top-flight cinematography and visual effects to characters that every kid of the ’80s and very early-’90s will already know and love.

It takes itself just seriously enough to sketch personalities to care about (Idris Elba’s arc as Man-at-Arms is especially grown-up), but infuses it with enough blockbuster razzmatazz to keep things constantly engaging.

Given how deeply embedded He-Man is with the late-Gen X/early-Millennial crowd, it seems hardly necessary to summarize the entire plot. Suffice it to say, we meet Prince Adam of Eternia as a hapless, undersized kid who not only sucks at combat training but actively goofs around during lessons, much to the chagrin of his glowering, disapproving dad King Randor. Man-at-Arms has a little more grudging patience with the lad, who is childhood chums with his daughter, Teela. 

True to form, Adam has his trusty talking tiger Cringer, and life is good for the squirrely princeling. That is, until the bad guy Skeletor (Jared Leto in his career-best performance) and his minions attack the capital city of Eternia, lay it to waste and capture Randor and Queen Marlena. Just in time, however, Adam is teleported to his mother’s homeworld of Earth with the Sword of Power, given to him by The Sorceress who guards the Power of the Universe housed in Castle Grayskull. Setting up the opening act of the film, Adam is separated from the sword in transit and ends up marooned on a strange planet where he spends 16 years growing up into a mid-level human resources worker at some faceless corporation.

Just as in the cartoon, Adam (played as an adult by Nicholas Galitzine) is a little bit of a weiner, kind of slow on the uptake and too earnest for his own good. He remembers where he came from, and obsesses about the sword and all the people he left behind in Eternia, but no one believes him — including his disinterested roommate; the string of women he freaks out with crazy stories on failed first dates; and his frustrated boss, who turns passive aggression into an artform. It’s clear that he’s a super nice guy, though, who exudes empathy.

Things get cooking when Adam gets a lead on the location of his long-lost sword and runs out to find it just as he’s about to get canned for spending his cubicle-bound days trolling through sword-for-sale websites.

Cutting to the chase, he finds the blade and acquires it in a laugh-out-loud, chaotic scene set in a nerd emporium; but, in so doing, unwittingly sets off a beacon to Eternia that draws both friend and foe to either save him or take the power for their own nefarious purposes.

After some brief city destruction at the hands of a decidedly beastly Beast Man, he’s taken home by Teela (Camila Mendes) to an Eternia that has been devastated by more than a dozen years of oppression by Skeletor.

From there, he has to convince the Eternians in hiding that he is who he says he is, figure out how to unlock his power as He-Man and wield it to face Skeletor — the latter whom, it must be stressed, is delightfully and frequently hilariously evil (and a worthy successor to Frank Langella’s timeless rendition as the skull-headed villain nearly 40 years ago). 

Juxtaposed with the 1987 film, which starred Dolph Lundgren and who makes a sly cameo in the 2026 film, this MotU is a certified romp. The older iteration was deeply influenced by both Star Wars and the ’80s fantasy teen dramedies of the day, while containing vanishingly few of the many side characters that populated the cartoon. 

Rewatching it after seeing the 2026 version, it’s striking how much the grittiness of the ’80s infused its aesthetic and storyline. None of that is the case with the new installment, which is joyfully sunny by comparison and packs in all the big names like Ram Man, Fisto, Mekaneck, Tri-Klops and Trap Jaw (the latter serving as an especially menacing secondary nemesis). Of course there’s also Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie) and The Sorceress (Morena Baccarin), and everyone gets their opportunity to shine.

In one sense, 1987’s MotU is more daring and inventive than its 2026 counterpart. However, the latter is far more easily enjoyed as a theater experience. While the ’87 version had a strong whiff of dystopia, the new film treats apocalypse as a theme park ride, and it’s one to be taken gladly and with a hearty laugh.