Those who grew up with He-Man should be happy to know that the warrior’s wondrous world is being brought back to life in a live-action setting with the upcoming Masters of the Universe movie. Thanks to Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films, the long-awaited adaptation of the action figure line and Saturday morning cartoon is finally making its way out of development hell. The following is what we know about the Masters of the Universe movie so far.
What Is The Masters Of The Universe Release Date?
By the power of Grayskull (and the aforementioned Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films), Masters of the Universe is set to hit theaters everywhere on Friday, June 5, 2026.
When the reboot film was first announced in 2019, it was set to be released on Netflix and given a 2020 release date but was held back due to the pandemic. The film was later revived with plans to start shooting in mid-2022, and those were abruptly cancelled not long after.
What Masters Of The Universe Is About
Taking its inspiration from the popular action figures, Masters of the Universe's central character is He-Man – the super-powered alter ego of Adam, a barbarian prince hailing from the planet of Eternia. It is there where he and his companions — including his twin sister, Adora, or She-Ra — engage in a series of battles against their nefarious archnemesis, Skeletor, who wishes to conquer Eternia by uncovering the secrets of Castle Grayskull.
The Masters of the Universe toy line was first launched by Mattel in 1982. While the fun of having an action figure set is the freedom to imagine your own battle scenarios, the adventures of He-Man and other characters from the franchise were also chronicled in accompanying minicomics, which were followed by a run in DC Comics and an animated series. More on that later…
The Masters Of The Universe Cast
I imagine that fans of He-Man have a preconceived idea of what type of actor should play the iconic hero. Well, let’s take a look at who Amazon MGM has chosen to lead the Master of the Universe cast and who else is joining him for this new adventure.
Nicholas Galitzine (He-Man/Prince Adam)
The new He-Man will be played by Nicholas Galitzine, who already has a great working relationship with the studio, having starred in many Amazon Prime original movies already — including 2023’s Red, White & Royal Blue and The Idea of You from early 2024. The English actor’s casting follows two previous announcements that the lead Masters of the Universe role was filled – first by Noah Centineo, who dropped out as Covid-19 continued to hold the project back, and then by Kyle Allen, who was brought in until it hit another snag.
Camila Mendes (Teela)
Teela – the Captain of the Royal Guard at the palace of Eternos, who serves as Prince Adam’s trainer and protector – will be played by Camila Mendes, as the THR reported in August 2024. The character – who also fights battles with He-Man while unaware he is Adam’s alter ego – marks a major departure for the former Riverdale cast member, who is otherwise best known for rom-com films like the funny Palm Springs (one of the best movies on Hulu) or Amazon’s Upgraded. Then again, she also starred in a crime thriller called Coyote Lake from 2019 and led Netflix’s Dangerous Lies the following year.
Alison Brie (Evil-Lyn)
You could probably guess by her name alone that Evil-Lyn – the only female member of the Evil Warriors and second-in-command to Skeletor – is a villain, who will be played by Alison Brie. The actor broke through as Annie in the Community cast and later starred on Netflix’s GLOW but has also taken on darker roles, such as in Horse Girl and the Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman.
Travis Knight Is Directing
Helming Masters of the Universe is Travis Knight, who already has experience with movies about toys, having made his live-action directorial debut with 2018’s Transformers movies spin-off, Bumblebee. His first directing credit was 2016’s Academy Award-winning Kubo and the Two Strings from Laika — the stop-motion animation studio he co-founded to produce acclaimed films like ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls.
Handling screenwriting duties — following a previous draft by David Callaham and Aaron and Adam Nee — is fellow Laika veteran Chris Butler, who penned the likes of ParaNorman and Missing Link, in addition to working on the storyboarding for stop-motion classics Corpse Bride and Coraline. Producing credits on Masters of the Universe go to Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists and Robbie Brenner from Mattel Films.
Masters Of The Universe Is One Many Upcoming Mattel Productions
It would not be too much of a stretch to assume that the Master of the Universe production got a healthy boost following the success of Barbie. However, He-Man is not the only toy hitting the big screen with help from the pink lady as there are several other films based on Mattel products currently in the works.
You can expect to see a new feature based on the popular American Girl dolls, both a Hot Wheels movie and another based on Matchbox toy cars, and even upcoming flicks about the View-Master and the Magic 8 Ball. There are plenty more where those came from on the way.
Previous Adaptations Of The Masters Of The Universe Toys
Masters of the Universe is far from the first screen adaptation of the eponymous action figure set as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, one of the most beloved animated TV shows, premiered in 1983 just a year after the toys launched. In fact, this will only be the franchise’s second live-action movie, following the 1987 release of Masters of the Universe, starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor, which is actually considered to be one of the worst movies based on a classic toy by many.
The franchise’s first-ever movie, however, was 1985’s He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword, which was later televised as a mini-series. The adventures continued to expand on the small screen in later years with 1990’s The New Adventures of He-Man, another remake from 2002, and two animated reboot series on Netflix in 2021, including the Kevin Smith-produced Masters of the Universe: Revelation, and a 2024 miniseries called Masters of the Universe: Revolution. There were also two spin-off series centered on He-Man's sister, with Netflix's more recent hit She-Ra: Princesses of Power being an update of the characters' '80s spin-off.
How to watch previous Masters of the Universe adaptations
- Buy He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-1985) on Amazon
- Stream Masters of the Universe (1987) on Tubi
- Stream The New Adventures of He-Man on Peacock
- Stream He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2021-2022) on Netflix
- Stream Masters of the Universe: Revelation on Netflix
- Stream Masters of the Universe: Revolution on Netflix
- Stream She-Ra: Princesses of Power on Netflix
Will this new interpretation of Masters of the Universe prove to “have the POWERRRRRRR!” to win audiences over? We will just have to see when He-Man returns to the big screen in 2026.
