The last few years have been good to fans of the Masters of the Universe franchise thanks to some animated shows that can be streamed with a Netflix subscription, and as a nice bonus, there’s also been some progress made on the long-awaited Masters of the Universe reboot movie. After the project was scrapped by Netflix, Amazon MGM Studios snatched it up, and now Travis Knight is set to direct and Nicholas Galitzine will play He-Man. Today brings word that Camila Mendes will play the badass Teela, though I have one big question in response to this casting update.
Quickly rising to fame for playing Veronica Lodge in The CW series Riverdale, Mendes has been carving out a solid film resume with the likes of Palm Springs, Dangerous Lies and Do Revenge, among others. Her contributions to the 2024 movies schedule include Upgraded and Música, both of which can also be streamed on Prime Video, and she also produced Griffin in Summer, which debuted at the Tribeca Festival in June, but doesn’t have a wide release date yet. With her casting in Masters of the Universe, this marks the first time this upcoming movie finally has someone aside from He-Man cast over the nearly 20 years it’s spent in development.
Teela was previously portrayed by Chelsea Field in the 1987 movie Masters of the Universe, and more recently, she was voiced by Kimberly Brooks in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (the CGI animated series), Sarah Michelle Gellar in Masters of the Universe: Revelation, and Melissa Benoist in Masters of the Universe: Revolution. The character is traditionally depicted as the adopted daughter of Man-At-Arms who becomes Captain of the Royal Guard and teaches Prince Adam, He-Man’s civilian identity, how to fight. She also is frequently depicted as a love interest to He-Man, though in various adaptations, she initially isn’t aware that he and Adam are one and the same.
Which brings me to my question about Camila Mendes’ Teela: how will she specifically factor into the Masters of the Universe reboot? Will she simply remain an ally to Nicholas Galitzine’s He-Man? Will she also pursue him romantically too? Or will the character be utilized in a different way? Frankly, I find it hard to believe that Teela would be radically re-envisioned as a villain working with Skeletor or some other antagonist, but that’s not to say that the movie couldn’t change up the character in some big ways.
Whatever the case, Masters of the Universe provides Mendes the opportunity to star in a big-budget production, which will be new territory for her. According to THR, she screen-tested two weeks ago, as did Clara Rugaard, Alexandra Shipp and Quintessa Swindell. Mendes will also star in the I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot.
Masters of the Universe will arrive in theaters on June 5, 2026, and it will surely become available to stream with an Amazon Prime Video subscription after it’s done playing on the silver screen. Keep your eyes peeled on CinemaBlend for more updates on the reboot’s progress.
