He-Man is about to be big business once again. The popular Mattel toy line, which spawned an even more popular cartoon series in the 1980s, is already getting a big screen update, and now there's a second new animated television show in the works. Netflix and Mattel Television are currently working on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe!
The new version of He-Man appears to be a straight reboot of the concept. If you missed the Masters of the Universe craze the first time around, the story focuses on a young, lost prince (whose name had better be Adam in this new show!) on the planet of Eternia who finds the power of Grayskull and has the ability to turn into He-Man, Master of the Universe. He-Man then battles the evil Skeletor and his colorful minions to defend his realm and the secrets of Castle Grayskull.
As anyone who watched the animated series will know, He-Man was joined in his fight against Skeletor by several allies, and it would be a crime if new versions of many of those characters didn't show up in the new and improved He-Man. What is a He-Man tale without Battle Cat, Man-At-Arms, Teela and Orko? Nothing, friends. That's what it is.
According to information released from Netflix on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the CG animated series will be re-imagining the story we all know and love, in order to give fans brand new storylines and fresh takes on those enduring characters. The show was developed for TV by Rob David (Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), who will be executive producing along with Adam Bonnett (Descendants) and Christopher Keenan (Justice League, Batman Beyond), while Mattel Television produces.
Those are already some solid names in animation, but you're probably wondering how He-Man is going to look, considering the many different styles of animation that are possible. Well, House of Cool and CGCG will handle the animation work, so if you're a fan of Netflix's Trollhunters, you'll likely be in luck when it comes to the style of the series.
As mentioned earlier, this He-Man show will be joining another on Netflix, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, which is being shepherded through development by Kevin Smith, who acts as showrunner and executive producer. That series will actually be picking up some of the loose threads from the original animated show and telling the "epic tale of what may be the final battle between He-Man and Skeletor." So it's good that we'll get both a new version of the classic story and a show that gives some love to the original and all of its fans.
Even though that first animated show only lasted from 1983-1985, it made a huge impact. A film version of the story, starring Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella and Courteney Cox, was released in 1987, and two rebooted series, The New Adventures of He-Man (which ran for one season in 1990) and Masters of the Universe vs. The Snake Men (which ran from 2002-2004). So, it would seem that the time is right for more He-Man on the small screen. It worked for his sister She-Ra, after all.
There's no word yet on when He-Man and the Masters of the Universe will hit Netflix, or how many episodes will be in the first season, but stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest. In the meantime, be sure to check out our 2020 winter / spring premiere guide and Netflix release guide to see what else you can watch on the small screen.
