It seems Mattel and Netflix are invested in bringing back ‘Masters of the Universe’ come hell or high water! It has just been announced that the two companies are collaborating on a new CGI series called ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe’ that is NOT the same as ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’, the anime series being crafted by Kevin Smith. It is also not connected to the acclaimed ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’, which is already a smash hit on Netflix, but that originates from Dreamworks Animation. And don’t forget, Sony is also developing a live-action ‘Masters of the Universe’ movie, which is also not connected to this new cartoon.
In addition to the TV series, DC Comics will publish a tie-in comic book series, and perhaps most excitingly, Mattel plans to relaunch the toy line!
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Here is the series’ logline:
“On the planet of Eternia, a young lost prince discovers the powers of Grayskull and transforms into He-Man, Master of the Universe! The classic battle between He-Man and evil Skeletor rages to new heights as both hero and villain forge new and mighty teams. A new generation of heroes fighting for the fate of us all. In the end, who will become Master of the Universe?”
The new series will be created by House of Cool (Ferdinand) and CGCG (Star Wars: Resistance), both of which worked on Netflix’s ‘Trollhunters’. Rob David developed ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe’ for television and he is also working on Smith’s ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’. He will act as executive producer, along with Adam Bonnett (‘Descendants’) and Christopher Keenan (‘Justice League’, ‘Batman Beyond’). The show will be produced by Susan Corbin (‘Voltron’) and Jeff Matsuda (‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’), with Bryan Q. Miller (‘Arrow’, ‘Smallville’) acting as story editor.
Mattel launched the original ‘Masters of the Universe’ toy line in 1982 and it became one of the best-selling toy brands of all time. A Filmation animated series followed in 1983.
The brand was revived in 2002, with a tie-in series on Cartoon Network, but while adults loved both the new toys and cartoons, it did not catch on with kids. In 2008, Mattel launched ‘Masters of the Universe Classics’, a mail-order series that replicated the original toys in a more detailed fashion for adult collectors.
After that series ended, Mattel ceased producing ‘Masters of the Universe’ toys themselves, but have licensed the rights to Funko and Super 7, who have continued to supply new takes on the characters, once again, mainly targeting adults.
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After the success of the ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’ cartoon, Mattel created a new line of toys based on that series. Thus far, it has only been available at Target, but there are plans to extend it to all retailers in the future.
No word yet on when this series is expected to arrive. It would appear that while Netflix will offer two ‘Masters of the Universe’ cartoon series, this one, with its toy tie-ins, will be aimed more at kids, while ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’ will mainly be for adults. We’ll have to see which arrives first and which adults like better.
And one final note, although Sony is spending millions on the live-action ‘Masters of the Universe’ movie, to be directed by Aaron and Adam Nee, and starring Noah Centineo, there is talk that the finished film will actually go straight to Netflix instead of theaters. So that would make a THIRD ‘He-Man’ project arriving exclusively through the streaming giant!
What do you think? Which ‘Masters of the Universe’ are you most excited about?
Source: EW
