“Masters of the Universe” Embraces Its Silliness

By
Garth Franklin
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Amazon MGM Studios

After years of attempts, a modern live-action He-Man film is finally happening with “Masters of the Universe” set to open in cinemas in June.

This week, Empire Magazine has done a series of articles on the film to celebrate the title as its cover story for an upcoming issue, and in the process has revealed some new details about it.

First up, the film’s director Travis Knight says the film very much leans into the franchise’s toys-turned-cartoon origins and won’t shy away from its tone or inherently sillier aspects:

“There’s an inherent silliness to it, which we are acknowledging and embracing. I think it’s a virtue, actually. And it’s woven into the script to help some of these things make sense to a modern audience. Like, why would that character have that stupid name? Well, over the course of the movie we show you why.”

Key to the film was casting He-Man himself which came in the form of actor Nicholas Galitzine who could play both the different Adam and He-Man personas with Knight saying: “I wasn’t looking for a body. I was looking for a soul… there’s a duality there: Adam essentially represents empathy, He-Man represents strength.”

Galitzine hit the gym hard for the role, though was fully aware he wouldn’t be able to reach the cartoon character’s ridiculous proportions:

“I think anyone seeing that iconic physique would find it extremely daunting. Even the animations put Arnold Schwarzenegger to shame: the proportions, the minuscule waist, the boulder shoulders… I had four or five months to get in shape. Truly, it was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.”

He did find donning the costume a lot of fun though, saying: “You just become kind of abnormally confident in it… wandering around in this costume was empowering.”

The new film also sees Jared Leto as Skeletor, the character staying true to the cartoon of a cackling skull in a purple hood and blue muscle suit. Knight touched upon Leto’s approach to the character:

“Skeletor was a really interesting villain. He looked cool. He was scary. He was funny. He was insecure. And then of course he had this distinctive voice. I wanted someone to craft their own version of that. Jared approached us, because he loves Skeletor and has his own history with the character. He wanted to swing for the fences. And ultimately we landed on something that I’m really happy with. Skeletor’s kind of the embodiment of toxic masculinity.”

Idris Elba reveals that He-man was a “really big part of my childhood” and he had “He-Man, She-Ra, Battle Cat” and the like. That’s what drew him to the role of Duncan/Man-at-Arms:

“The cartoons were always a little bit more fun, a bit more camp, a bit more out-there. Travis, who’s an incredible director, wanted to pay homage to the aesthetic of the original. I was all for that.”

The film also stars Camilla Mendes as Teela, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, Morena Baccarin as the Sorceress as well as James Purefoy, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Charlotte Riley, Kojo Attah and Kristen Wiig.

“Masters of the Universe” opens in cinemas on June 5th.