By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 27 seconds ago

Recently, animator Barry Caldwell died, less than a week before the newest trailer for the live-action version of one of his many well-known projects: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. It is perhaps ironic that the trailer should so closely follow his death, as it is a reminder of his impact on our culture.

And boy, does the trailer have impact. Movies based on or around toy lines or video games tend to be transparent cash grabs and thus really horrible, with a few notable exceptions. Street Fighter leaned into its camp and both Silent Hill and Resident Evil managed to capture the survival horror of their settings quite well. Even the Sonic the Hedgehog movies embrace their cartoonishness to stand out as halfway decent adaptations. Meanwhile, repeated attempts to make a good Super Mario Brothers movie haven’t always won over fans, and the Jem movie, based on another Hasbro line, failed entirely by abandoning its source material.

Masters of the Universe appears as though it may not only join the ranks of the successful adaptations but potentially surpass them. The trailer shows us not only an Adam on a dreary Earth, but the consequences of both his exile and return. Sent away by his parents as Skeletor ravages Eternia, he works in an office but is a sci-fi nerd who is always conscious of his roots.

To top it off, he is the prince of the land he was sent away from, so his return has consequence to its people. Reunited with the Sword of Power, he is picked up by canon character Teela and brought back to an Eternia that has been ravaged and razed. His parents are prisoners, and it looks like his populace is a little skeptical of him. He knows that the weight of saving his planet rests on his shoulders. Is he ready to take on the challenge of defeating Skeletor and his evil minions?

Top-Tier Worldbuilding

The trailer treats us to magical transformations and really exciting fights with Adam in full He-Man form, answering that question rather quickly and giving us what we want to see in a He-Man movie: the titular hero fighting the terrifying sorcerer and his witchy sidekick, Evilyn in the fantasy setting it was written in, not here on Earth, which we see every time we open our eyes. This is augmented by the science fiction technology that was also a huge part of the fantasy setting, including space ships, laser guns, and mechanized weapons.

Even ravaged, Eternia looks awesome, with the CGI well-rendered and not cartoony, like an Avatar movie. We see all the sites: Castle Greyskull, the home of He-Man ally Sorceress, the lair of Skeletor, the sweeping capitol, and various vistas of Eternia’s mountains, plains, and forests. While there may be scenes on Earth, it feels like this is a story of Adam’s homecoming, and therefore it embraces Eternia as surely as Adam is its prince.

The characters are also largely spot-on. Cringer, Adam’s companion and steed whose alter ego is Battle Cat when the prince is He-Man, looks a lot better than he did in the original trailer, and makes a comical appearance in lieu of the MGM Lion in the production credit (MGM and Amazon produced the movie).

Teela looks exactly right, especially once she is in full costume with her hair swept up in her crown. Even Duncan Man-at-Arms, who is played by Idris Elba in a casting move that has caused some complaints, is in perfect costume, and Elba does justice to the grizzled warrior as he gives Adam advice about being a man.

A Trailer That Will Channel Your Inner Barbarian

The only one of the heroes from the cartoon that I haven’t seen in the trailers yet is the floating tiny wizard Orko, who as the comic relief of the show. Given how much attention has been given to the rest of the production, I suspect we may yet see him. After all, there are many special effects creatures in the trailer, including an alien Adam can’t identify. Even Sorceress appears, but you’ll only spot her if you’re “eagle-eyed” (hint, hint!).

Jared Leto is buried under a lot of makeup as Skeletor, giving the monstrous dictator a menacing look that is only more enticing in this new trailer. Unlike his cartoon counterpart or his portrayal by Frank Langella in the 1987 campy live action version with Dolph Lundgren, Jared Leto’s Skeletor is a frightening presence on the screen, his glowing red eyes evidence of his evil. Speaking of evil, Alison Brie as Evilyn is dressed to kill, even if she doesn’t quite look the part as much as Meg Foster did in 1987.

I went from being a bit unsure about the direction the movie was taking to being very excited about it because of this trailer. The other trailer made some hints that it was either embracing the “modern audience” or skewering it with the masculinity inherent in a character named “He-Man” (whose mundane identity’s name also means “man”), but with shots of He-Man in his full barbarian-style garb, it is clear that the movie isn’t shying away from its hero. It is actually starting to look like a real live-action version of the cartoon we grew up with in the 80s, and it looks like it’s not just a cynical artifact cashing in on nostalgia, but a truly great tribute to a memorable character and his world.

Masters of the Universe will be released in theaters on June 5, 2026. Take The Power and mark the date!