By Jamie Miller
He-Man, it’s a name synonymous with the ‘80s, a hero and veteran of the Saturday morning cartoon circuit right up there with Lion-O of the “ThunderCats” and Optimus Prime of “The Transformers.” He taught many children of the ‘80s to do the right thing, fight the good fight and be a good person. Heck, many children after the ‘80s loved following the adventures of He-Man and his “Masters of the Universe” including yours truly. Yes, I distinctly remember swinging around a toy power-sword dreaming of adventure planning out surprisingly elaborate battles and fantasies for a 5-year-old boy. I have nothing but fond memories for the entire franchise. Apparently so does Kevin Smith, as he produced the creation of Netflix’s “Masters of the Universe: Revolution.”
“Masters of the Universe: Revolution” picks up shortly after its first part “Masters of the Universe: Revelation.” Prince Adam has reclaimed the power of Grayskull and He-Man lives once more, Teela has become the sorceress of Castle Grayskull, Skeletor has been resurrected and further corrupted into Skeletek by the cybernetic being known as Motherboard as a part of her master Hordak’s plan to conquer Eternos and by extension the universe. Between Teela’s attempts to restore the Eternian heaven-like realm of Preternia after its destruction by Evil-Lyn in the previous part, the death of Adam’s father King Randor and the seeming return of Adam’s uncle Keldor who himself desires the crown and a dark agenda. It will take all the power of Grayskull as well as Adam’s own inner strength to save the very universe itself from destruction.
The series stars the voice of Chris Wood known for playing the likes of Mon-El in “Supergirl” as He-Man/ Prince Adam, his real-life wife Melissa Benoist best known for playing the title role in “Supergirl” provides the voice of Teela (Lena Heady) known for playing Cersei Lannister in “Game of Thrones” lends her voice to Evil-Lyn, Gates McFadden known for playing Dr. Beverly Crusher in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” voices Queen Marlena, Randor’s wife and Adam’s mother. Mark Hamil known best both for playing Luke Skywalker in the “Star Wars” franchise and voicing the Joker in various Batman works gives his best maniacal vocal performance to the sinister Skeletor. William Shatner, known of course for playing the one and only Captain James T. Kirk in the “Star Trek” franchise features as the deceptively soothing voice of Keldor. Meg Foster, known for roles in the likes of “They Live” and the regrettable “Masters of the Universe” film, voices Motherboard. David Keith, known for voicing the likes of Admiral David Anderson in the “Mass Effect” franchise and the Arbiter in the “Halo” franchise, provides the deadly yet dulcet tones of Hordak. Liam Cummingham, known for his role as Davos Seaworth in “Game of Thrones” provides the voice of Duncan/Man at War. Stephen Root, known for roles in the likes of “Office Space” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” provides the voice to Cringer/Battle Cat, the large talking anthropomorphic green tiger-like cat who is one of Adam’s best friends and who upon him morphing into He-Man the power of Grayskull morphs into the fierce and brave Battle Cat. Diedrich Bader, known for voicing Batman in various works, provides the voice of King Randor.
I…LOVE this series. Seriously, the colors, the music, the fights, it’s like “Masters of the Universe” for grown-ups. He-Man is making skull-based puns as he’s fighting Skeletor yet characters are also stabbed, shot and killed and there is blood. Skeletor is making goofy uncle jokes but he also delivers the severed head of an enemy’s second in command to him in a gift box. The show is colorful and goofy enough to be a tribute to what came before, but also knows when to get dark and serious. And it works swimmingly. This is why if you’re going to make a love letter series to something make sure the people doing it are fans of the original. None of this not watching the original to make their own thing which is basically code for don’t care about what they’re making and just seeing it as a license to print money. No, Smith is a fan and it shows. Great show all in all. I give it 10 torches out of 10. I can’t recommend this show enough though you might want to watch part one first. With both being available on Netflix, if you have the time I advise that you do.
