He-Man and his powerful friends learn what it means to be a hero while battling the evil forces of Skeletor and his minions.
That’s the series description from the YouTube page, so right out the gate, you know this isn’t your father’s He-Man….which in this scenario, I’m the father….so that’s accurate. This is not my He-Man. Unlike Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe, this second animated series on Netflix appears to take a whole new spin on everything.
A previously released a description of the show fleshes things out a little more:
“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 show, which has a CG anime-style look to it, is clearly geared towards kids. We get a bit of the lore with the Keldor/Skeletor duality, but the bulk of the show looks to be taking a new spin on things. Almost like a Shazam/Marvel family type spin, where it appears the other masters receive their power from He-Man and the power sword when he’s transformed, ala Cringer/Battle Cat in the OG He-Man.
Time will tell if the show is a hit. This larger question will be how much will this cause hurt and rage within the OG He-Man “fanbase” that were up in arms just a few short weeks ago with the first half of the Kevin Smith series.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe premiere on September 16 on Netflix.
