‘Masters of the Universe’ directors have Marvel and ‘Star Wars’-sized ambitions

The higher-ups at Netflix have been open in admitting they’re on the hunt for an in-house franchise that can rival industry standard-bearers like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Masters of the Universe the latest to step up to the plate.

A reboot of the beloved fantasy property remained trapped in development hell for a long time, before roaring into life when the streaming service acquired the rights from Sony and tapped The Lost City‘s Adam and Aaron Nee to direct, with Kyle Allen being announced as the title hero for good measure.

Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s recent romantic adventure won strong reviews from critics and is performing admirably at the box office, but that doesn’t mean the Nee siblings will be resting on their laurels. Speaking to Variety, the brothers revealed they’re harboring huge ambitions for Masters of the Universe.

“We recognize that we are not necessarily competing with — but need to be living up to — the standard of what Marvel is doing, and what Lucasfilm is doing. Masters has to have the scale and scope of those, and it will. Our whole thing is just capturing the the fun of that brand, and making it fully realized. It will shoot next year.”

The filmmakers have been throwing plenty of encouraging adjectives around, touting a “wild and wacky” blockbuster that remains faithful to the source material while still appealing to the uninitiated, so hopes are fairly high that the Nees can do justice to Masters of the Universe whenever it comes to Netflix.