Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation is intended to kick off a new era for He-Man, Skeletor and all their pals. The show is being developed for Netflix by Smith and he’s assembled an impressive cast. Chris Wood and Mark Hamill (who’s coming out of voice acting retirement) are playing He-Man and Skeletor, with support from Alicia Silverstone, Kevin Michael Richardson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kevin Conroy, Henry Rollins, Tony Todd, Phil LaMarr and Jason Mewes.
This won’t be a reboot of the property, but rather a sequel that picks up where the original 80s show left off. Smith appeared on video at Comic-Con@Home to hype up the series recently and underlined that this is a continuation of the existing narrative and said the animatics he’s seen have blown him away.
“It’s not us reinventing it, it’s not us going, ‘Hey man, everything you knew about He-Man is wrong,’ It’s literally as if we’re telling the next story in that series of stories. Our story is very big and connected and broken into chapters. When I took the job, I was like, ‘Man, I hope we do it justice.’ I’ve seen five animatics now, Powerhouse Animation is in control of that. Phenomenal. I’ve watched the animatics over and over again. I get blazed and sit there and watch ’em.”
In fact, Smith is so enthusiastic about what he’s seeing that he’d release the rough animation if he were allowed to.
“The performances that our cast, and we have an incredible cast, that they’re giving, and the Powerhouse Animation, is stunning. If I was in charge, I would release these on Netflix because I bet people would still be like that’s f***** dope. Thank God I’m not in charge, because they’re fully animating this thing. I’ve seen the graphics… I can’t give away too much. I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen it in animatic form, but I’ve also seen where we are headed, and it is beautiful.”
Smith then went on to discuss what it’s like working with both Mattel and Netflix, reserving specific praise for Netflix producer Ted Biasseli.
“He said, ‘All I’m asking you to do is tell a story that makes me feel like I felt when I was a kid again. Make me feel invested in these characters. I want to feel scared for them. I want to feel there are stakes.’ He said, ‘Treat this IP…like Shakespeare.’ That was our marching order. Thanks to Ted, we made something beautiful.”
So, when can we expect to see Masters of the Universe: Revelation? Well, it sounds like the recording sessions are practically complete and the animatics are progressing well. As such, I’m sure we’ll see a trailer for this sometime in 2020 with a release hopefully not too far into 2021. From the sounds of it, there are already further seasons in the pipeline, too, so I hope Smith gets to tell the whole epic tale he’s cooked up.
