Masters Of The Universe Trailer: The '80s Franchise Is Back With Another Attempt At Live-Action

Ever since "Barbie" became a monumental box office phenomenon, Mattel has been pulling out all the stops when it comes to creating its own cinematic universe. And while its "Polly Pocket" and "Uno" movies have yet to gain much traction (with its "Magic 8 Ball" adaptation currently moving forward as an M. Night Shyamalan TV show), we finally have our first look at the next high profile film based on a Mattel property. By the power of Greyskull, we are returning to Eternia!

It's been nearly 40 years since Dolph Lundgren raised his power sword in the 1987 live-action "Masters of the Universe" movie, which ended with one of the worst post-credits scenes of all time. Still, it's not like He-Man has completely disappeared from the public consciousness. There was the surprisingly good and nuanced adult animated "Masters of the Universe" sequel series from Kevin Smith (which is streaming on Netflix) and even the computer-animated series "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" not too long ago. Now, however, we're getting another attempt at realizing He-Man in live-action.

Indeed, Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel are bringing "Masters of the Universe" back with a new movie aimed at both longtime fans and total newcomers to the property. Directed by Travis Knight ("Bumblebee") from a script credited to Chris Butler ("ParaNorman"), Aaron Nee & Adam Nee ("The Lost City"), and Dave Callaham ("Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"), the film follows Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) as he returns to Eternia after being gone for 15 years. There, he discovers that the wicked Skeletor (notorious box office poison Jared Leto) has taken over his home, forcing Adam to undergo a quest to reclaim the powers of He-Man so that he might defeat this ultimate evil.

Check out the "Masters of the Universe" trailer above!

The trailer for "Masters of the Universe" does make one thing very clear: you don't have to know the franchise to get into this entry. The trailer sees Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) stuck on Earth after his mother Queen Marlena (Charlotte Riley) sent him away from Eternia to protect him. Though this serves a narrative purpose of having Prince Adam be a newcomer to his own world and learn alongside the audience, it is still a cool nod to the source material. That's because Marlena is often portrayed as a former astronaut who crashlands on Eternia. Unfortunately for Adam, he goes to Earth in modern times, meaning we meet him wasting away his life inside a corporate America cubicle.

Visually, the trailer feels simultaneously very much in the vein of post-Marvel blockbusters, with dull colors and lots of video game-like CG structures. There is not much here to distinguish Eternia from any other sci-fi setting. The mix of fantasy elements with sci-fi does make the movie stand out from other blockbusters (by reminding us of the "Thor" movies). But there is something about the tone Travis Knight captures here that is reminiscent of 2010s blockbusters, particularly the likes of the failed "Warcraft" movie. There are a lot (and we mean a lot) of references to the original cartoon, including a virtually 1:1 translation of the original transformation from the cartoon.

Perhaps shockingly, the hardest character to translate, Skeletor (Jared Leto) looks quite good even for a mostly CGI character. How he looks in motion, aside from a blink-and-you-miss-it shot of him attacking Adam in the trailer, will be the film's real test.

"Masters of the Universe" unleashes in theaters June 5, 2026.