5 Things We Learned About Masters Of The Universe From Director Travis Knight

Nearly four decades ago, Dolph Lundgren donned a leather harness and became He-Man, the champion of Eternia, in what is one of the all-time critically despised sword and sorcery film "Masters of the Universe." In the years since, He-Man, She-Ra, and all things "Masters of the Universe" have thrived in animated series, video games, comic books, and — of course — Mattel's various toy lines, but bringing the story back to the big screen in non-animated form has seemed next to impossible. Indeed, a fresh live-action take on "Masters of the Universe" has been in some form of development for nearly two decades, and it's finally coming to fruition thanks to the folks at Amazon MGM.

During this year's CinemaCon, I was invited to a special preview presentation of "Masters of the Universe," with Nicholas Galitzine and Camila Mendes — who play Adam/He-Man and Teela, respectively — and director Travis Knight, to see even more footage than what was shown to the CinemaCon audiences and talk to Knight about what audiences can expect from his action-packed fantasy epic.

While I'm a '90s kid and didn't grow up during the initial wave of He-Man fever, I've always loved the world of "Masters of the Universe," especially She-Ra (and if I'm honest, Evil-Lyn, because I love a supervillainess more than any other character type). From the footage I've seen and the conversations I had with Knight, I am beyond hype for this movie. If you're not yet sold, check out these five things I learned from the director about the new "Masters of the Universe" and feel the power of Grayskull for yourself.

It's definitely not a requirement for a filmmaker to have a pre-existing relationship with an IP they're adapting, but it's certainly a treat when someone who loves the property they're adapting gets the chance. For Travis Knight, his relationship with He-Man and all things Masters of the Universe began as an '80s kid. "There was an aspect to it that just, it felt like it shouldn't exist," he explains. "It felt like someone took a bunch of ideas, threw it in a blender, and then spewed it out. And I was delighted by all of it. So, I had the toys, I read the little mini-comics."

He grew up watching cartoons, rushing home from school to catch the He-Man and She-Ra Power Hour, the programming block that aired "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" and "She-Ra: Princess of Power" back-to-back. He also said that the Castle Grayskull play set was the greatest Christmas gift he'd ever received, comparing it to Ralphie's quest for a Red Ryder BB gun in the endlessly rewatchable "A Christmas Story." As he ruminates:

"Toys, our playthings, are essentially vessels for our ideas, for our imagination. We pour a lot of ourselves into it. They become extensions of us, and in some way, we become extensions of them. [...] And so that was how I felt about the 'Transformers' when I was a kid, and that's how I felt about 'He-Man and Masters of the Universe.' I deeply love this stuff, and I've carried that with me my whole life."

Knight already gave us one of the best "Transformers" films of all time with "Bumblebee," so this is a sign that the film is in the hands of someone who already deeply loves the franchise.

When the first trailer for "Masters of the Universe" hit the internet, there was an immediate backlash against the scenes that showed Adam/He-Man on Earth rather than in Eternia. The footage we were shown at the special event almost exclusively took place in Eternia, but Dorian Parks from Geeks of Color asked Travis Knight outright how much of the film's runtime would take place on Earth, and, to our shock and surprise, he actually gave us the answer. "Very, very little time is actually spent on Earth," Knight tells us. "It's an important grounding mechanism for us, and there was a reason why we did it, which you'll see when you watch the movie."

Knight explains that scenes on Earth were necessary because it's part of Adam's ancestry, as his mother, Queen Marlena (Charlotte Riley), is from Earth. He also notes that the time on Earth allowed the story to do "certain things that pay off down the road." But if he had to give a percentage, Knight estimated that maybe 15-17% of the film is set on Earth, with the rest of "Masters of the Universe" taking place on Eternia. "Almost the entire movie takes place on Eternia," he explains. "We start on Eternia, we go to Earth for a bit, and then we go back to Eternia, and then we're there for the whole rest of the movie." Now, everyone who has been putting in hours complaining online about the film "taking place on Earth" can finally clock out from their shift at the comment section factory.

One of the coolest baddies as part of Skeletor's Evil Warriors is Trap Jaw/Kronis (Sam C. Wilson), a Gar cyborg weapons expert and a twisted criminal from another dimension. Trap Jaw has an impenetrable metal jaw, a loop on his helmet that lets him slide down wires, and a robotic arm onto which he can slot a wide range of weapons. In the footage we were shown, we got a solid look at the functionality of Trap Jaw's arm, which rotates and transforms depending on which weapon he wants to use at a given moment, and it looks an awful lot like the blend of practical and VFX Travis Knight utilized when making "Bumblebee." Knight tells us that while there was certainly a way to show the arm using nanotech, "there's no f***ing way I was going to do nanotech."

Knight explicitly wanted a weapon that was a physical thing that could alter itself, not unlike the "Transformers" movies. He needed it to look and feel tactile above all else, so he worked with his VFX team to take an approach similar to the one he utilized on his previous live-action venture. "To me, it feels like it's made out of real material, and it's got oil and grease, and it moves in a funky way, and it's nasty," Knight notes. "You do not want to get cut with that thing. So, yeah, definitely, in the Venn diagram [between 'Transformers' and "Masters of the Universe'], there's an overlap there, for sure."

Considering He-Man has been around for 45 years, there are multiple entry points to the franchise across generations, including out-of-context viral memes. Rosie Knight from Den of Geek pointed out to Travis Knight that "Masters of the Universe" will undoubtedly be the introduction to all things He-Man for a new generation, and he said he would be "honored" if that's the case for anyone. "Ultimately, that's why we do what we do: We do these things for a connection," he says. Knight told us a touching story about loving "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" as a kid and it being the first movie to move him to tears. "It felt like somebody had ripped out my insides and put it on screen ... somebody knew exactly how I felt," he confesses. He continues:

"Steven Spielberg was nothing like me. We were 30 years apart, but he understood an aspect, and he kind of dived deep and pulled things out where it was essentially a portrait of childhood loneliness, and it was something that really deeply connected with me, and I was moved by it. And I carried that with me."

It's this feeling that Knight has been chasing throughout all of his work. "So, when we tell stories, that's ultimately what I'm trying to do," he says. "I'm trying to forge an emotional connection with the audience. I really do feel ... this is going to sound like w*nk, but I feel like there is a kind of sacred contract between the director and the audience. And the idea is that if you give me your time, if you give me your attention, I will make it worth your while. I will give you something that matters.

He-Man is the embodiment of ultra-masculinity. At the same time, Adam/He-Man has always been a deeply empathetic character, and that aspect is sometimes lost when we're too busy discussing his ultra-muscular frame. With "Masters of the Universe," Travis Knight tells me that he wants to use the film to have a conversation about "What does it mean to be a man? What are the good aspects? What are the aspects that maybe we wish we could improve?" Whether people want to admit it or not, that is Adam's story.

"Eternia, for me, essentially represents '80s masculinity. And it's this kind of high-bound culture where power, strength, emotional discipline, and all these things that we tend to define in that way, that rules that society, and [Adam] doesn't quite fit in that world," Knight explains. "But he grows up in modern America, which has a very different form of masculinity that is valued, and it's more about empathy and understanding and communication." Knight wants to smash those ideas together like action figures and see what shakes out — especially regarding how Adam interacts with Duncan/Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba), his surrogate father.

"I didn't want to paint either side of that discussion with a broad brush," he says. "I wanted to make sure that we approach each perspective with empathy, that we said, 'Okay, why do you think this? Why do you feel this? And then what could you learn?' [...] I don't want to be soapboxy, but I do wish that as a culture, we could do more of that where we can engage with people in a thoughtful and sensitive way and empathetic way and try to see where they're coming from and try to find a common ground."

"Masters of the Universe" hits theaters on June 5, 2026.