The astounding critical and commercial reception to 2023’s Barbie proved the success that movies based on toys can generate is nothing to play around with. That is certainly good news for an upcoming movie that is also cites a popular line of child’s playthings that has actually been in the works for a number of years. Luckily, it appears that Masters of the Universe is finally making its way out of development hell.
For years, audiences who grew up playing with He-Man action figures and watching the animated adventures of the powerful intergalactic prince on Saturday mornings have been waiting to see his wondrous world brought back to life in a live-action setting. Soon, Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films will make this wish a reality. Find out who is taking on the role of the iconic lead hero, who is helming the project, and more that we know so far about the new Masters of the Universe movie in our following guide.
What Is The Masters Of The Universe Release Date?
By the power of Grayskull (and the aforementioned Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films), Masters of the Universe is set to hit theaters everywhere on Friday, June 5, 2026.
When the reboot film was first announced in 2019, it was set to be released on Netflix and given a 2020 release date, but was held back due to the spread of Covid-19. The film was later revived with plans to start shooting in mid-2022, and those were abruptly cancelled not long after.
Masters Of The Universe Is A New Live-Action Update Of The Popular Toy Line
Taking its inspiration from the popular action figure line, Masters of the Universe‘s central character is He-Man, the super-powered alter ego of Adam, a barbarian prince hailing from the planet of Eternia. It’s there where he and his companions — including his twin sister, Adora, or She-Ra — engage in a series of battles against their arcbnefarious nemesis, Skeletor, who wishes to conquer Eternia by uncovering the secrets of Castle Grayskull.
The Masters of the Universe toy line was first launched by Mattel in 1982. While the fun of having an action figure set is the freedom to imagine your own battle scenarios, the adventures of He-Man and other characters from the franchise were also chronicled in accompanying minicomics, which were followed by a run in DC Comics and an animated series. More on that later…
Nicholas Galitzine Leads The Masters Of The Universe Cast
When the new live-action Masters of the Universe movie was first announced, Noah Centineo was cast as He-Man, but dropped out as the Covid-19 continued to hold the project back. In early 2022, 2021’s West Side Story star Kyle Allen was brought in until the project hit another snag.
After the reboot was revived under Amazon MGM studios, it was announced that Mary & George star Nicholas Galitzine will be the new He-Man. The English actor has already endured a great working relationship with the studio, having starred in many multiple Amazon Prime original movies already — including 2023’s Red, White & Royal Blue and The Idea of You from early 2024.
He is also known for the 2016 Irish dramedy Handsome Devil, 2020’s horror sequel The Craft: Legacy, and the acclaimed 2023 coming-of-age comedy, Bottoms. He’s spread his talents across a wide variety of genres, though He-Man will be quite different from what fans are used to.
So far, Galitzine is the only actor in the Masters of the Universe cast.
Travis Knight Is Directing
Helming Masters of the Universe is Travis Knight, who already has experience with movies about toys, having made his live-action directorial debut with 2018’s Transformers movies spin-off, Bumblebee. His first directing credit was 2016’s Academy Award-winning Kubo and the Two Strings from Laika — the stop-motion animation studio he co-founded to produce acclaimed films like ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls.
Handling screenwriting duties — following a previous draft by David Callaham, and Aaron and Adam Nee — is fellow Laika veteran Chris Butler, who penned the likes of ParaNorman and Missing Link, in addition to working on the storyboarding for stop-motion classics Corpse Bride and Coraline. Producing credits on Masters of the Universe go to Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists and Robbie Brenner from Mattel Films.
Masters Of The Universe Is One Many Upcoming Mattel Productions
It would not be too much of a stretch to assume that the Master of the Universe production got a healthy boost following the success of Barbie. However, He-Man is not the only toy hitting the big screen with help from the pink lady as there are several other films based on Mattel products currently in the works.
You can expect to see a new feature based on the popular American Girl dolls, both a Hot Wheels movie and another based on Matchbox toy cars, and even upcoming flicks about the View-Master and the Magic 8 Ball. There are plenty more where those came from on the way.
Previous Adaptations Of The Masters Of The Universe Toys
Masters of the Universe is far from the first screen adaptation of the eponymous action figure set as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, one of the most beloved animated TV shows, premiered in 1983 just a year after the toys launched. In fact, this will only be the franchise’s second live-action movie, following the 1987 release of Masters of the Universe, starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor, which is actually considered to be one of the worst movies based on a classic toy by many.
The franchise’s first-ever movie, however, was 1985’s He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword, which was later televised as a mini-series. The adventures continued to expand on the small screen in later years with 1990’s The New Adventures of He-Man, another remake from 2002.
The franchise couldn’t be held to just linear TV, either. Two animated reboot series arrived on Netflix in 2021, including the Kevin Smith-produced Masters of the Universe: Revelation. There were also two spin-off series centered on He-Man’s sister, with Netflix’s more recent hit She-Ra: Princesses of Power being an update of the ’80s toon She-Ra: Princess of Power.
Will this new interpretation of Masters of the Universe prove to “have the POWERRRRRRR!” to win audiences over? Nailing that vocal performance will go a long way. We will just have to see when He-Man returns to the big screen in 2026.
