Masters of the Universe (2026)

Masters of the Universe (2026) Review 💀🏰⚔️🛡

By the Power of Grayskull, This Was Better Than Expected!

Let’s Start By Showing Y’all The Trailers Shall We?

Here’s a question I genuinely had when this film was announced, who was asking for a Masters Of The Universe movie in 2026? I can’t imagine it was massive request (though i might be wrong), so did this film feel worthy of coming out this year? Lets find out, but first.

When the trailers for Masters of the Universe first dropped, I really didn’t know what to think. I have absolutely no attachment to He-Man. I didn’t grow up with the cartoon. I wasn’t sitting there waiting years for a live-action adaptation. In fact, the only live-action He-Man movie I knew was the 1987 film, and let’s just say that movie left me with very little confidence.

So when my friend Keegan and I decided to go see this, it wasn’t because we were massive fans. It was more of a “sure, why not?” situation. We had heard some decent things, needed something new to review, and figured we’d give it a shot.

What I wasn’t expecting was to walk out actually having a pretty good time.

Is it dumb? Absolutely.

Is it campy? Oh, without question.

Is it perfect? Not even close.

But unlike the original movie, this one understands something very important.

He-Man is ridiculous.

And instead of running from that fact, the movie embraces it.

Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

The story follows Prince Adam, heir to the kingdom of Eternia. After Skeletor attacks Castle Grayskull and takes control of the planet, Adam is sent away to Earth as a child along with the Sword of Power. Unfortunately, he loses the sword during his journey and grows up stranded on Earth.

Years later, Adam is living a normal life working in Human Resources while spending every waking moment trying to prove that Eternia was real. His apartment is covered in sketches, drawings, notes, and memories from his childhood as he desperately searches for the sword that can bring him home.

When the sword finally resurfaces, Adam finds himself pulled back into a war he left behind decades ago. With Skeletor still ruling Eternia and his old friends fighting a desperate resistance, Adam must finally embrace the destiny he’s spent his entire life avoiding.

Character Rundown

Nicholas Galitzine does a solid job as Adam. What surprised me most is that the movie doesn’t make him instantly cool. Adam starts off awkward, slightly pathetic, and completely obsessed with finding his sword. He’s the kind of guy who gets fired from Human Resources because he keeps searching for swords on company computers. He spends most of the movie getting in over his head before eventually growing into the role of He-Man.

Camila Mendes was enjoyable as Teela. She spends most of the movie acting as the voice of reason whenever Adam starts doing something stupid, which happens a lot. The chemistry between her and Adam works, and she ends up carrying a lot of the emotional weight of the movie.

Idris Elba’s Duncan was probably one of the bigger surprises. The movie gives him an actual character arc. After losing to Trap Jaw during Skeletor’s invasion, he spends years blaming himself for Eternia’s fall. By the time Adam finds him again, he’s basically a drunken mess living in a cave. It’s a surprisingly dark direction for the character, but it gives him one of the strongest arcs in the film.

Now let’s talk about Skeletor.

This might genuinely be Jared Leto’s best role.

And the reason that’s funny is because you can’t even tell it’s Jared Leto.

The character is entirely CGI. His voice is heavily modulated. His face is a skull. If nobody told me Jared Leto was playing Skeletor, I never would’ve guessed it.

The result is that instead of watching Jared Leto, you’re just watching Skeletor.

And Skeletor is an absolute blast.

He’s campy, over-the-top, dramatic, theatrical, and clearly having more fun than anyone else in the movie. Whether he’s conquering kingdoms, appearing in the sky as a giant hologram, invading Adam’s mind, or discovering the horror that is Human Resources, he’s consistently entertaining.

Evil-Lyn is solid as Skeletor’s second-in-command, although she feels more like setup for a sequel than a fully explored character. Trap Jaw serves as a great physical threat throughout the film and ends up being responsible for some of the movie’s more emotional moments.

Pacing / Episode Flow

One thing I’ll give this movie credit for is that it moves.

The opening invasion of Eternia happens quickly. Adam gets sent to Earth. We jump years into the future. We get the sword. We return to Eternia. The resistance forms. The final battle begins.

The movie rarely sits still for long.

Sometimes that works in its favor because it keeps things entertaining. Other times it means emotional moments don’t always get enough room to breathe before another joke arrives.

The first act is probably my favorite section. Watching Adam navigate Earth while sounding completely insane to everyone around him creates some genuinely funny scenes. Once the movie returns to Eternia it becomes a more traditional fantasy adventure, but thankfully it never loses its sense of humor.

Pros

The biggest strength of the movie is that it understands exactly how ridiculous the He-Man universe is.

The movie constantly acknowledges how absurd some of these names and concepts are. Characters openly make fun of names like He-Man, Fisto, Ram Man, and the various childhood nicknames Adam gave everyone. Instead of pretending these things are normal, the movie embraces them.

The humor worked for me far more often than it didn’t.

The date scene where Adam starts talking about Skeletor had my theater laughing. The comic book store scenes were funny. The running joke about Adam being incapable of driving anything was funny. Human Resources Skeletor was completely ridiculous and somehow one of the funniest scenes in the entire movie.

Visually, the movie is surprisingly strong. One of my favorite moments involves Skeletor using the Northern Lights themselves as a giant holographic projection in the sky. Not only is it visually stunning, but it’s also a massive improvement over the original movie’s version of essentially the same idea.

The action is solid throughout, especially once Adam becomes He-Man. The transformation sequence finally gets the iconic line right.

By the Power of Grayskull, I HAVE THE POWER!

Thank you.

Unlike the 1987 movie, they actually remembered the entire line.

Cons

The biggest problem is that the movie occasionally takes the Thor: Ragnarok approach where almost everything needs a joke.

Sometimes a serious moment lands, and then a joke immediately follows. There were a few scenes where I found myself wishing the movie would stop trying to be funny for five minutes and simply let the emotion sit.

Some of the dialogue is painfully on-the-nose.

Skeletor literally telling Adam that he’s “just a villain” feels like the writers were worried the audience wouldn’t understand the point. There are several moments throughout the movie where characters simply explain exactly what they’re feeling instead of letting the audience figure it out naturally.

I also wasn’t entirely sold on King Randor’s final conversation with Adam. The movie spends a large portion of its runtime portraying him as a father who pushed Adam too hard, only to suddenly reveal that everything came from a place of fear and protection. I understood what the movie was trying to do, but the transition felt rushed.

Finally, some longtime He-Man fans may not appreciate how comedic the movie is. I didn’t mind because I have no attachment to the franchise, but I completely understand why some fans would feel this doesn’t resemble the version of He-Man they grew up with.

Final Thoughts

The funny thing about Masters of the Universe is that I probably shouldn’t like it as much as I do.

The movie is campy.

The movie is goofy.

The movie is occasionally cheesy.

The movie contains Human Resources Skeletor.

And yet I walked out smiling.

It feels like the filmmakers looked at the original 1987 movie and decided to try again. There are similarities between the two films, but nearly every idea is executed better here. The world feels bigger. The characters feel stronger. The action is more memorable. The humor is intentional instead of accidental.

Most importantly, the movie actually embraces being He-Man.

It doesn’t seem embarrassed by the source material.

It understands that a movie about He-Man fighting Skeletor was never going to be Dune or Lord of the Rings.

Instead, it focuses on being fun.

And for me, it succeeded.

Rating

8/10

Spoiler Warning

Everything below this point contains full spoilers for Masters of the Universe (2026).

Spoilers

The opening invasion of Eternia was much darker than I expected. Skeletor’s attack on Grayskull immediately establishes him as a serious threat, and Duncan losing to Trap Jaw ends up driving much of his character arc throughout the rest of the movie. Watching Teela witness Duncan’s defeat was a strong moment, and it explains why the character ends up so broken years later.

I also genuinely laughed when Skeletor threatened to decapitate King Randor before casually cutting the head off a nearby statue instead. It’s exactly the kind of dramatic nonsense Skeletor would do.

Adam’s life on Earth ended up being one of my favorite sections of the movie. His date immediately abandoning him after hearing the name Skeletor was hilarious, and the comic book store sequence was even better. The visual of Adam trapped under a statue yelling that the statue was actually on top of him got a laugh out of me.

The resistance scenes gave us some of the funniest jokes in the movie. The explanation that Adam created names like Fisto, Ram Man, and Mekaneck as a child was surprisingly clever. Fisto insisting his name isn’t actually Fisto while Adam argues that he fists things is still one of my favorite exchanges.

The transformation scene was exactly what it needed to be. Adam finally saying the full line and becoming He-Man delivered the payoff the movie had been building toward.

The weirdest sequence in the entire film remains Skeletor entering Adam’s mind. Nothing prepared me for Gym Skeletor or Human Resources Skeletor. Watching Skeletor react to the concept of Human Resources with complete horror was worth the price of admission alone.

The final battle was entertaining even if it occasionally felt like Mortal Kombat. There were multiple moments where I expected somebody to yell “Finish Him!”

I still think Skeletor’s “I am just a villain” speech was too on-the-nose, but I appreciate the idea behind it. Adam wants to believe there’s good in everyone. Skeletor simply doesn’t.

The ending with everyone laughing at the name He-Man perfectly summarizes the movie’s tone. It loves the franchise while simultaneously recognizing how ridiculous some of it is.

And honestly?

After sitting through the original 1987 movie, I’ll gladly take the version with Human Resources Skeletor. 🤣