Synopsis: After years in exile, Prince Adam returns to a ruined Eternia and must embrace his destiny as He-Man to defeat Skeletor.
Stars: Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Jared Leto, Alison Brie, James Purefoy, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Kristen Wiig, Morena Baccarin, Idris Elba
Director: Travis Knight
Rated: PG-13
Running Length: 141 minutes
Movie Review in Brief: The 1987 version had heart and no budget. The 2026 Masters of the Universe has both, plus a scene-stealing Jared Leto and a big-screen glow worth the ticket.
By the Power of a Real Budget
If you came looking for a takedown, go cool off on Snake Mountain, because this Masters of the Universe review is a happy one. Amazon and MGM finally handed Eternia the money it always deserved, and what they got back is a loud, candy-colored blockbuster that understands the assignment. Producers tried this once before, back in 1987, when Cannon Films squeezed Dolph Lundgren into the role and ran out of cash long before they ran out of story. That version has its charms, and I still hold a soft spot for it. But it was dark, cramped, and weirdly grim for a property built on primary colors and toy-aisle imagination. This is the movie the kid version of me kept waiting for.
The story keeps things simple, which is the right call. Adam (Nicholas Galitzine, Red, White & Royal Blue) grew up the timid prince of Eternia before the Sorceress (a flat, uninspired Morena Baccarin, Deadpool) shipped him and the Sword of Power off to Earth for safekeeping when his parents and Eternia were seized by Skeletor.
Fifteen years later he is a human resources rep in Oklahoma, telling anyone who will listen about a magic kingdom no one believes he came from. His apartment is papered with sketches of characters named Ram-Man and Fisto. Then Teela (Camila Mendes, Musica) finds him, the sword turns up in a comic shop, and Skeletor’s takeover of Castle Grayskull yanks him home to finish becoming the hero he was born to be.
Galitzine Was Born for This
Finding a He-Man who works is no small feat, and Galitzine pulls it off. He bulked up without losing the sweetness, selling the muscle-bound warrior and the insecure guy underneath with equal ease. Galitzine is beefcake casting that actually has a soul behind the abs. Mendes makes a confident, capable Teela, and she plays especially well off Idris Elba (Concrete Cowboy) as her adoptive father Duncan, who gets a boozy mentor’s redemption arc I did not expect to land as hard as it does.
Then there’s the villain. Jared Leto (House of Gucci) steals the entire movie as Skeletor, and he is completely unrecognizable doing it. I know Leto can be a lightning rod, and some folks will rag on him out of pure habit. Ignore them. He hits the exact tone the character has always lived in, the confused bravado and misplaced ego of a guy who thinks he’s terrifying and is mostly a drama queen with a skull for a face. The performance is funny and menacing in the same breath, and it never winks so hard that the threat evaporates.
Not every call connects. Alison Brie (Together) feels stranded as Evil-Lyn, stuck in a register that never quite clicks with Leto. I kept thinking the film should have swapped her with Kristen Wiig (Wonder Woman 1984), who voices the robot Roboto. Wiig’s delivery seems built to spar with Skeletor, and Brie’s might have been a better fit coming out of a machine. It’s a small thing, but in a cast this size you notice the pieces that don’t slot in.
Eternia Has Never Looked This Good
This is where the movie won me over for good. Director Travis Knight, who already proved he could make a toy-shelf story sing with Bumblebee, drowns the screen in color and texture. He clearly studied the cartoon’s palette and built a world that feels like the show without ever looking like a cartoon, which is a far harder trick than it sounds. There’s plenty of Flash Gordon in its DNA too, right down to a Daniel Pemberton score that brings the bombast, with Queen’s Brian May pitching in. Guy Hendrix Dyas builds environments you want to wander, from Grayskull to Snake Mountain, Richard Sale’s costumes are aces, and Barrie Gower’s prosthetic work on Skeletor is jaw-dropping in close-up.
The Easter eggs are everywhere, down to the way certain characters stand. That’s the line between a movie doing obligatory fan service and one made by people who honestly love this stuff. And yes, stay through the credits. There’s a mid-credits scene you do not want to miss.
Who has the Ultimate Power?
It isn’t perfect. Knight gets so eager to prove the film is in on the joke that the PG-13 winking runs long, and the third act stalls out in speeches before the finale finally cuts loose. There were stretches where I wanted less talking and more swinging of the Sword of Power.
Still, something bigger hums under all the brawn. He-Man is one of the few 1980s icons that actually vanished, so every comeback doubles as a referendum: do people want the character back, or just the decade he reminds them of? This new Masters of the Universe is a more cohesive and joyful swing than 1987 ever managed. The power is back in the hands of the fans. Here’s hoping they use it wisely, and that we get to do this again.
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