Masters of the Universe: Revelations (TV) Review

Masters of the Universe: Revelations, the spiritual successor to the original 1983 cartoon series/toy commercial: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, has been nothing but a spiral of rumors, lies, and speculation. From the rumor of showrunner Kevin Smith taking everything that made He-Man a smash hit and throwing it into the bin in favor of Teela and a diversity quota-based TV show (Which was now proved true to a point, which makes my respect for Kevin Smith drop), to the release of the first images revealing key characters, to the first trailer being misleading in marketing. Now we get to see what Masters of the Universe: Revelations can do for a franchise that is nothing but a meme at this point.

Title: Masters of the Universe: Revelations
Production Company: Mattel Television / Powerhouse Animation Studios
Distributed by: Netflix
Produced by: Rob David, Frederic Soulie, Adam Bonnett, Christopher Keenan, Kevin Smith
Written by: Kevin Smith, Eric Carrasco, Tim Sheridan, Diya Mishra, Marc Bernardin
Starring: Chris Wood, Mark Hamill, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Liam Cunningham, Lena Headey
Based on: Masters of the Universe by Mattel
Release dates: July 23, 2021
Running time: 26 minutes (5 Episodes)
Rating: G

A Battle as old as time!

Episode 1: The Power of Grayskull

It’s celebration time in the Kingdom of Eternos as King Randor and Queen Marlena appoint a new Man-At-Arms: Teela, as her “Father” Duncan retires from the role. While the kingdom celebrates, He-Man approaches the gate at Castle Greyskull, with two of Skeletor’s henchmen: Clawful & Spikor in tow, both captured in some off-screen battle. The Sorceress comes down from the castle to greet He-Man, but Spikor reveals himself to be Skeletor! At the same point in time, Orko, the castle magician, tries to help Cringer with his feat of loud noises, accidentally trapping him in a bubble. Prince Adam pops the bubble, revealing himself to be at the party, and “attacks” Teela with a hug, only to be man-handled off the gruff and stern woman with a reverse wrist lock. Back at the castle, the Sorceress blasts Skeletor aside, claiming she was not fooled by his trick, only to be captured by He-Man instead.

He-Man and Skeletor take the Sorceress into the halls of Castle Greyskull, where it is revealed that He-Man is Faker, a robotic duplicate of the hero. The Sorceress breaks free of the robot, and encases herself in a shield, granting her protection from Skeletor, Faker, and Evil-Lyn (who was disguised as Clawful). Skeletor exclaims that after all these years, he understands that it’s not Greyskull itself that he wanted, but the chamber under the castle, which houses the inner chamber of the Hall of Wisdom, the place that originally stood where Greyskull is now. Skeletor baits the Sorceress into calling for He-Man, which she does.

As Teela is being sworn in as the new Man-At-Arms, Prince Adam gets The Sorceress’ psychic call and alerts Duncan to the battle happening outside Greyskull, giving Prince Adam a chance to become He-Man and joining the Kingdom’s warriors in battle outside Castle Greyskull. Fighting their way into the inner chamber that was hidden under the castle, we get another fight between Skeletor and He-man, while Evil-Lyn and Teela fight off to the side. During the battle, Skeletor gets the upper hand against He-Man, only to be stopped for a moment by Moss Man, whom Skeletor burns to death with fire, infuriating He-Man enough to stab Skeletor with the Sword of Power.

Skeletor laughs as he is implanted, stating that He-Man has finally used the Sword of Power as it was originally intentioned: To unlock a safe which holds all the power of the Council of Elders, and the creative magic of the universe, inside an orb. Skeletor is able to strike the orb with his Havok Staff, shattering the orb and about to destroy all of the universe. Luckily, The Sorceress is able to stop time for a moment, enough time for He-Man and Teela to discuss what might happen (And a great hint at Teela’s origins). He-Man wonders if he called upon the power of Greyskull while in his He-Man form to contain the power, which The Sorceress agrees would be enough to stop the destruction, but at the cost of He-Man’s life. Running out of time (and time resuming), He-Man calls upon the power of Greyskull, drawing it into his sword. The power overcomes He-Man, splitting the Sword of Power into two halves, and de-powering He-Man in the process. This reveals the long-time secret to Teela that Prince Adam is He-Man, all before Adam and Skeletor are caught up in a blast that kills them both.

Back at the castle, Duncan reports that Skeletor has been defeated, at the cost of He-Man’s life. King Randor accepts this and begins to honor He-Man, but Marlena dives into his arms exclaiming that they have lost their son (Somehow she knew all along). Randor disagrees with this till Duncan tells the truth of the secret of He-Man to him. Randor, furious with grief, strips Duncan of his rank, name, and casts him out of the Kingdom under penalty of death. After being told to throw Duncan out, Teela says no and starts ranting about how furious she is with everything to do with He-Man, people lying to her, Adam not telling her anything, Duncan keeping the secret, and the whole war against Snake Mountain, stating that she is done with the Kingdom, He-Man, Skeletor, magic and people lying to her as she storms off, leading to the episode ends.

Episode 2: The Poisoned Chalice

Sometime after the events of episode 1, it looks like Teela has teamed up with someone new and has gone into the mercenary life. After retrieving the “Glove of Globular” from Stinkor, Teela and Andra are approached by a mysterious woman who is wanting to hire the two for a job. The job is for the two to break into Snake Mountain and retrieve a goblet. We get a flashback of a previous time where Teela was escaping from a trapdoor outside Snake Mountain, complete with an assist from He-Man as the two takedown Whiplash before heading into the mountain proper via the Wolf Gate.

Upon returning to the same spot from the flashback, it is shown that there is new technological security around the Wolf Gate. Noticing the upgrade to the security, Teela and Andra make their way into Snake Mountain using the same trap door as seen in the flashback, noting that the mountain itself is Snake Mountain’s biggest weakness. Once inside Snake Mountain, Teela takes note that everything is way too metallic and technology-based than it used to be. The two follow some cult-like people in robes to the main chamber (after taking two of them down to steal their robes) where Tri-Klops and TrapJaw are leading people into their cult based around cybernetics, where normal people drink from the goblet and become a part-human / part machine.

After hearing a rant about how magic was a weakness, an empty promise, and that technology is the answer, Teela engages the cult members in battle, complete with a rematch against Whiplash. Andra gets into a fight with TrapJaw but uses a severed hand of one of the cult members to activate a buzzsaw, smashing it into TarJaw’s face (killing him?). The two escape further into Snake Mountain, avoiding a tentacle monster at the bottom, and leave with Goblet in hand.

Back in the city, the two end up being found by the mysterious woman, with Teela handing over the goblet to the woman. As they begin to leave, the woman mentions that maybe Teela would like to finish the job, stating that the goblet needs to be delivered to Greyskull. Teela agrees after Andra pushes her into doing something right for the world and having an adventure for the first time in her life. The trio arrives at the ruins of the Hall of Wisdom, Andra exclaiming that it’s not as skull-based as it once looked. Inside the main chamber, it is revealed that The Sorceress is still alive, holding some remaining magic of Greyskull. Teela asks what Evil-Lyn is doing, revealing the woman to be her old foe. The Sorceress restores the goblet to its true form, the Havok Staff. Teela tries to attack Evil-Lyn, only to be stopped by Cringer. The Sorceress states that she arranged for Evil-Lyn to return the staff, using it to protect the final ember of magic in the universe, at the sacrifice of her own power.

Evil-Lyn explains the history of Eternia and the magic that was the Sword of Power, further telling that Eternia will die without magic, along with the universe. The Sorceress tasks Teela to track down the two pieces of the sword of power and reforge them into their true form. Teela begins to walk away, saying that she is done with all that. Cringer talks about their past together, and that Teela is scared of what she knew and that Adam sacrificed himself knowing that Teela would be the one to save Eternia, as Teela was the heart of Adam and He-Man. Teela agrees to the quest, Evil-Lyn joining them to make sure that they don’t get up to too much good. Teela states that if they are going to have to go to Preternia and Subternia, they’ll need the best weapons master in the land… Far away, a figure throws a cloak over his shoulders, revealing half his face as the episode ends.

Episode 3: The Most Dangerous Man in Eternia

Thins open with a flashback in the crystal sea, with He-Man, and Teela captured in a ship by Skeletor, Evil-Lyn, and Mer-Man’s crew. Mer-Man orders the two be thrown overboard, which happens, only for the duo to be saved by Duncan, then the trio gets back onto the ship and beats down the villains. Back in the present, Andra comments about the story, with Evil-Lyn stating that even she was enamored with Duncan and his skills, stating he was the real most dangerous man in Eternia. There’s a small exchange between Evil-Lyn and Andra about the attraction to dangerous men, saying they will never return affection and other negative things.

In another town, a villager trips and spills some magic water on the ground, annoying the other villagers who have lined up to get some. Duncan stops the villagers from attacking the old man, just as Tri-Klops and his cult members attack the town, with Duncan coming to their defense. The female trio arrives on the scene and helps Duncan battle the cult, but it’s not long before they are all captured by the cult members. Just before Tri-Klops can do anything, Beast Man arrives on the scene and protects everyone, saying that he will kill anyone who attacks the town, and Evil-Lyn. Once the attack is over, Duncan falls to his knees and begs Teela’s forgiveness, before Evil-Lyn butts in and pushes for things to move faster. Duncan doesn’t join the group, stating that he will abide by the order that was given to him by King Randor, and that a friend will die.

At a shack outside the village, Teela walks in and sees Orko, disheveled and dying. Evil-Lyn states that Orko is suffering since magic is going from the world. Orko and Teela have a small emotional reunion, saying that they both miss Adam. Duncan refuses to join the group as his adventuring days are over, at the request of the royal family. Roboto appears on the scene, and gives a speech about family and what it means. Duncan saying that he is not going to leave his family and jump into danger. Orko says he will go in Duncan’s stead, wanting to make up for what happened to Adam and live what might be the final moments of his life, for one more adventure. Roboto says he will join also, to reforge the sword of power, helping the group. This is enough for Duncan to want to join, but Teela states that Duncan needs to go to the castle, to protect The Sorceress. Duncan almost reveals a final secret, but Evil-Lyn cuts him off, stating that time is of the essence and the ember is dying out. Duncan agrees to head to Greyskull while the rest go for the swords.

Back out on the crystal sea, the trio reminisces about the order days, with Evil-Lyn admitting that she could have done much more if she didn’t follow Skeletor. Teela tells her to just get over things, with Evil-Lyn replying in kind. Orko talks about how his mind is going and his life is ending with Andra, saying that you need to hold onto the good times so you’ll never forget them. The group is then attacked by Mer-Man and his troops, with a battle about to begin after one of the crew grabs Evil-Lyn, causing Beast Man to attack. Mer-Man himself arrives and starts monologing. Much like the flashback, Duncan arrives and fights off Mer-Man and his troops single-handed.

After his defeat, Mer-Man agrees to take the ship to the gates of Subternia. Upon arriving, Orko states that he is starting to feel better, meaning that one-half of the sword of power must be nearby. Duncan says goodbye and heads off to Greyskull as the group head to the gate. At the gate, Evil-Lyn takes the head from the Havok Staff and places it on top of the body of a skeleton that is sitting at the gate, which allows the door to open and the group heads down into Subternia. Teela states she will go alone, but everyone joins her anyway. Before she heads down, Evil-Lyn takes the skull from the staff, closing the door behind them as the episode ends.

Episode 4: Land of the Dead

Heading down into Subternia, Orko recites an old poem about ScareGlow and the effects that Subternia can have on someone. Teela notices a glow in the distance and then notices everyone has disappeared, with Teela following a voice calling to her. The Orko and Evil-Lyn awake in Trolla, Orko’s homeworld, near a library which the duo head towards, and the rest of the group appear in a wasteland, where they are to be attacked.

Teela continues down a glowing path, where she moves around in a defensive stance, arriving in ScareGlow’s lair. ScareGlow appears and asks why Teela has come to his realm, with Teela stating that she is seeking a sword. ScareGlow reveals the dark half of the sword of power, stating he will trade the sword for something… Teela’s fear, but Teela states that she feels nothing. The two strikes a bargain, and Teela is sent to the well of darkness, where she will face her fears to either survive or be lost forever.

Back on Trolla, Orko and Evil-Lyn arrive at the center of the library, where the wellspring of magic is… but it’s dry. Orko wonders where his fellow Trollans are, and if he is the only one of his kind left. Orko gives the backstory of his name, and that he was a failure for himself, his parents, and his race. Evil-Lyn says that Orko needs to fight for the smallest amount of respect in life, that what he does is more than just magic, it’s everything that he could be and more. Orko asks about one thing, that being Lyn’s name, she states she added the Evil part herself. As the two connect, many dark-looking Trollans appear from the shadows, forming a large monster. Evil-Lyn tries to use magic, but it fails, the two runnings away from the moster.

Back at the well, Teela wakes up from the fall and wants to move things along. Out from the shadows, He-Man appears, drawing his sword and the two engage in battle. Back in the wastelands, Beast Man, Roboto and Andra fight off what look to be zombies, with Roboto apologizing the whole time. Andra is wondering what is going on, with Roboto mentioning that these are Shadowbeasts and that they react to fear, with Andra getting inspiration from the word “enlightening”. Back at Trolla, the duo face down the Shadowbeast, Lyn trying to help Orko get over his own feat of failure. Back at the well, Teela and He-Man continue to fight, with He-Man being the stronger of the two, being negative about the experiences the two shared, making Teela face her fear of being alone, with her fear/He-Man getting the upper hand. Teela’s fear changes from He-Man to her old self, stating that Teela’s true fear is running away from her true fate. Teela admits her fear, saying it won’t control her anymore.

Each through their own means, the groups find their own light, defeating the Shadowbeasts, with Teela being able to manifest the dark side of the sword of power out of thin air. As ScareGlow’s own power fades away, the groups are reunited once more. Teela hands her half of the sword over the Evil-Lyn, who uses it to create the door to Preternia. ScareGlow reappears on the scene, trapping everyone before they can run through the door, looking to kill them all. ScareGlow tries to bring some spikes down on everyone, but Orko stops them and sends them heading at ScareGlow, the two then engaging in battle. Orko creates a protective barrier against ScareGlow, giving everyone a chance to break free and head through the door. ScareGlow manages to get through the barrier and grabs Orko, who sacrifices himself to keep the group safe. Teela is blasted through the door, a small piece of Orko’s cloth coming through and landing in her hand. Teela begins to cry at the loss of her friend. Teela begins to blame Evil-Lyn before she is interrupted… by Adam as the episode ends.

Episode 5: The Forge at the Forest of Forever

This final episode opens with Adam carving a gravestone for Orko on Preternia, with Adam, Teela, and Lyn each saying something about the little hero. Adam asks the forest to bring a little Trolla to Orko’s grave, and through Moss Man, the grass around the stone changes to like it would be on Orko’s homeworld. Adam gives his half of the power sword to Teela, saying that Preternia only allows people in, and not out, meaning the group is trapped there, but there might be a chance for them to escape. Adam and Teela leave the group in search of the original He-Man. Today in Preternia is the wild hunt, something everyone seems to get into.

Roboto and the rest take the two halves to He-Ro, who examines the two halves and says its impossible to reunite the swords without a very powerful forge. Andra suggests turning the whole building into a forge in order to get things hot enough to reforge the swords. At the wild hunt, Teela and Adam face off against different eras of the He-Man legacy in a race that includes Vikor, Wun-Dar, and King Greyskull himself. Together, the duo race to the head of the pack to meet up with King Greyskull, doing all sorts of tricks that they used to do back on Eternia. Eventually, Teela manages to catch up to King Greyskull, with the King stating that they choose their forms on Preternia, but none have used their lesser forms till Adam arrived.

At a fire, Greyskull gives a small history of the sword of power, stating that Greyskull was named after him in a dubious honor at best. Greyskull mentions that there is a portal at his tower, Adam asking why he never used it. Greyskull says that he is dead, and is fine where he is, and also that going back would be unnatural. Back at the random building where He-Ro is, the group finishes modifying the building to be a forge, with Evil-Lyn using the ember to start the reactor inside Roboto that will be the main source of the forge. Roboto tells everyone to get to a safe distance as he gets to work.

Back out in the forest, Teela looks over a lake as Adam approaches. Adam begins to explain why he lied, but Teela cuts him off stating that she needed time to process not only Adam’s death, and the lie itself. Adam asks why she came to Preternia, guessing that the magic is dying. Adam thinks that everything is fine back on Eternia, but Adam says he could go back if he could, and he can. Teela walks away, as Moss Man arrives to talk to Adam. Moss Man talks about nature and the nature of things, and that if Adam was to go back, he would lose everything that he was given this time around. At the forge, Roboto continues to make the two swords into one, with his core becoming unstable during the process. From the outside, the group watches the process happen, while inside, Roboto manages to recreate the single sword of power… Only to have it explode in his face, destroying the forge and Roboto. In his last moments, Roboto passes one final message to Teela for Duncan, that for one moment he was more than a machine and it was wonderful.

Everyone heads to the Greyskull tower, where Greyskull activates the portal. As Teela prepares to say goodbye, Adam mentions that there is no one left on Eternia to call down the power of Greyskull, giving up the reward he obtained in death to help in the final process of the mission. Everyone steps through the portal, with them arriving out the front of the Hall of Wisdom that is under attack from Tri-Klops and his cult. The group, joined by Duncan, fights their way into the hall where they are reunited. Cringer reunites with Adam in a happy embrace and everyone enters the Hall. Inside the hall, Teela hands the sword of power over to Adam, and the group goes back down to where the orb was shattered. Adam unwraps the sword of power and says the words, restoring the magic to the Halls of Wisdom, rejuvenating the Sorceress at the same time. Everything in the Hall of Wisdom returns to normal, including turning back into Castle Greyskull.

From Evil-Lyn’s bag, the Havok Staff reforms and as Adam is about to transform, he is stabbed in the back by Skeletor, returned to life. Skeletor states that he was hiding in Evil-Lyn’s staff all this time, waiting for the right moment to return. Evil-Lyn and Beast Man return to Skeletor’s side. Skeletor reveals that he has the sword of power and recites the words, transforming into a hulking monster (SkeleGod), proclaiming that he is now the Master of the Universe as the episode ends on this cliffhanger.

Releasing in Toy Stores Soon

Looking over the roster, there is a lot to talk about. However, before I get into that, I want to mention that for some of these castings, while casting great people in great roles, I had a huge problem with hearing their past performances in their current characters. The prime examples are Mark Hamil and Sarah Michelle Gellar, who play a couple of main characters in Masters of the Universe: Revelations. The issue I have is that because I know these actors so well as a fan, it was hard to hear them as the character they play in the series. Instead of hearing Gellar as Teela, all I could hear was Buffy Summers having a hissy fit the whole time; with Hamil as Skeletor sounding like The Joker without the high-pitched laugh. However, there were actors in Masters of the Universe: Revelations who did a good job at hiding their usual voices that I didn’t know it was them till I had to find the character list, with Alicia Silverstone as Queen Marlena and Kevin Conroy as Mer-Man being standouts in the “really, it was them?” field.

Also a side note: I had to trim down the list to the main characters here, which leaves a lot of great performances out of the list. This is mainly due to the characters not really doing much other than popping up in minor roles or having nothing of note to do.

• Chris Wood as Prince Adam / He-Man
  Yep, poor He-Man. Not only does Chris Wood not really sound good as the character… Well, half the character. As Prince Adam, Wood does a good job capturing the young boy who is pretending to be a hero but is a hero himself with a heart of gold. As He-Man though, the use of a basic echo filter on his voice to make him sound deeper and more heroic falls flat. For some reason, probably trying to keep the connection of them being the one person together, we missed a huge part of the He-Man character: The Power of voice. Not to mention that, with the exception of flashback moments, there was no real humor to the character. He-Man is like Spider-man, known to crack wise while punching face, but there was next to none of that here. Then to see him sidelined, twice, in the series really hurts me as a fan of the franchise. I’ve waited almost 20 years for another reboot to the Masters of the Universe franchise, and to get basically the Teela Show is not what I’d call a good return to form.
• Mark Hamill as Skeletor
  As I mentioned above, all I heard when this character was around is The Joker, but without the trademark, Hamil Joker laugh. Another thing that got to me very quickly was that this isn’t the 1983 bumbling fool Skeletor that I grew up with, this was the 2003 version with a solid plan, working from the shadows to achieve his goal, and now that he has it, I’m curious as to what he is going to do with the power. I’ve seen this version before in the DC Universe vs Masters of the Universe comic series, which was really good so Masters of the Universe: Revelations has a high bar to step up to.
• Liam Cunningham as Man-At-Arms/Duncan
  Duncan here is a good character, not only from the passing of the torch for the Man-At-Arms title but also the disgraced soldier who is brought back into the battle for one last adventure. When he is cast out of the Kingdom of Eternos for keeping the secret of He-Man from King Randor, my heart sank as Duncan was a key character in a lot of Masters of the Universe stories in the past. Then when he returns, it was interesting to see him not only protecting a village but also Orko, Beast Man, and Roboto, showing the old warrior will never truly give up his role as protector of the people.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Teela
  Oh god, where to begin with this one? As the main character, Teela is all over the place. From a proud warrior to a “what about me?’ whining bitch, to butch modern whatever she wants to call feminist type, to queer-baiting lesbian, to a fun-loving girl, to a girl who holds a torch for He-Man, then angry at people/Adam… You can see that while they wanted the basics of Teela to be this ultra-focused warrior type, we ended up with a mess of a character who just comes off as annoying and unlikeable. Teela never really evolves or goes through any real character growth, she spends most of her time in her tortured past mindset, never letting anything go or really doing anything. Teela hunts swords, stick with the mission, oh look my friend died but I’ll just take a moment to shed a single tear and then go on with the mission.
• Lena Headey as Evil-Lyn
  In complete contrast to Teela, we have Evil-Lyn, who actually goes through some character growth and actual revelation in Masters of the Universe: Revelations. She has many times where she admits about her past with Skeletor is more than just being a follower of his, but something of an emotional attachment to him, but at the same time Lyn knows that Skeletor was holding her back from being truly great, but it was her choice to do so. When she is with Orko, we get to see some of the goodness that is still in her heart, showing that Evil-Lyn is just a name. But since this is the Teela Show, all of that goes away the second Skeletor is back in the scene, making this a lot more like a Joker/Harley relationship than I first noticed.
• Griffin Newman as Orko
  Orko goes from joke to heart breaker in Masters of the Universe: Revelations. While his reintroduction harkens back to his comedy goofball days, complete with messed-up spells, what we get from Orko is some of the most heartbreaking moments in this series. The first time is when you see him in bed, withered away to next to nothing thanks to the lack of magic, then there is that moment in the cave with ScareGlow. If there is one thing that Masters of the Universe: Revelations does really well it’s taking one of the franchise’s most annoying characters and makes him the soul of the group for only a moment before ripping our hearts out. Well done writers.
• Henry Rollins as Tri-Klops
  I really like what they did with Tri-Klop here. While he doesn’t get too directly involved in the story other than having a group who can give Teela and crew some trouble every now and again, what they did with the whole rejection of magic and embracing technology to a cult-like level really works. It would make sense that Tri-Klops would do such a thing once Skeletor is out of the picture. It sucks that they didn’t make this whole thing into the real threat that takes over Eternia as the magic dries up. The cult comes off more like the Rank in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, more of a casual annoyance than a real threat.
• Alan Oppenheimer as Moss-Man
  The only reason I’m putting this here is that Oppenheimer is the ONLY original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe voice actor to return to Masters of the Universe: Revelations. As Moss Man, I took his appearance in this as what Kevin Smith wanted to do with this series: Burn it down. However, you can’t keep a good Moss Man down as he comes back later for a bit of wisdom and a quick joke that really captures the original show’s style for a moment.
• Tiffany Smith as Andra
  Ok, while this character copped a lot of shit for appearing out of nowhere, with the internet claiming that this was going to be Teela’s girlfriend and all that shit, it never really came about. Showing one of the flaws of the show in general, that being with a time-jump, we’ve missed what could have been a great story. If there was a single episode that was about Teela right after leaving Eternos, meeting Andra, and showing how they became partners in this mercenary thing, then there would be some connection to the character and the story overall. If anything Andra feels very downplayed once Teela gets the rest of the group together in the quest for the swords of power, which feels wrong because it was Andra who wanted to do the adventure in the first place. Also, I never got the whole “they are a couple” vibe that the internet says was going to happen, but then again, it is the internet and these days they expect everything to have some sort of LGBTQI+ moment in it.
• And the rest… Jay Tavare as Wun-Dar, Adam Gifford as Vikor, Dennis Haysbert as King Grayskull, Harley Quinn Smith as Illena, Cree Summer as Priestess, Phil LaMarr as He-Ro, Tony Todd as Scare Glow, Jason Mewes as Stinkor, Kevin Conroy as Mer-Man, Kevin Michael Richardson as Beast Man, Susan Eisenberg as Sorceress of Castle Grayskull, Stephen Root as Cringer, Diedrich Bader as King Randor and Trap Jaw, Alicia Silverstone as Queen Marlena, Justin Long as Roboto.
  As much as I’d love to go into every single character, this group either didn’t have much to do with the main plot, had basically a cameo role, or just didn’t get the screen time. As you can notice, there is a lot of top-tier voice acting talent in here with some of the usual suspects. Of course, you knew that this wouldn’t be a Kevin Smith project without him getting roles for his friends and family, so you know he was stoned when he pushed for Jason Mews to be cast as Stinkor…

The Original Wasn’t High Art, but this isn’t either

One of the main things that I’ll mention about Masters of the Universe: Revelations is that the animation is some of the best that the franchise has ever experienced, but that was expected since this came from Powerhouse Animation studios, which is best known for the great Castlevania series. Much like Castlevania, Masters of the Universe: Revelations’ best moments come from the fight scenes, which are good when they do happen, but not enough to really give the series a lift in the first half. The whole adventure for the two halves of the sword of power really feels rushed, especially when the series stops dead in the final episode to address Teela and her issues about finding out the secret about Adam and He-Man. If Masters of the Universe: Revelations was more along the lines of 45 minutes per episode, then it would be a much better series, given enough time to address the psychological issues of Teela alongside telling some great adventure stories with more action.

Honestly, once the anger of the first episode wears off, Masters of the Universe: Revelations does start to tell a good solid story, though a short one. When we’re not getting too much unwarranted “I hate magic/people” from Teela, the whole story really tells itself in a way that is engaging and interesting. However, I still get annoyed that He-Man was removed, not once but twice, from this series in favor of focusing on the blandest and boring character in the old series. Yet I’m walking away seeing things from a much different light. Instead of seeing this as something from the 1983 series, in my mind, I saw this as another story from the 2003 series. The darker and more series tone of Masters of the Universe: Revelations really fits in that series more than it did the 1983 series, and when viewing it from that angle, Masters of the Universe: Revelations is a great addition to that series.

The Teela Show…

There are quite a few things that I can just rip apart when it comes to Masters of the Universe: Revelations, and as you noticed during the story and characters bits, I already have done so. Masters of the Universe: Revelations overall feels like a good show, with a solid plot from start to finish, something the 1983 original series did not have. But at the same time, Masters of the Universe: Revelations just feels “wrong”. I’m not too sure if it’s the casting, with a lot of the actors just sounding like someone they played in a different series (Gellar & Hamil), so there was just a lack of effort in the acting. Maybe I’m just a stickler for the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series and just cannot get past what my childhood remembers the voices as.

Then there is the plot itself, after all the advertising and interviews that Kevin Smith put out there saying how this will follow the original series, how Teela was not the main character, that He-Man does not get sidelined, how they respect everything that comes before Masters of the Universe: Revelations… Only to throw it all back in our faces with a “HAHA! WE FOOLED YOU!” when the series came out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not attacking this because of what happened, but it’s more disappointment with Kevin Smith himself, a man who built his career on being the outsider, the pop culture guy, the comic book man, someone with so much reverence for the past… Completely taking a shit on a series that he claimed he was a fan of. I know Smith can be a sellout at times, doing what Hollywood asks of him just to get a paycheck, but this is a new low for the man, and it makes me sad to call myself a fan of his work.

Masters of the Universe: Revelations works well as a new story the Masters of the Universe franchise, but calling it a sequel, spiritual successor, or whatever to the original works is a claim that should do nothing but piss people off. Masters of the Universe: Revelations works more as a sequel to the 2003 Masters of the Universe series, or the exceptionally well-done DC Comic Book series, but it’s not anything like the original series. The humor is gone, everyone is way too serious, and Skeletor was way too smart!

Masters of the Universe: Revelations does a good job in telling a single, focussed story that brings back as many characters/toys as possible for the series to feel like a revival of the 1983 original cartoon, however, there are way too many things involved in the backstage workings for me to really sit down and enjoy it. I’ll admit that the cliffhanger that we are left on is enough for me to want to come back to the show once it releases, but I won’t be counting down the days as I have done with other Netflix shows. Maybe the other Masters of the Universe Netflix series will give us the true successor to the Sword of Power that we deserve.