David Goyer's Unmade MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Movie Would Have Put a Focus He-Man's Relationship with Battle Cat
There was a live-action Master of the Universe movie in development at one point that screenwriter David Goyer (Man of Steel, Dark Knight trilogy) was working on. That movie obviously never got made, and the writer is now sharing some details on what his take on the story would have entailed. He says his film would have put a focus on the relationship between He-Man and Battle Cat. While talking to THR, he explained:
“I legitimately liked the script that we did. What I liked the most about it was that it was mostly about a friendship between He-Man and Battle Cat. The idea was there had always been He-Men and different recipients of the Sword of Power, and that Battle Cat had always served at their side. And this was a new He-Man that Battle Cat and many people didn’t think was worthy of the sword. So it was a story of the character earning the sword but, more importantly, earning the friendship of Battle Cat, who just thought this guy was a lightweight.
"I really liked it. I thought it was a fun story. There was a lot of humor in it, and it creeps up on you because Battle Cat sort of grudgingly accepts him, and it’s Battle Cat’s acceptance of He-Man that gave this version of the story heart.”
That’s definitely an interesting take on the story. It was previously mentioned that this film would have also been a Lord of the Rings-sized epic. Carlos Huante, a creature designer and former artist at Industrial Light and Magic who was working with Goyer on the project, said, “This one was fun and it made the world more fantastic than I thought it could go. It felt arty and fantastical at the same time.” As far as the scale of the project, he explained:
“I’ll tell you it was… just the story of Greyskull and that sort of thing and there was some really cool stuff in there. I don’t think they’re gonna make that version. I know they’re not going to. It was like a Lord of The Rings film, it was huge! And there was all kinds of stuff in there, you could have divided up that script into three movies and it would have worked. That’s how big it was.
It was a more fantastic version of Lord of The Rings, is what I’ll say. It’s a more colorful and fantastical version of Lord of The Rings, but it felt as real as Lord of The Rings. It was very real but very far-out. It was a final return to science fiction fantasy where we’ve only had one: Star Wars.”
That sounds like something fans might have enjoyed seeing. But, we’ll never see this version of the film get made. There’s currently another version being developed with a script written by Matt Holloway and Art Marcum (Iron Man and Men in Black: International) and Aaron and Adam Nee (Band of Robbers) are set to direct it. To All the Boys I've Loved Before star Noah Centineo was set to play He-Man in this film, but he dropped out when there was no forward movement on it.
What are your thoughts on what Goyer was looking to do with his version of Masters of the Universe?