Kevin Smith Offers an Update on His MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVELATION Series
Lots of fans seem pretty excited about Kevin Smith’s upcoming Masters of the Universe: Revelation animated series. Smith is in the middle of production on the series, which will pick up where the classic original ‘80s series left off.
Kevin Smith offered another update on the show and the voice recordings in the latest episode of Smith’s Fatman Beyond podcast. He said:
“I did recording today remotely for Masters of the Universe — all the recording sessions now you have one person here, one person here, and one person there. The other day, we finished Lena Headey’s stuff, which was awesome. She’s over in the UK, so it was early in the morning for us, like 8 a.m. but whatever time it is over there. I could just listen to her all fucking day long, man. She just brings it and chews that fucking dialogue and makes it so good. Think of anyone in your life, have them say ‘wretched,’ and she beats them.
“Stephen Root finished up all of his Cringer stuff, absolutely wonderful. We finished Chris Wood and all the He-Man/Prince Adam stuff. We finished up Sarah Michelle Gellar for all the Teela stuff and today was like all Mark [Hamill]. All of the Skeletor stuff is now recorded. I’ve heard now all of the scripts brought to life. I’ve heard the last line of the show, so it’s been fantastic.”
This series has such great voice cast with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mark Hamill, and Chris Wood headlining the series. Gellar will voice Teela, with Hamill is perfectly playing Skeletor, and Wood will be He-Man/Prince Adam. Headey will voice Evil-Lyn, with Liam Cunningham as Man-At-Arms, Griffin Newman as Orko, Stephen Root as Cringer, Diedrich Bader as King Randor, Alicia Silverstone as Queen Marlena, and Susan Eisenberg as Sorceress.
Here’s the synopsis for the show:
A radical return to Eternia, Revelation is a direct sequel series to the classic era of Masters of the Universe. Featuring fan favorites He-Man, Orko, Cringer, and Man-At-Arms, the story pits our heroic warriors and guardians of Castle Grayskull against Skeletor, Evil-Lyn, Beast Man and the vile legions of Snake Mountain!
But after a ferocious final battle forever fractures Eternia, it's up to Teela to solve the myster of the missing Sword of Power in a race against time to prevent the end of the Universe! Her journey will uncover the secrets of Grayskull at last. This is the epic He-Man and the Master of the Universe saga fans have waited 35 years to see!
It was previously revealed that the characters in the series will have the same classic designs as the original cartoon series. The animation is being done by Powerhouse Animation (Castlevania, Seis Manos), and it will have an anime style. When talking about that, Smith shared, “Powerhouse Animation absolutely killed it...This artwork is amazing. The design work that Powerhouse has done...absolutely spellbinding.” He went on to talk about the style, saying:
“It's in the style of an anime...what Netflix calls an anime original...but looks exactly like our classic characters. Nobody's been redesigned to where you're 'Oh that's the 2020 version.' They all look like they're supposed to. And the story functions as essentially the next episode when [the 1980s original animated series] stopped.”
Also spoke about the tone of the show and how it will start off like the tone of the original show, then shift gears into something new:
“We begin where they ended, the same tone like that, and then our tone shifts as something cataclysmic happens. That's where our modern story kicks in. Even then, it's not like 'Everything you know about He-Man is wrong. We're gonna upend the universe. Everything you knew about He-Man you need to know in order to watch the show because we play thick and fast with mythology.”
The series is being produced by Mattel Television with Rob David, VP of Mattel TV and author of He-Man: the Eternity War, and the show is being developed by writers Eric Carrasco (Supergirl), Tim Sheridan (Reign of the Supermen), Diya Mishra (Magic: The Gathering), and Marc Bernardin (Alphas).
Masters of the Universe: Revelation will likely premiere on Netflix in 2021.