The Live-Action MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Movie Will Be Wild, Crazy, Faithful, and Is Likened To THOR: RAGNAROK

Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Masters of the Universe is being directed by Aaron and Adam Nee, who recently helmed Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s upcoming film The Lost City. It was also announced that West Side Story actor Kyle Allen would be taking on the role of He-Man.

Allen will play "an orphan named Adam who discovers he is a prince destined to be the savior of a faraway land. He must quickly learn of his power and the importance of saving his true home from an evil force."

I’ve been curious about the kind of He-Man film that this filmmaking team would bring us, and thanks to an interview with /Film, we have an idea of what the tone will be and the direction that they are taking. Director Aaron Nee shared that they want to keep things wild and crazy like the original animated series, and likened the film they are making to Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok. He said:

"It's a wild, crazy property, and we wanted to keep it wild and crazy. Like, you had just wacky characters, but what we also wanted to keep is that, what it was to experience those toys and those cartoons as kids. Whereas kids, we took it completely seriously, and trying to tap into, what was it that it was making us feel then? That empowerment that made us feel, and that sort of wide-eyed wonder of the incredible things that can happen, and the incredible worlds that you can encounter. And so we want that wildness, but also the sort of reverence and love of it, that we saw it with through the filter of our child eyes.

"Those things [Masters of the Universe properties] weren't just huge successes because of clever marketing or something like that. It was tapping into something primal, something fundamental about us as kids. Whether the creators did it accidentally or out of brilliance doesn't matter. It was tapping into something. And that's what we are trying to hold onto is, what was that sparking inside of us, as kids? And so, we want that, at its core, that very basic human connection that we were feeling while not going, ‘Well, we're grownups now. So we can't really have a character named Ram-Man, we can't really have Fisto.’ Instead, it's like, ‘No, we're going to have that.’ How do you pull in like all of the kind of just wildness and craziness, but do it with love and affection?"

Director Adam Nee went on to compare the tone of the film to Thor: Ragnarok, which as you know, was a completely bonkers movie filled with awesome action and funny comedy.

There are so many different directions that they could have taken the film. Over a decade ago Justin Marks wrote a script for a film titled Grayskull, and it was going to be as epic as The Lord of the Rings. That’s the kind of Master of the Universe film that I’ve always envisioned. That’s the kind of film that I’ve been hoping to see. But, I do like what the directors are saying about this movie and I’m sure that a He-Man movie inspired by Thor: Ragnarok will be fun and entertaining. It’s definitely a different tone than The Lord of the Rings.

This creative team is looking to give us something closer to the cartoon series that many of us grew up enjoying and tap into that amusing ridiculousness, but also give us a story with heart. I’m looking forward to seeing what they deliver.