The Lost Ending of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE; Eternia Was a NASA Colony!?
There was a version of Masters of the Universe where He-Man’s world had a very human past. According to a deleted scene from the film's original script and preserved only in the official comic book adaptation, Eternia wasn’t just some distant fantasy realm, it was once colonized by astronauts from Earth’s NASA space program.
In the comic book version of the film’s ending, there's a moment that would’ve completely changed the lore. After Skeletor is defeated and peace is (temporarily) restored, Man-At-Arms emerges from the depths of Castle Grayskull carrying two flags: the American flag and one emblazoned with the NASA logo.
The NASA flag reads: “Starfinder 5. July 10, 2221.” The implication is wild that Eternia was seeded by humans from a far-future American space mission.
So why didn’t this massive twist make it into the movie? Director Gary Goddard was asked directly whether this scene was ever actually filmed or intended for the final cut. He gave an honest, and kind of bittersweet, response:
“Well, the last scene – the farewell scene – was slightly longer and really gave a kind of ‘Wizard of Oz’ ending to the story – and at the preview screenings (two of them) people actually got emotional – it brought tears to people’s eyes. But I lost the battle with the Studio who demanded we trim it.”
Goddard explained that the version seen in theaters was a stripped-down version of what he’d originally envisioned. The emotional farewell between Julie (played by Courteney Cox) and her Eternian friends got cut down, and with it, the heart of the ending.
But as for the NASA reveal? That was a very real idea at one point.
“In one of the first drafts, yes, the American Flag reveal was there – but having already seen that in the first Star Trek and others, I thought we’d leave that out of this first movie, so that decision was mine.”
Even though Goddard ultimately decided to leave it out, it’s fascinating to think that Masters of the Universe nearly tied its mythos back to Earth’s future. Instead of Eternia being a purely fantasy world, it might’ve been the last outpost of a long-forgotten human experiment in space exploration gone mythic.
There was also an entirely separate underground battle scene involving the Snakemen that got scrapped—another piece of wild lore that never saw the light of day.
“Prior to production starting, I had added an entire sequence involving the caves beneath Grayskull where the Snakemen have come in order to help defeat Grayskull, joining with Skeletor. The heroes are dragged into the tunnels and a lot of action takes place amid the tension of them trying to escape from the caverns.”
So while the movie we got was a blend of sword-and-sorcery and ‘80s sci-fi, the version we almost got leaned even harder into deep space origins and high-stakes mythology.
Turns out, He-Man might have been swinging his sword on an exoplanet settled by space-age Americans. I wonder if Travis Knight will ever implent this into any of the sequels.
