No Surrender Cinema: Masters of the Universe: Revelation (S1 Eps1-5)
WARNING: the following review contains some spoilers for Masters of the Universe: Revelation. Read on at your own risk!
Some of my earliest memories involve Masters of the Universe. As a kid I had an abundance of action figures, mostly He-Man and co. I had vehicles, playsets…I even had doubles of many of my figures so that I could keep a stash at my grandparents house. Those memories, combined with a healthy obsession with the original cartoon series, created a love for the franchise that still courses through my veins today. Reviewing the Netflix revival here in No Surrender Cinema was a given the moment a teaser trailer was announced, and the online chatter about what was going to go on in Kevin Smith’s take on Masters gave me added incentive to get this column out ASAP.
Let’s get a few things out of the way…
No, the series is not as “woke” as many people made it out to be. Yes, the storytelling is modernized, but there was a fair trade made; the corniness that made the original so silly yet so endearing is toned down, replaced by many an Easter Egg. Smith hits all the right notes when it comes to paying lip service to longtime fans such as myself (more on that later in the column).
No, Teela is not the “new He-Man”, “new Sorceress”, “new Master of the Universe”, or new anything as rumored over and over on the interwebs. Yes, she is the central character in these first five episodes, but never at any point did I feel that this was “The Teela Show”. The story arc involves plenty of familiar faces from Masters lore, and not only do we get to see those faces again, but we get more backstory than any previous installment in MOTU animated history has given us. Some of the characters we see have never even appeared in any of the prior He-Man cartoons!
No, Teela doesn’t have a girlfriend. Yes, she’s joined on mercenary missions by Andra after the opening battle that claimed He-Man/Prince Adam as a casualty. There might have been one subtle implication about them being “more than friends”, but Teela spends most of the time carrying a torch for Adam, heartbroken and disappointed that he didn’t trust her enough to tell him his big secret.
Now, get your swim trunks on, because it’s time for the deep dive.
The very first episode provides us with a battle in the vein of the epic clash between good and evil in Avengers: Endgame. Skeletor, with help from Evil-Lyn and Faker (who in Revelation is conceptualized as Eternia’s Terminator and not just a blue He-Man clone a la his action figure), finally makes his way into Castle Grayskull. A legion of his flunkies engage in an all out assault on the Castle, only for Teela, Man At Arms, Fisto, Clamp Champ, and more of the Masters to save the day. In an effort to thwart Skeletor’s attempt to absorb the magic that flows through Grayskull, He-Man loses his life, but not before he takes Skeletor down with him.
The result of the battle is that Eternia’s greatest hero and his nemesis are now dead, and the loss of the magic means that Eternia is slowly dying. He-Man and Skeletor both becoming casualties in the great battle affects their respective sides in different ways. Man At Arms becomes a recluse, while the psychotic Tri-Klops (along with Trap Jaw) becomes a cult leader who is assembling an army of followers that pledge their devotion to his warped take on technology. Those who need magic to survive, such as Orko and Sorceress, are knocking on death’s door. The sad turn of events is what leads to a rather shocking one, that being that Evil-Lyn and Beast Man become reluctant allies of the remaining Masters (Man At Arms, Teela, Andra, Orko, and Roboto) in an effort to bind the two halves of the Sword of Power and return the magic to the planet before everything is destroyed.
This part of the story goes beyond the old pro wrestling “tag team partners that don’t get along” trope, and we get some honest to God character development! Evil-Lyn might have ulterior motives, but her will to be sign as more than Skeletor’s trophy witch adds a sympathetic touch to the character. Beast Man joins the ranks as her protector, having pledged his allegiance to her after their fellow Evil Warriors went their separate ways. This leads to encounters with Tri-Klops and his cult as well as Mer-Man and his fishy flunkies where the bad guys do as much damage to their old friends as the good guys do.
I was honestly impressed with the amount of backstory that was given to each character. It felt like Smith wanted everyone to mean something, at least the core characters. Roboto being seen as the surrogate son of Man At Arms might sound a little Not Quite Human, but it gave the mechanical Master enough depth that when it became his time to shine, I felt some genuine emotion. It was humorous to see Tri-Klops leading a cult of cyborgs, especially since I had him portrayed by Cobra’s infamous cult leader villain AND as an evil cyborg in my casting call for the Masters of the Universe live action sequel that I wish Cannon could’ve done.
The story flows well; starting with a major war is bound to make the action slow down, but none of Revelation feels like padding. Everything held my interest as well as my 6 year old son’s, but then again we were on the edge of our seats waiting for something new to notice. I was happy to hear Skeletor using the famous line from Cannon’s Masters of the Universe movie (“Let this be our final battle!”) and shocked to see Blast-Attak, a character who is literally a robotic suicide bomber (his action figure had a feature that enabled him to blow apart into two pieces) appear as part of Tri-Klops’ troupe.
The voice acting is a who’s who crew, and having Mark Hamill as Skeletor and Tony Todd as Scare Glow is a stroke of genius. Sarah Michelle Gellar, who I’ve had a crush on since the premiere episode of Swan’s Crossing (although I’ve seen maybe 3 episodes of Buffy in my life) does a great job capturing Teela’s heartache, angst, and determination. The artwork is a far cry from the original Filmation animation, done here in a style that’s reminiscent of Cartoon Network’s revival in the early 2000’s. It’s got an anime look, but I couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that Orko had muscles, and the characters who are known to be strong looked like something out of Image Comics in the 90’s. Thank God there was nothing as bad as Rob Liefeld’s Captain America.
Episode 5 ends on a pretty heavy cliffhanger that already has fans up in arms, but if you’re a franchise follower like me, you’ll know they pulled something similar before. 10 episodes may not seem like a lot, but Smith got a lot of mileage out of these first five episodes, and he obviously wanted to make sure he captivated us enough to ensure we’d be back for more. Exactly when Netflix intends to lure us back is still unknown; there’s no official release date, and attempts to locate more info online resulted in literally every remaining month in 2021 being pegged as the one we’d most likely see release.
Any time you tamper with nostalgia and tweak a classic franchise, you’re bound to find out that you’ve made a few enemies, but I’m of the belief that Smith deserves praise for embracing the cheesy origins of Masters of the Universe and creating a fantastic world that can be built upon for as long as he feels like holding this gig. Although there’s no moral of the story at the end of each episode on Netflix, Masters of the Universe: Revelation has plenty of what every good hero needs; heart.
Episodes 1-5 of Masters of the Universe: Revelation are currently streaming on Netflix.
