The long-awaited Masters of the Universe live-action movie has been picked up by Netflix. Kyle Allen, who was last seen as one of the Jets in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, has been cast as He-Man. Fans will now be eager to discover who will play villain Skeletor.
The film was previously in development at Sony, with Noah Centineo in prime position to play He-Man. Aaron and Adam Nee, the directors of the upcoming romantic adventure movie The Lost City starring Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock, are planning to start filming in the summer of this year. The writer is David Callaham (Wonder Woman 1984, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings).
Masters of the Universe will probably follow the origin story of Adam, an orphan who discovers he’s destined to become the prince and saviour of a faraway land. He must use his new powers to protect the land from the evil Skeletor. Netflix is already the home of two animated series – Masters of the Universe: Revelation and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
As was the done thing in the 1980s, the toys came before the cartoons – the most famous example of this is of course Transformers. Similarly, He-Man started out as a series of Mattel action figures, before becoming an animated series and a 1987 live-action film starring Dolph Lundgren.
Whether She-Ra will feature in the live-action movie remains to be seen, but we’re certainly looking forward to seeing Battle Cat and other fan favourite characters.
Kyle Allen has also appeared in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story and YA romance The Map of Tiny Perfect Things for Amazon Prime.
If you’re excited for the Masters of the Universe, check out our guides to the best family movies and the best adventure movies.