The Masters of the Universe premiere in Los Angeles on Monday night brought together He-Men old and new, as Dolph Lundgren, who starred in the 1987 telling, was on hand to support newcomer Nicholas Galitzine.
He-Man and the rest of the Masters of the Universe gang originated as a Mattel toy line in the ’80s, which later became an animated series followed by Lundgren’s live-action movie. For the past nearly 20 years, Mattel has been working to bring a new version to life, which has finally arrived courtesy of Galitzine and director Travis Knight. The film follows Prince Adam Glenn (a.k.a. He-Man), who was raised on the safety of Earth, as he travels back to his home planet Eternia to discover that it has been destroyed and overtaken by powerful warlord Skeletor (played by Jared Leto).
Lundgren admitted that after several previous attempts at rebooting He-Man never materialized, he didn’t believe this adaptation would happen, “but when I heard it was real and realized it was a big-budget picture, I looked at the script and it looked very interesting, like a really serious attempt at bringing this character to life and all the intricacies of that universe. There’s a charm to it that so many other superhero movies maybe have or some don’t, but I think Masters has that kind of charm, kind of sensitivity.”
He also threw his endorsement behind Galitzine taking over as the superhero, noting, “You need a guy who is a leading-man type, and the muscles and the strength are secondary. You can always create that and I think Nicholas did that, he built himself up. When I did that, it was a little more like I had the physique and had to access my boyish side to find the character.” Lundgren also teased of the new movie, “I hear I may be in it,” in a small cameo as a mentor figure.
Galitzine, known for his roles in 2024’s The Idea of You and 2023’s Red, White & Royal Blue, indeed went through quite a transformation for the part, training for months to put on muscles fitting for the most powerful man in the universe. And with the material’s signature humor and camp, the star said “it was like playing two characters because you’re playing the archetypal stoic hero in one sense, but you’re also playing this guy who literally shrivels into himself.”
Becoming He-Man also meant learning how to wield his signature Sword of Power, which Galitzine admitted wasn’t as easy as it may look. “You want to seem like you are the strongest man in the universe so it’s like what forearm exercises do I have to do so that it doesn’t read as heavy?” he joked. “As someone who grew up watching The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, I was a kid in a candy store getting to go to work and play with swords all day long.”
Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, Alison Brie, Morena Baccarin and Kristen Wiig also round out the cast, with Leto playing the lead villain — a role he chased after himself, it turns out.
Mattel Studios president Robbie Brenner revealed that Leto “really wanted to play Skeletor. He tracked down Travis, he was like, ‘I have a special connection to this character, I grew up watching Masters of the Universe and I am Skeletor.’ So he went and he met Travis and Travis met him and he’s like, ‘He’s Skeletor,’ that was it.” Knight confirmed that Leto — who did not attend the premiere and appears to not be doing promo for the film — gave him the full pitch and brings both humor and true scares to the skull-faced sorcerer.
Masters of the Universe hits theaters June 5.
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