Unlike its split-season predecessor, Revelation, Masters of the Universe: Revolution consists of a single five-episode run. This inherently creates a pacing issue: a story that, to its credit, actually tries to push Masters of the Universe continuity forward a bit deserves more time to breathe. Space-fascist villain Hordak and his Evil Horde were originally introduced via a five-episode She-Ra: Princess of Power arc that was edited into a theatrical movie; now, in five new episodes, he must be introduced and have his storyline resolved, along with the other plot strands that involve separate dilemmas for He-Man and Teela. Said new plot does further clarify, as if it needed to, that this is not Filmation He-Man continuity, nor 2002 MYP animated series continuity.
A New Wrinkle
Indeed, the first episode introduces a twist that implies that a key part of MOTU lore remains as yet unknown by most of the major characters. It’s clearly meant to throw fans who think they know everything for a loop while simultaneously inserting a ton of references to multiple variations of the franchise. In bringing back Gwildor from the 1987 movie, for example, the show gets to make meta-jokes about how he and Orko are virtually the same character (Gwildor was created as a more affordable onscreen replacement). Executive producer Ted Biaselli also turns out to do a decent Billy Barty impersonation in the role, though he repeats familiar movie lines to excess. Fans of the recently canceled CG series will notice several nods, too, including that show’s more transformative definition of Havoc Magic.
Netflix has asked that reviewers not specify William Shatner’s role at all, though it’s probably safe to say it is significant and not a mere cameo. At first, it feels a little…much…for…all the reasons you’d suspect, but the excess does have a point in the end. Keith David proves perfect casting as Skeletor’s old boss Hordak, though the script, by Kevin Smith and others, dilutes his menace somewhat by making him chattier than one might expect from ultimate evil. He is a dictator, after all, and thus probably a narcissist, so the choice makes some sense. Mercifully, the snort that the old cartoons over-emphasized is played way down.
Let the Sky Fall?
Following the events of Revelation, Eternia is left without a Preternia, the Heavenly side of the afterlife where dead heroes belong. This leaves every departed soul either in limbo or Subternia (Eternian Hell, at least in this continuity), where the seemingly un-killable Scare Glow (Tony Todd, perfect) considers them trophies. This being Eternia, and He-Man being He-Man, it’s actually not unreasonably hard for good guys to bust into Hell and beat up its evil death lord. Freeing souls, however, doesn’t have much of a purpose if there’s nowhere else to go.
So, as the new Sorceress of Grayskull, Teela (Melissa Benoist) makes it her mission to essentially rebuild Heaven from scratch. Meanwhile, King Randor (Diedrich Bader) is dying and forces He-Man to make a choice: rule as king and be Adam, or serve the power of Grayskull and fight as a super-powered protector…but not both. When an unusual solution presents itself, Adam has a big decision to make, but Smith learned his lesson last time, so fear not: He-Man doesn’t get sidelined in his own story.
Madam, I’m Adam
Indeed, there’s little here to concern the professionally offended this time around. The religious allegorical themes are a lot stronger, and He-Man and Teela demonstrate more than a little opposite-sex attraction. (We’ll leave the Evil-Lyn/Granamyr dynamic to fan-shippers.) With Hordak now in the mix, the conflict between technology and magic becomes an overriding theme, with Skeletor initially subdued by the Horde’s techno-virus. Mark Hamill really feels like he’s grown into the role of Eternia’s main bad guy: he’s menacing, angry, and has lost most traces of the Joker. Indeed, by virtue of sounding much more emotionally unstable than before, he’s even scarier than David’s Hordak or Meg Foster (Evil-Lyn in the 1987 movie) as casually cruel Horde enforcer Motherboard.
Ideally, something like the planet-wide invasion of Eternia by space Nazis ought to be something to fill a 13-episode season, at least, with He-Man and Teela’s individual challenges as active subplots. Instead, they’re all jammed into a runtime that’s equivalent to a long movie. (Perhaps the fact that the entire planet seems little more than the size of an average city center is to blame.) It’s never dull, but it makes it more difficult to establish stakes if a powered-up hero is busy charging through them all. By the end, it seems that some characters are so absurdly powered up that they might as well be indestructible deities with nothing left to pose any kind of threat. And after all that, there are teases for both a possible spin-off and sequel, though who knows if we’ll actually get them?
Faster Than a Speeding Dragstor
By focusing on action beats, Revolution caters to short attention spans, may appeal more to kids than the first, and gets as many fan-favorite characters involved as possible. It also leaves the mythology in a new place if anyone decides to pick up on it. New Man-at-Arms Andra, originally based on an extremely obscure comic character, comes into her own a bit more, and the post-Randor era kinda sorta begins to take shape, though that’ll require a storyline follow-up in order to mean anything. (Original Man-at-Arms Duncan still gets plenty to do, so don’t worry about that.)
Perhaps Revolution is meant as a corrective to perceptions that Revelation and the CG show were too different from canon; if so, it’s unsurprising that it leans into fan service so heavily. Sometimes less can be more, though there’s also a sense that Smith and his team suspect they won’t get to do anymore, so they crammed in everything they wanted to get to. While this fan appreciates the desire to serve, it’s hard not to wish for breathing room and the greater exploration of an entire world that should be more than just the royal palace, Castle Grayskull, and Snake Mountain.
Now, how hard must we beg for The New Adventures of He-Man to get an upgrade from this crew? The most powerful man in the universe needs a larger cosmic canvas to be more than the biggest fish in a tiny koi pond of power.
Grade: 3.5/5
Masters of the Universe: Revolution premieres January 25 on Netflix.
