Masters of the Universe: Revelation suffers from the all too common disconnect between critical and fan reception that we see with lots of content these days. It takes the characters and status quo from the original 80s cartoon and flips them on their head, allowing for what showrunner Kevin Smith calls a more ‘mature’, cinematic story with higher stakes. However, many fans are angry at Smith for doing a ‘bait and switch’ with He-Man.
After a final climactic battle leads to the destruction of all magic in Eternia and deaths of important figures from both sides of the conflict, Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar) leaves the palace and becomes a mercenary, feeling betrayed for not being told an important secret about a close friend. After an undisclosed amount of time, she is called back into action by the Sorceress of Grayskull where she has to team up with Evil-Lyn (Lena Headey) and a few others to find the two halves of the former Power Sword to fix the magic in Eternia.
Masters of the Universe: Revelation begins with a throwback to the old fun of the struggle between the forces of Eternia and Snake Mountain. However, things go horribly wrong and the survivors are left to pick up the pieces. From there, it’s a story of redemption and dealing with pain, with notable character development of characters like Teela, Evil-Lyn and Orko. Even Prince Adam (Chris Wood) gets some development, though not in the way fans may have expected.
As good as the show is, the choices it makes unfortunately alienated many viewers, many of whom review bombed the series upon release.
This is a shame, because the story goes to some interesting places and creates interesting takes on certain characters like Tri-Klops and Scare Glow. Locations like Subternia and Preternia are great new places to explore. The voice cast is also more than impressive, especially with Mark Hamil as Skeletor, although he does sound too much like his take on Joker from Batman: the Animated Series. The animation is great as well, easily on par with other Netflix animated features such as Castlevania.
As much as it pulls on the nostalgia of the original series and tries to expand its horizon to explore untapped narrative potential, Masters of the Universe: Revelation commits the cardinal sin in the eyes of anti-SJWs: making a woman the protagonist instead of the traditional male character. Of course, Smith denied these charges, saying that the show is still about He-Man, and while that is technically true, it’s still not enough to assuage angry fans.
It’s hard to recommend Masters of the Universe: Revelation to people since they might either love it, or hate it. Give the first two episodes a try and see what you think about it. If you don’t like it, at least there’s still the classic show to rewatch and enjoy.