MOTU Director Teases She-Ra’s Huge Role in Sequels

Travis Knight isn’t ready to say She-Ra is in Masters of the Universe — but he’s also not ready to say she isn’t. And that distinction is doing a lot of heavy lifting right now.

Speaking to SFX Magazine ahead of the film’s June release, the director opened up about one of the biggest questions fans of the franchise have been asking since the live-action reboot was announced: where is Adora? His answer was carefully worded, clearly deliberate, and just cryptic enough to send the fandom into a spiral.

“I can say very little about She-Ra,” Knight told the magazine. “For me, She-Ra has always been a big part of the Masters world and a big part of Adam’s story. In the fullness of time, if we’re lucky to tell more stories in this universe, She-Ra will play a huge part.”

That alone would have been enough. But then he kept going.

“Whether or not she plays any part in this movie, I cannot say — but we definitely had many, many conversations about the character,” Knight added. “There are giant scenes in the movie that aren’t there any longer. I am very proud of the movie, but there are definitely things that I love that we had to cut. Hopefully, they will get to see the light of day at some point.”

Giant scenes. That aren’t there any longer. Fans are going to be parsing that sentence for months.

Who Is She-Ra — and Why Does It Get Complicated?

For anyone who grew up with the original Filmation cartoons, She-Ra needs no introduction. Princess Adora is Prince Adam’s twin sister, kidnapped as an infant by the evil Hordak and taken to his planet, Etheria — a setup that clearly borrowed some energy from a certain galaxy far, far away. After breaking free from Hordak’s control, Adora led the Great Rebellion against his Evil Horde, wielding her own magic sword and transforming into She-Ra: Princess of Power. She got her own animated series, her own toy line, and her own devoted fanbase that has never really gone away.

The rights situation, though, has always been thorny. When Filmation Studios dissolved, the cartoon and film rights to She-Ra split off from those of MOTU — which is exactly why the beloved Netflix She-Ra and the Princesses of Power reboot, which ran five seasons before ending in 2020, couldn’t acknowledge her famous twin brother at all. Mattel still owns both toy properties, but the screen rights have lived separate lives.

Knight’s comments suggest that barrier isn’t insurmountable — especially now that both properties are operating under the same corporate umbrella. The MOTU film is an Amazon production, and there’s already a live-action She-Ra series in development at Prime Video. Heidi Schreck — best known for writing and starring in the acclaimed play What the Constitution Means to Me, with additional credits on Billions, Nurse Jackie, and Dispatches from Elsewhere — is on board as writer and executive producer. Nicole Kassell, who has directed episodes of Watchmen, Westworld, and The Leftovers, is set to helm the pilot.

That’s a serious creative team for a property that, until recently, seemed perpetually stuck in rights-issue purgatory.

Knight Is Already Thinking About a Bigger Universe

When the conversation turned to sequels more broadly, Knight made clear he’s not approaching this as a one-and-done situation — and neither is Amazon.

“Here’s the reality of the situation,” he said. “A company like Amazon isn’t going to take on a property like this if they don’t think there’s potential to tell more stories within this world — and I agree with that point of view. Masters is a very dense universe. There’s so much mythology, there are so many incredible, interesting characters and there are so many different types of stories you can tell within this space.”

The film itself centers on Prince Adam — played by Nicholas Galitzine — who has spent years on Earth searching for the Power Sword and a way back to Eternia, only to return and find his home under the iron grip of Skeletor. Jared Leto plays the skull-faced villain, with Idris Elba as Man-At-Arms, Camila Mendes as Teela, Morena Baccarin as The Sorceress, and Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn. James Purefoy and Charlotte Riley play Adam’s parents, King Randor and Queen Marlena. Kristen Wiig recently joined as the voice of Roboto, with Sam C. Wilson as Trap Jaw and Kojo Attah as Tri-Klops rounding out the cast.

Knight previously directed Kubo and the Two Strings and Bumblebee, so he knows how to build mythology that leaves room to grow. Whether Masters of the Universe gets that room depends entirely on how it performs when it opens this June.

But those giant cut scenes aren’t going anywhere. And something tells us Adora’s story is just getting started.