Masters of the Universe Premiere: First Reactions Are In

By the Power of Grayskull — He-Man has officially arrived. The world premiere of Masters of the Universe went down Monday night at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and while full reviews are still under embargo ahead of the film’s June 5 release, Amazon MGM gave premiere attendees the green light to post their immediate reactions on social media. The early word? The crowd was feeling it.

Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, and Idris Elba led the red carpet, with Alison Brie, Morena Baccarin, Sasheer Zamata, director Travis Knight, and — in a genuinely fun nod to franchise history — Dolph Lundgren, who played He-Man in the original 1987 film, all turning out for the occasion. Idris brought his wife Sabrina Elba along for the night. Camila arrived in a Cong Tri dress. And yes, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, the man who plays Goat Man, was also there, because of course he was.

The film follows Prince Adam (Galitzine), who as a child crash-landed on Earth and grew up as the thoroughly ordinary Adam Glenn — separated from his Sword of Power and completely cut off from his true identity. Fifteen years later, the sword finds its way back to him, pulling him toward a destroyed Eternia now ruled by the villainous Skeletor (Jared Leto). To reclaim his world, Adam must reunite with Teela (Mendes) and Man-At-Arms (Elba) and finally step into his destiny as He-Man.

How the ’80s Cartoon Shaped the Story

Knight has been refreshingly candid about how deep his love for the source material runs — almost dangerously so, by his own admission. “At some point, I felt like I was being a ridiculously irresponsible fanboy as opposed to a filmmaker, so I needed to pull back,” he told SFX magazine. “This universe is so rich and dense. It’s got more than 40 years of history and mythology, so we’ve really just scratched the surface.”

He still managed to squeeze in some deep cuts. Ram Man, Fisto, and Mekaneck all make the roster — alongside Karg, Moss Man, and Goat Man — and the film’s core premise is itself a clever riff on the original Filmation animated series. “If you watched the Filmation cartoons from the ’80s, you know that Skeletor had some grand designs for power in every episode,” Knight explained. “He’s going to do some kind of scheme, he’s going to get his ass kicked and then he’s going to promise to return next week. Lather, rinse, repeat. We wondered, ‘What would happen if he actually won?’ That’s essentially how we start our movie. Skeletor’s plan finally works.”

It’s a genuinely clever entry point for a franchise reboot — honoring the nostalgia while immediately flipping the script.

She-Ra, Deleted Scenes, and What Comes Next

For fans already thinking beyond June 5, Knight has been dropping breadcrumbs. Asked about She-Ra — one of the franchise’s most beloved characters, who has been notably absent from all marketing — the director didn’t shut the door. “For me, She-Ra has always been a big part of the Masters world and a big part of Adam’s story,” he said. “Whether or not she plays any part in this movie, I cannot say. But if we get to tell more stories, She-Ra will play a huge part.”

He also confirmed that a significant amount of material didn’t make the final cut. “There are giant scenes in the movie that aren’t there any longer,” Knight said, expressing hope that the deleted footage will “get to see the light of day at some point.” Given the scale of what he was describing — fan-favorite characters, extended sequences — that’s the kind of thing that makes a collector’s edition Blu-ray very interesting.

It’s worth noting that Prime Video already has a live-action She-Ra series in development, with Heidi Schreck writing and executive producing and Nicole Kassell set to direct the pilot. The groundwork for a larger universe is clearly being laid.

The Orko Question

There’s one beloved character who has been completely missing from every trailer, every poster, and every piece of marketing — and fans have noticed. Orko, the lovable floating wizard who was a staple of the original animated series, hasn’t shown up anywhere. Until now, sort of.

The official film tie-in comic from Dark Horse, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Wings of Fate, appears to include Orko’s silhouette tucked behind the logo — a detail sharp-eyed fans spotted almost immediately. Whether that means he has a role in the film that’s been carefully kept out of all promotional footage, or whether he’s being saved for a post-credits scene or a sequel, nobody outside the production is saying.

Given that the movie’s roster is already stacked — Mekaneck, Moss Man, Karg, Goat Man, Ram Man, and Fisto are all in there alongside the main cast — holding Orko back to give him a proper spotlight in a follow-up actually makes a certain kind of sense. He’s too good a character to be just another face in the crowd.

The full cast also includes Kristen Wiig as the voice of Roboto, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, Morena Baccarin as the Sorceress, Charlotte Riley as Queen Marlena Glenn, James Purefoy as King Randor, and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Malcolm/Fisto — a lineup that, on paper, looks like someone gave a superfan an unlimited casting budget and told them to go wild.

Masters of the Universe opens in theaters on June 5. The last time a live-action He-Man film hit the big screen, it was 1987, Dolph Lundgren was in the harness, and it bombed spectacularly. Nearly four decades later, the franchise is getting its real shot — and Monday night’s crowd seemed to think it’s ready.