Once again, a new iteration of a popular ’80s cartoon has resulted in “adults” taking to the Internet to voice their displeasure about how their childhoods have been ruined. The shock. The horror. Really, is anyone surprised at the latest reaction towards Masters of the Universe: Revelation?
If there’s one lesson we’ve learnt from the re-imaginings of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and ThunderCats, it’s that the supposed original fans are extremely vanilla and live in a nostalgic bubble. They want to see the same things they saw over 30 years ago, refusing to accept that any good story should move forward—not stagnate.
In the case of Masters of the Universe: Revelation, they wanted the same-old He-Man with the same trash haircut battling a quipping, buffoonish Skeletor. The problem is, this show was never announced as a reboot, but rather as a natural continuation of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Suddenly, there’s Teela, a woman (how dare Kevin Smith do this?!), being the central point of a show called Masters of the Universe. Shouldn’t she be in a corner and pining over the death of Prince Adam instead of being all heroic? Because, you know, it’s totally unbelievable…
The irony is, He-Man is still a part of the show here. While Part 1 focuses more on exploring the rest of the Masters of the Universe lore and establishing Teela’s arc, he continues to show up in flashbacks throughout the episodes. Plus, there’s no way that he’s actually dead the second time around, because magic.
Smith has received a huge amount of backlash for his comments that this is still a He-Man show. But again, this is only Part 1. Has anyone even considered that Part 2 still hasn’t aired? Or is it more fun to overreact about a story’s conclusion that you don’t fully understand yet? Castlevania went through long stretches where Count Dracula wasn’t a core focus and no one said a peep about it…
Masters of the Universe was always bigger than just He-Man and Skeletor. Go through the original toyline to see how vast it truly is. Undoubtedly, they are the two most popular figures, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be central figures in story arcs to come. To build a world, you need to flesh out all its characters, especially if you plan on exploring it in the long term.
Look, let’s be frank here. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe wasn’t a good animated series. Don’t let nostalgia cloud the facts here. It had little to no continuity, and the show doesn’t hold up like others from the era. In fact, it’s been admitted that the sole purpose of this cartoon was to sell toys. So, essentially, kids were watching 20-minute commercials every week.
If you don’t like Masters of the Universe: Revelation because you don’t connect with the story, that’s fine. But if your hatred is based purely on the fact that it isn’t He-Man battling Skeletor like you remember, maybe it’s time to go outside and touch grass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLQAxSU9znw