"He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" (Netflix CGI Animated Series) News & Discussion (Spoilers)

[RoyalRubble]

It seems Netflix will have another, new He-Man animated series in addition to "Masters of the Universe: Revelation" (News & Discussion Thread).

Deadline reports:

The CG animation undertaking will be a brand companion for Netflix’s previously announced Mattel partnership on the 2D anime series Masters of the Universe: Revelation from filmmaker Kevin Smith.

The logline: “On the planet of Eternia, a young lost prince discovers the powers of Grayskull and transforms into He-Man, Master of the Universe! The classic battle between He-Man and evil Skeletor rages to new heights as both hero and villain forge new and mighty teams. A new generation of heroes fighting for the fate of us all. In the end, who will become Master of the Universe?”

The series is being produced by Mattel Television with Adam Bonnett (Descendants), Christopher Keenan (Justice League, Batman Beyond), and Rob David (Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) serving as executive producers. The series was developed for television by Rob David.

Emmy-winning producer and designer Jeff Matsuda (The Batman, TMNT) and Susan Corbin (Voltron) will also produce. Bryan Q Miller (Arrow, Smallville, Sleepy Hollow) will serve as story editor on the series. Animation services are being provided by House of Cool and CGCG (Trollhunters).

A first look poster is also included in the link.

 

[Frontier]

So I take it this is the "all-ages" He-Man cartoon for kids in contrast to Smith's being more adult-oriented .

I was wondering if they might re-orient this is a prequel to Smith's cartoon, but that seems to be deliberately continuing off the original He-Man cartoon. This seems like a more proper reboot of the franchise, ala She-Ra (just probably not in-continuity with She-Ra).

Sounds like the main plot will be He-Man forming the Masters of the Universe team and Skeletor forming his evil legion...Adam being a "lost prince" makes me wonder what's going on in Eternia .

Excited to see more .

 

[Mandouga]

So it looks like this will be a straightforward, total reboot as opposed to the personal vision/opinion the other show will be. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of one version for the older "mature" viewers, and another version for everyone else. IMHO, there needs to just be one show: one that really is for everyone, no matter how they see He-Man or the franchise. In any case, this almost...repeat, almost feels like trolling...

Also, I'm going to assume that Adam is the "lost prince". I mean, either give He-Man a secret identity or don't, and if he is given one, it really needs to be Prince Adam. While it's true that it was just He-Man at first, Prince Adam is just as much a part of the source material, even if he was created just for the original series*. The last thing this show needs to be is another in-name-only adaptation.

*Sort of. He first appeared in a limited comic book series that was released by DC Comics about a year before Filmation's series premiered.

 

[Takao]

Reed Hastings must really love MOTU.

How long until they revive the 2002 series?

 

[Frontier]

Reed Hastings must really love MOTU.

How long until they revive the 2002 series?

It is popping up again in an upcoming DC comic book...

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Reed Hastings must really love MOTU.

Not really surprised, given the popularity of SPOP. Speaking of which, I can picture either Adora showing up in a later storyline for the upcoming CGI series or that said series will expand with a She-Ra spinoff (likely to differentiate from SPOP) but it's too early to tell right now.

So it looks like this will be a straightforward, total reboot as opposed to the personal vision/opinion the other show will be. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of one version for the older "mature" viewers, and another version for everyone else. IMHO, there needs to just be one show: one that really is for everyone, no matter how they see He-Man or the franchise. In any case, this almost...repeat, almost feels like trolling...

This doesn't even come off as trolling and seriously, two shows from the same franchise airing concurrently isn't a necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Mandouga]

It does because first they announce this one show that's a personal vision/opinion of the Filmation series, and how the makers of the new show feel the events of the original should have happened with the new show being made for the older, "mature" viewers who watched it "back in the day", and who, in the view of the ones making the new show, are somehow now embarassed by what Filmation's show is like, and/or embarassed by the fact they even watched the show in the first place; in other words, the kind of show that might make everyone else feel bad, or feel like they somehow need to understand "the 80s" in order to understand Masters of the Universe at all.

Then all of a sudden, they announce a straightforward reboot that's actually an all-ages show? It's like everyone else is being told that they could never really understand He-Man, then suddenly the people in charge pull a 180 and decide to invite everyone to learn what it's all about while still making the other show. I also don't like how one show is going to be 2D while the other is going to be 3D, but mainly because 2D still works for all ages productions. Look, I don't know about everyone else, but I don't like being made to feel like I'm being put in a box in some way. MOTU is an all-ages franchise to begin with; emphasis on "all" ages. Doing two different shows like this is a pretty poor way to address that. I would even call it dodging the issue, because why couldn't it have been just this one all-ages show instead of two different ones made for different "demographics" as they call them? I also don't agree with MOTU: Revelations being called an "anime", but that's a different topic entirely.

 

[Fone Bone]

It does because first they announce this one show that's a personal vision/opinion of the Filmation series, and how the makers of the new show feel the events of the original should have happened with the new show being made for the older, "mature" viewers who watched it "back in the day", and who, in the view of the ones making the new show, are somehow now embarassed by what Filmation's show is like, and/or embarassed by the fact they even watched the show in the first place; in other words, the kind of show that might make everyone else feel bad, or feel like they somehow need to understand "the 80s" in order to understand Masters of the Universe at all.

Then all of a sudden, they announce a straightforward reboot that's actually an all-ages show? It's like everyone else is being told that they could never really understand He-Man, then suddenly the people in charge pull a 180 and decide to invite everyone to learn what it's all about while still making the other show. I also don't like how one show is going to be 2D while the other is going to be 3D, but mainly because 2D still works for all ages productions. Look, I don't know about everyone else, but I don't like being made to feel like I'm being put in a box in some way. MOTU is an all-ages franchise to begin with; emphasis on "all" ages. Doing two different shows like this is a pretty poor way to address that. I would even call it dodging the issue, because why couldn't it have been just this one all-ages show instead of two different ones made for different "demographics" as they call them? I also don't agree with MOTU: Revelations being called an "anime", but that's a different topic entirely.

Stop being tiresome.

Edit:

Also, you specifically, Mandouga should never lecture anyone else about trolling.

 

[TargetmasterJoe]

Also, I'm going to assume that Adam is the "lost prince". I mean, either give He-Man a secret identity or don't, and if he is given one, it really needs to be Prince Adam.

I mean, SPOP didn't bother with the secret identity business going on between Adora and She-Ra. After the first episodes, they just said "Oh, hey, a member of the Horde can become the hero of legend? Bit unexpected, but okay!"

So I don't see the point in doing the secret identity thing with Adam and He-Man.

Also, everyone is assuming this is running concurrently with the Masters of the Universe: Revelations series and there's a overload of MOTU content on Netflix, but MOTU: R is marketed as a "limited series", which usually means it's just getting the one season and that's it.

My guess is that while SPOP will end on its next season, MOTU: Revelations will serve as a proper conclusion to the original 80s series, which will leave this new CG He-Man series as the be-all, end-all reintroduction to the He-Man mythos.

Finally, while it's a bummer SPOP is (probably) not highly regarded with Mattel for its LGBTQ overtones (I say "probably" because no one has gone out of their way to confirm it. Regardless, it's still on Mattel to get with the times because everyone else is starting to), I do want to hope that at least some personality/design elements from there find a way into this new He-Man show once it's ready to tackle She-Ra, twin sister of He-Man.

 

[Frontier]

Not really surprised, given the popularity of SPOP. Speaking of which, I can picture either Adora showing up in a later storyline for the upcoming CGI series or that said series will expand with a She-Ra spinoff (likely to differentiate from SPOP) but it's too early to tell right now.

With the different animation style and creative team, I am not expecting any serious crossover with She-Ra.

 

[TargetmasterJoe]

With the different animation style and creative team, I am not expecting any serious crossover with She-Ra.

Given that She-Ra is He-Man's sister, I suspect she will appear in this new show, but that isn't happening until after He-Man gets established and after everyone's forgotten about SPOP.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

With the different animation style and creative team, I am not expecting any serious crossover with She-Ra.

I mean a new take on Adora for the CGI series, not her SPOP counterpart appearing in this.

 

[Last Spider]

I feel something that everyone here needs to be reminded of is the fact the rights to He-Man and She-Ra are not currently owned by the same people, not unlike the how Marvel had the rights to characters like the Avengers and Guardians but prior to the Fox buyout did not have the rights to characters like the X-Men and Fantastic Four.
It's very much the same thing here, so She-Ra showing up in the new He-Man isn't really in the cards at all regardless of the current She-Ra series.
Unless to use another Marvel example they strike a deal to share the characters like Marvel and Sony did to get Spider-Man into the MCU, that said I'm not sure it's very likely.

 

[Frontier]

I feel something that everyone here needs to be reminded of is the fact the rights to He-Man and She-Ra are not currently owned by the same people, not unlike the how Marvel had the rights to characters like the Avengers and Guardians but prior to the Fox buyout did not have the rights to characters like the X-Men and Fantastic Four.
It's very much the same thing here, so She-Ra showing up in the new He-Man isn't really in the cards at all regardless of the current She-Ra series.
Unless to use another Marvel example they strike a deal to share the characters like Marvel and Sony did to get Spider-Man into the MCU, that said I'm not sure it's very likely.

Which makes it all the more weird now that they'll both have cartoons on Netflix .

 

[TargetmasterJoe]

I feel something that everyone here needs to be reminded of is the fact the rights to He-Man and She-Ra are not currently owned by the same people, not unlike the how Marvel had the rights to characters like the Avengers and Guardians but prior to the Fox buyout did not have the rights to characters like the X-Men and Fantastic Four.
It's very much the same thing here, so She-Ra showing up in the new He-Man isn't really in the cards at all regardless of the current She-Ra series.
Unless to use another Marvel example they strike a deal to share the characters like Marvel and Sony did to get Spider-Man into the MCU, that said I'm not sure it's very likely.

So if She-Ra isn’t owned by Mattel, who owns her? DreamWorks?

 

[Takao]

So if She-Ra isn’t owned by Mattel, who owns her? DreamWorks?

DreamWorks bought Classic Media, which owned the Filmation library.

 

[The Overlord]

It does because first they announce this one show that's a personal vision/opinion of the Filmation series, and how the makers of the new show feel the events of the original should have happened with the new show being made for the older, "mature" viewers who watched it "back in the day", and who, in the view of the ones making the new show, are somehow now embarassed by what Filmation's show is like, and/or embarassed by the fact they even watched the show in the first place; in other words, the kind of show that might make everyone else feel bad, or feel like they somehow need to understand "the 80s" in order to understand Masters of the Universe at all.

Then all of a sudden, they announce a straightforward reboot that's actually an all-ages show? It's like everyone else is being told that they could never really understand He-Man, then suddenly the people in charge pull a 180 and decide to invite everyone to learn what it's all about while still making the other show. I also don't like how one show is going to be 2D while the other is going to be 3D, but mainly because 2D still works for all ages productions. Look, I don't know about everyone else, but I don't like being made to feel like I'm being put in a box in some way. MOTU is an all-ages franchise to begin with; emphasis on "all" ages. Doing two different shows like this is a pretty poor way to address that. I would even call it dodging the issue, because why couldn't it have been just this one all-ages show instead of two different ones made for different "demographics" as they call them? I also don't agree with MOTU: Revelations being called an "anime", but that's a different topic entirely.

Eh, Batman stars in all sorts of adventures, some aimed at kids and some aimed at adults, TMNT was originally aimed at teenagers in the comics, till the 87 cartoon aimed it at kids.

Really there can be different takes on a character aimed at different audiences and He-Man is not the Carebears, its pretty easy to change that story to work for kids or adults.

The Mattel mini-comics and the DC comics mini-series that came out before the Filmation toon were somewhat darker in tone than the Filmation cartoon.

In the DC mini-series, Teela wore an over the top fan service costume in the first issue and Sketelor was an invading demon who wanted to steal He-Man's sword and go on a cosmic mass killing spree with it.

Masters of the Universe villains are often darker in other mediums than they were in the Filmation cartoons, heck the 2002 cartoon had King Hiss eating people.

Speaking of which, I wonder what lessons this show can learn from the 2002 cartoon in terms of rebooting this franchise.

Many of the other Masters of the Universe adaptions besides the Filmation cartoon took the Good vs. Evil conflict somewhat furtherer and made some pretty vile villains in the process:

Masters of the Universe / Monster - TV Tropes

Masters of the Universe is a franchise that has been around since the 1980s, and He-Man and She-Ra have fought numerous foes. These are the worst villains to menace Eternia and Etheria. Unless noted, works in each folder are by publication date/ …

tvtropes.org

 

[Frontier]

Speaking of which, I wonder what lessons this show can learn from the 2002 cartoon in terms of rebooting this franchise.

I admit I'll probably be comparing it a lot to the 2002 reboot .

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

I feel something that everyone here needs to be reminded of is the fact the rights to He-Man and She-Ra are not currently owned by the same people, not unlike the how Marvel had the rights to characters like the Avengers and Guardians but prior to the Fox buyout did not have the rights to characters like the X-Men and Fantastic Four.
It's very much the same thing here, so She-Ra showing up in the new He-Man isn't really in the cards at all regardless of the current She-Ra series.
Unless to use another Marvel example they strike a deal to share the characters like Marvel and Sony did to get Spider-Man into the MCU, that said I'm not sure it's very likely.

I would disagree on that both IPs are not owned by the same people since I do think it's a 50/50 ownership between Mattel and NBC Universal for both IPs plus nothing rules out the possibility of Adora appearing in these two MOTU shows and I suspect that NBC Universal will handle the home media releases of the two upcoming MOTU animated shows. I mean not every upcoming NBC Universal animated series will be produced by Dreamworks Animation, after all.

The reason why He-Man hasn't appeared in SPOP is that the live-action film rights are under Sony and it has languished in development limbo, but given the season four finale of SPOP, I do think he'll appear in the upcoming fifth and final season.

So if She-Ra isn’t owned by Mattel, who owns her? Dreamworks?

Given that Mattel did the toyline for SPOP, I would say that they still have partial ownership of the character.

It does because first they announce this one show that's a personal vision/opinion of the Filmation series, and how the makers of the new show feel the events of the original should have happened with the new show being made for the older, "mature" viewers who watched it "back in the day", and who, in the view of the ones making the new show, are somehow now embarassed by what Filmation's show is like, and/or embarassed by the fact they even watched the show in the first place; in other words, the kind of show that might make everyone else feel bad, or feel like they somehow need to understand "the 80s" in order to understand Masters of the Universe at all.

It really doesn't come off as trolling as it's actually pretty common to have two different animated shows focusing on the same character airing at the same time.

 

[Mandouga]

Oh yeah? Name one, and no, Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't count, since they're both family shows, plus TMNT 2012 and the two Michael Bay (?) productions is a subjective example. Oh yeah, and Transformers doesn't count either because it's not that simple.

Oh, and one other thing, "Masters of the Universe" and "Princess of Power" are collectively Mattel's Intellectual Property, so they own the rights to the franchise period. On the other hand, they do own the rights to the 2002 series since they were directly involved in its production (and before anyone says it, Mike Young Productions* was only responsible for the animation production).

*They're now part of what is now known as Splash Entertainment, which has a distribution division, but does not own the rights to the 2002 series.