Kevin Smith’s He-Man Continuation Is Here, and It’s a Revelation
Skeletor and He-Man are ready to clash again.I
Image Netflix
It seems like Kevin Smith first announced that he was creating a new He-Man animated series that would be a “continuation” of the original the ‘80s cartoon for eight-year-olds. Now, we finally get our first look at Masters of the Universe: Revelations, and I think I finally understood what Smith is doing… and I think I like it.
This is quite surprising to me. I have repeatedly announced that I am a He-Man fan on io9, but have been consistently annoyed by the revelation project, as it is touted as the sequel to the original show, which is Banana because the original show I never had a fascinating story. (It has also been touted as an anime series, which Netflix has now asked journalists not to call it.) Like almost all cartoons at the time, there was no serialized storyline; He-Man will thwart Skeleton’s new plot every week. There was never a story to continue.
Also, while the revelation was clearly meant to appeal to adults who grew up in the 80s, many parts of the classic cartoon are created to cater only to young children, and continue on to the original Masters of the Universe To keep means that it has to be brought back. Cringer, the scaring-cat alter-ego-like annoyance of Battle cat; Magical nitwit orco, a comic relief that was never funny; And the fact that the skeletal towers were almost all stone cold imbeciles.
And then I finally saw the first stills:
These are clearly classic character designs from the 80s, they just look cool. But what really sold me was an update to Orco, one of my most overt characters:
This is not a continuation of the ‘80s show. If the revelation had happened, Orco would probably have looked something like the little Aldrich wizard he now appears to be:
Until Smith makes an incredibly strange decision to make Orco look terrible, but still a bumbling idiot, the revelation looks like the original 1980s cartoon. It is taking the original childish cartoon and distilling it to the Platonic motif that adult fans have at the time of the show, when they see it (or so it seems) through nostalgia’s rose-tinted glasses. This is confirmed by an almost enduring description of the revelation:
“It is a very classic, universal action-adventure epic about evolution, discovery, magic and power.” This series explores fate in a new way. There is much harmony with mystery, betrayal, trust, acceptance, love, and ultimately, loss. “
The show’s official synopsis is equally dramatic:
“The Masters of War for Eternal culminates in the universe: Revelations, an innovative and action-packed animated series that left iconic characters decades ago.” After a horrific fight between He-Man and the skeleton, Ertenia is fractured and Greskul’s Guardians are scattered. And after decades of mystery tore them apart, it is up to Teela to reunite the broken band of heroes, and the missing sword in a race against time to restore eternity and prevent the end of the universe. Solves the mystery of. “
The idea that “Decades of Secrets” greatly favours the simple-minded, simple-hearted heroes of the original cartoon. Again, if Revelation was a true continuation of the ‘80s cartoon, instead of Heim-Man finally getting a chance to save the universe, he would be doing absolutely nonsense, like going to the circus, where we got “K. Scenes will meet “Love and, ultimately, loss” such as:
Instead, we’re obviously going to get Scala god, as revealed by the upcoming action figures in Universe Collectors’ New Masters based on Revelations. Compare and compare Skelegod with the goofball above which you saw the rocket ride:
It is still unfathomable to me that we’re getting a Masters of the Universe animated series targeted specifically to 40-year-olds, but—and as a He-Man fan, I’m incredibly biased here—this is much, much better than new episodes of the original cartoon, which is how Revelation has been presented so far. Again, I could be wrong, and the show will be populated almost entirely by badass-looking, bumbling oafs. But, for the first time, I feel like the new He-Man cartoon might actually be a revelation after all.
Part One of Masters of the Universe: Revelation will premiere on Netflix on July 23. You can learn about the show’s wildly over-talented voice cast here.