Netflix’s She-Ra reboot has already received acclaim from fans and critics alike. Now, Adora’s big brother is joining the party. At Power-Con 2019 in Anaheim, California, fans learned that He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is getting an animated sequel series on Netflix courtesy of Kevin Smith.
Yes, that Kevin Smith.
Despite recent forays into horror, Smith is still best known for writing and directing small-scale character-driven comedies like Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy. As such, he seems like an odd fit for He-Man, a sword-wielding hero who lives in a castle and fights mythical and magical creatures.
However, Smith has written a fair number of action stories, too. In the late ’90s, Smith helped Marvel revamp Daredevil and revived Oliver Queen as Green Arrow for DC Comics. Later, he wrote The Green Hornet and The Bionic Man for Dynamite Entertainment. He’s also worked in animation before, most notably by creating Clerks: The Animated Series and helming Marvel’s upcoming Howard the Duck. In light of those efforts, letting Smith loose on He-Man’s kid-friendly take on the sword and sorcery genre doesn’t seem like so much of a stretch.
For his part, Smith seems enthusiastic about spending some time in Eternia. Masters of the Universe: Revelation, an anime-inspired production animated by the same company that does Netflix’s Castlevania, will pick up right where the original ’80s cartoon left off. The series will resolve dangling plot threads from that series, and will build to “what may be the final battle between He-Man and Skeletor,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“I’m Eternia-ly grateful to Mattel TV and Netflix for entrusting me with not only the secrets of Grayskull, but also their entire Universe,” Smith said in a statement. “This is the Masters of the Universe story you always wanted to see as a kid!”
Masters of the Universe: Revelation is just one of many nostalgia-driven animated sequels, at Netflix. In addition to the previously mentioned She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the streaming service recently revived cult favorites Invader Zim and Rocko’s Modern Life.
He-Man was created by Mattel designers Mark Taylor and Roger Sweet in 1980 in an attempt to create a line of action figures to compete with Kenner’s ultra-popular Star Wars toys. The cartoon series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, followed a few years later. While primarily intended to sell toys, the cartoon launched a number of high-profile Hollywood careers, including that of Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski.
