For anyone gleefully awaiting the ’80s nostalgia trip that will be Netflix’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation, we have good news: showrunner Kevin Smith has dropped a few new hints about the direction the reboot will be taking.
“We pick up, spiritually, where He-Man and the Masters of the Universe left off,” Smith explains in the clip above, from an interview for Netflix’s Geeked Week event. “So at the beginning of our episode, it plays for the first 10 minutes like a way better animated version of the old show. It’s very simple, we establish the relationships, and it’s very warm and young feeling. And then about halfway through the show, we turn everything. Something happens, and we kind of grow it up.”
Later in the interview, Smith drills down into the meaning of the word “Revelation” in the show’s title, and how it’s specifically a reference to the superheroine Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her character’s journey.
“The revelation in question really has to do with Teela, and that’s because, if you remember the old show you know at the very beginning they would talk about only three others know his secret, and it was The Sorceress, Man-At-Arms, and Orko, as well as Cringer,” Smith explains. “Teela, who He-Man fought side-by-side, and Teela who protected Adam when he wasn’t He-Man, was always left out of that — she was kept in the dark like Lois Lane.
“So our approach for the story was like, well, what happens if she finds out? What happens when she learns who He-Man really is?”
Masters of the Universe: Revelation lands on Netflix July 23. You can watch the teaser here.