Cast This: He-Man (Masters of the Universe)

May 10th 2017, 10:32am

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Over the past decade, Hollywood nostalgia for famous properties from the 1980s has given us (among other things) a seemingly endless live-action TRANSFORMERS franchise, a trio of SMURFS movies, a couple of big-screen G.I. JOE missions and one JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS.

But one guy who can't seem to get a break is He-Man. In the thirty years since shirtless Dolph Lundgren battled skull-faced Frank Langella in MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, the muscular cast of the popular Mattel toy line and animated series has struggled to make their way back into theaters.

That may finally change now that Sony has staked out a release date of December 18, 2019 for a new MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE movie… despite having no director or star currently attached. David S. Goyer (BLADE, THE DARK KNIGHT trilogy) is the latest writer taking a stab at the script, following a lengthy series of aborted attempts.

At one point, Hong Kong action virtuoso John Woo was planning to visit Eternia, and then an "edgy" LORD OF THE RINGS-style version was in the works with producer Joel Silver. The project then went through directors like John Stevenson (KUNG FU PANDA) and Jon M. Chu (G.I.JOE: RETALIATION) before bringing in McG (CHARLIE'S ANGELS), who is no longer involved with the latest incarnation.

The Masters of the Universe cartoon and toy line emerged in the early 80s and revolved around Prince Adam, who lived on the fictional fantasy world of Eternia. Upon acquiring the Sword of Power and shouting "By the power of Grayskull!", Adam transformed into the super-strong hero He-Man.

Using his sword and exaggerated anatomy, He-Man was joined by colleagues Teela, Man-At-Arms and the Sorceress to fight the villainous Skeletor and his cohorts Evil-Lyn, Beast Man, Trap Jaw and others, who sought to control the mysterious might of Castle Grayskull.

Over the years, the characters have also appeared in numerous comic book titles from Marvel, Dark Horse, DC and Image, and the success of the original cartoon led to the spinoff show "She-Ra: Princess of Power". He-Man came to life in the dubious Golan-Globus movie production from 1987 (which brought the main cast to duke it out on Earth, with Courteney Cox caught in the middle), and later returned to the airwaves in rebooted animated form on two additional occasions.

So who would be a good choice to ride the green tiger and protect the realm of Eternia in a big-budget fantasy movie?

While the go-to guy for cartoonish muscularity is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, his plate is probably pretty full, so… Not that he needs another major franchise, but Chris Hemsworth would provide physical and acting abilities, as would Alexander Skarsgard (whose name seems to keep coming up for these types of oversized hero roles). For a left-field pick, how about Dustin Clare from "Spartacus: War of the Damned"? (Or are we just gonna end up with Jai Courtney or Garrett Hedlund…)

Let us know below who you think should have the Power of Grayskull as the big-screen He-Man!