Masters Of The Universe has always had a sense of playfulness. Literally. Before it was anything else, it was a toy range, Mattel’s original creation proving an instant hit with kids as it flew off the shelves. A colourful cartoon series swiftly followed, unfolding an expansive canon of tales in which He-Man and his nemesis Skeletor clashed across the land of Eternia, with all kinds of imaginative allies on each side. Now, it’s up to Travis Knight – the Laika legend behind Kubo And The Two Strings, who made his live-action debut with 2018’s Bumblebee – to turn plastic into blockbuster reality with this summer’s Masters Of The Universe movie. Power Swords up, people.
For Knight, it was clear that his MOTU needed to lean into the world’s toys-turned-cartoon origins. “There’s an inherent silliness to it, which we are acknowledging and embracing,” he tells Empire. “I think it’s a virtue, actually. And it’s woven into the script to help some of these things make sense to a modern audience. Like, why would that character have that stupid name? Well, over the course of the movie we show you why.” That means an accurately green-furred Battle Cat, a faithful skull-faced Skeletor (played here by Jared Leto), Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba) donning that chunky helmet, and Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie) with her purple headdress and cosmic orb.
The live-action film also brought the challenge of casting someone buff enough to play He-Man. Though that wasn’t Knight’s primary concern. “I wasn’t looking for a body,” the director says. “I was looking for a soul. I needed someone who had the spirit of this character, and could be funny and charming and heartbreaking and also plausibly a big action hero. Because there’s a duality there: Adam essentially represents empathy, He-Man represents strength.”
Enter Nicholas Galitzine, of The Idea Of You and Bottoms, who landed the role and soon found himself hitting the gym, hard. “I think anyone seeing that iconic physique would find it extremely daunting,” he admits. “Even the animations put Arnold Schwarzenegger to shame: the proportions, the minuscule waist, the boulder shoulders… I had four or five months to get in shape. Truly, it was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.” More fun was donning He-Man’s scant armour, which shows off all of Galitzine’s hard work. “You just become kind of abnormally confident in it,” he says. “It’s like when you do sex scenes. Everyone else in the room is more uncomfortable than you are, you know? Wandering around in this costume was empowering.” He has the power.
Read Empire’s full Masters Of The Universe feature – going on set with director Travis Knight and his cast – in the April 2026 issue, on sale Thursday February 12. Pre-order a copy online here. Masters Of The Universe comes to UK cinemas from June 5.
