Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (October 25, 2026)
An early 1980s action figure line from Mattel called “Masters of the Universe” quickly spread to comics, an animated TV series and a 1987 live-action film. In the same vein as the latter, 2026’s Masters of the Universe helps revive the franchise for modern audiences.
On the planet Eternia, undersized young Prince Adam (Artie Wilkinson-Hunt) struggles with warrior training. When evil Skeletor (Jared Leto) and his forces attack, Adam gets sent through a portal that lands him on Earth.
15 years later, an adult Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) works an office job but dreams of a return to Eternia so he can fulfill his destiny. Eventually he finds his way back to Eternia to revive the crusade against Skeletor.
All of that makes Masters sound like a pretty straight action/fantasy that sticks with the He-Man lore. However, the 2026 film takes a much more meta form.
Masters comes with a prologue that includes some narration from adult Adam and shows what led him to wind up on Earth. So far, so expected.
However, when Masters reaches the 20-minute, 45-second mark, we learn that all this stems from Adam’s monologue on a date, one that doesn’t go well since his would-be-girlfriend views his claims as bonkers. We then dig into Adam’s mundane existence in Oklahoma City as he pines for his prior life.
This doesn’t come completely out of nowhere, as the 18:15 spot hints at the cheeky tone the film will adopt. When Skeletor wins his battle, he lets out an evil laugh, one that creates a comically awkward moment.
Until then – and after that until Adam’s ill-fated date - Masters plays its material straight. It varies from self-aware humor and a more expected heroic tone the rest of the way.
For the most part, I think this works. I don’t think this movie could succeed in the 2020s if it went 100 percent earnest the whole way.
Which I assume the 1980s Masters properties did. Due to my age, I fell outside the target audience for Masters back in the 1980s by a few years. Like Transformers, I maintained awareness of the franchise but never played with the toys or watched the TV shows or the movie.
As I entered the 2026 film, this left me as a newbie to the world of Eternia. Oh, I knew the basic concepts and character names but nothing more.
This left me skeptical that the new Masters would work for me. Without any nostalgia and connection to my childhood, could I enjoy this tale?
Yeah – to a moderate degree, at least. Masters does just enough to nod toward an adult audience to make it pretty watchable.
In its approach to the subject, Masters reminds me of 2023’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. That one also opted for a lot of winking humor, a factor that might’ve turned off franchise fans but that made the movie watchable for the rest of us.
Like Thieves, Masters can lean too snarky for its own good. For instance, because Adam remembers one character as “Fisto”, we get multiple jokes about fisting.
Not exactly a theme one expects in a movie essentially meant for kids. Of course, one expects those youngsters won’t get the fisting gags – or when Fisto utters “give them head, Ram Man” - but these tend to feel gratuitous.
That happens mainly because the movie leans on them so frequently. Toss in two or three across the film and fine, but we get many more instances than that.
Beyond the “adult jokes”, Masters walks a fine line between parody of the source and homage. For the most part, it satisfies, as it gives us enough honest fantasy along with the humor.
As implied earlier, I don’t know what all those now-well-into-adulthood fans will think of this snarkier take on the property. For those of us with no nostalgia for the 1980s exploits, though, the film goes down better than expected.
Masters comes with a pretty good cast, though I can’t claim Galitzine dazzles. He looks the part and seems perfectly acceptable but he lacks a lot of charisma.
This means Galitzine fares better as the dorky side of Adam. He does nicely with the comedic beats and with Adam’s uncertainty about his skills.
Once Adam becomes He-Man – a name that doesn’t actually emerge until the film’s very end – Galitzine feels less impressive. Still, Adam/He-Man exists as such a cartoony role that the actor probably does about as well as anyone might.
With folks like Idris Elba, Alison Brie, Morena Baccarin and Jared Leto get an overqualified supporting group. All do fine, though Leto stands out the most.
Leto finds himself out of public favor for a number of legitimate reasons, but he brings real oomph to our villain. He camps it up when necessary and gives the role menace as appropriate.
At no point does Masters of the Universe turn into a great movie. However, it brings some clever twists to the property and becomes a moderately entertaining affair.
Footnote: a few “bonus bits” arise during the end credits so stick around until their conclusion.
