Masters of the Universe fans have been given plenty of hope for a new live-action movie finally coming to screen thanks to Netflix, but Mattel is celebrating the Dolph Lundgren-led original foray of He-Man onto the big screen with a new toy range. Fans of the 1987 movie will soon be able to get their hands on movie versions of Lundgren’s He-Man and Frank Langella’s Skeletor without it breaking the bank.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was launched in the early 80s as a direct tie-in cartoon series that had the sole purpose of selling Mattel’s range of toys on which it was based. Over the decades, the love of the franchise has not waned despite many disappointing twists and turns when it comes to live-action outings for the heroes and villains of Eternia. So far, only the 1987 movie stands as the live-action offering of the franchise, despite many attempts to bring He-Man to cinemas again have tried and failed to get off the ground.
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When Masters of the Universe hit cinemas in the late 80s, it was a financial and critical failure, partially thanks to the combination of budget constraints and special effects of the time requiring the action to be set on Earth with only a handful of recognized characters rather than on Eternia with a full complement of heroes and villains. However, over the years, the movie has become a cult classic, and while Super7 released versions of the movie characters as part of their toy line, they are long sold out and on the second-hand market only for those with very deep pockets. Now Mattel is giving fans the chance to own these figures on a more reasonable budget, as can be seen in the announcement below.
Dolph Lundgren Recently Discussed The Masters of The Universe Franchise at SDCC
The Masters of the Universe franchise celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and Kevin Smith recently headed up a panel at San Diego Comic-Con that celebrated the past and future of the original cartoon, the toy line, and future projects, which includes Smith’s own animated continuation of the 80s series. One of those appearing at the event was He-Man himself, Dolph Lundgren, who discussed his role in the movie and how his “postage stamp” sized costume wasn’t exactly the warmest to film in, considering most of the movie was shot at night.
In addition to discussing the movie, Lundgren also gave fans a little treat by being handed the Sword of Power, and reciting his classic line, “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power,” while holding the sword aloft, just like his on-screen counterpart. He also recalled how, when taking on the role, he actually believed that playing a toy character could be a career-ender. He said:
“I was standing on stage as they were cheering and yelling, ‘I have the power,’ wondering if it was a good idea to do this movie. Playing a toy in those days was kind of the end of your career maybe. But the fact that we’re still here and these wonderful people are still into this character and this universe means the franchise is still very relevant.”
