The forthcoming “Masters of the Universe” film marks the first live-action adaptation related to He-Man since the 1987 movie. With nearly four decades since the last cinematic outing, anticipation was high for the new trailer. As is often the case with nostalgic franchises beloved across generations, the online community was brimming with opinions.

The mere fact that the film was completed has sparked hope, following a history marked by numerous unsuccessful attempts to reboot the series. Opinions are divided, however, on whether the sneak peek has lived up to expectations or if it suggests a project that might have been better left in development limbo.

Many have noted the trailer’s resemblance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe style, with its blend of action, charm, and self-referential humor reminiscent of “Thor: Ragnarok” and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series. Chris Arrant from Popverse commented that the film “looks like the best of MCU James Gunn & Taika Waititi,” suggesting a promising appeal. A similar sentiment was shared by a Reddit user U/Frankfusion, who remarked, “When ‘Thor Ragnarok’ came out, I said that it was proof that a ‘Masters of The Universe’ movie could work today.”

A common observation about the “Masters of the Universe” trailer is that it gives off those trademark Marvel Cinematic Universe vibes of crowd-pleasing action with heavy doses of charm and self-aware humor — in particular, as seen in “Thor: Ragnarok” and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films. To wit, Chris Arrant of Popverse wrote, “‘Masters of the Universe’ looks like the best of MCU James Gunn & Taika Waititi,” clearly framing the observation in a positive light. U/Frankfusion on Reddit echoed that sentiment, writing, “When ‘Thor Ragnarok’ came out, I said that it was proof that a ‘Masters of The Universe’ movie could work today.”

Not everyone saw “Masters of the Universe” using the modern comic book movie template as a good thing, though. Bloody Disgusting writer John Squires posted on X about the trailer, “Looks like a superhero movie you’ve seen with a DLC pack Masters of the Universe skin over top of it. Again I’ll say, these big Hollywood movies have become so boring. A house formula & style that moves from one to the next.” 

It would seem that your excitement for “Masters of the Universe” hinges significantly on whether you still get excited about the MCU and its ilk or if you’ve already grown tired of that style of film. But would someone who is “over” superhero movies really care about a He-Man movie in the first place anyway? 

Though this information was revealed well before the trailer dropped, it would seem that many people didn’t realize who was directing “Masters of the Universe.” That person is Travis Knight, one of the founders of the animation studio Laika. In addition to his work in that field, Knight also directed the live action “Transformers” prequel “Bumblebee” – the best “Transformers” movie according to Rotten Tomatoes (and it’s not even close). The fact that “Transformers” and “Masters of the Universe” are such similar properties — they started around the same time and were both toys that became cartoons and then massive multimedia properties — has many people believing that Knight is just the man for the job.

“Don’t know how it’s going to do in the box office but Travis Knight is a special talent and he’ll carry this movie to a RT of at least 80%,” wrote u/21may on Reddit. To which a pleasantly surprised u/PSIwind replied, “Wait, Travis Knight is the director? Well s**t.” In addressing the backlash against the casting of Idris Elba as Man-At-Arms, Vén László reminded everyone of Knight’s work on “Bumblebee,” and wrote on X, “Have some faith guys. Travis is a child of the 80’s. ‘MOTU’ is in safe hands.”

The “Masters of the Universe” trailer reveals that Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine), He-Man’s alter ego to hide his identity, was raised on Earth after his mother sent him there to keep him safe. Not only that, but he’s been stuck working in the HR department in a corporate office. It’s during these shots of Adam at work that we see an image of his name placard on his desk, which reads, “Adam Glenn” followed by “He/Him.”

Many people took this as a fun little joke. Obviously “He-Man” would be a “He/Him.” It is essentially two different ways of saying the same thing. However, some were quick to pounce on what they saw as another example of so-called wokeness striking again. Internet personality Jon Del Arroz, whose brand revolves heavily around championing extreme right viewpoints and criticizing liberal-leaning pop culture, wrote on X, “Now they’re making a Masters of the Universe and giving He-man pronouns. These people won’t stop until they ruin everything.” The title of an entire article focusing on the issue in Cosmic Book News read, “He-Man goes woke: loser blonde white dude using pronouns.”

However, such voices seem to be in the minority. Most saw the shot for what it most likely was — a fun little gag utilizing some clever word play. Not to mention being something of a hint for who Adam is destined to become. 

Though the list of confirmed characters had been previously revealed, the “Masters of the Universe” trailer was the first time we saw how the characters were actually going to look in the movie — most of them, anyway. That list was noticeably missing Orko, the floating, mage-like creature who was one of He-Man’s sidekicks and a fan-favorite character of the original “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” cartoon. Orko has come back for each of the subsequent animated series, and has also appeared in the comics and various other “Masters of the Universe” media.

Fans had hoped that the “Masters of the Universe” trailer was going to include the surprise reveal of Orko, especially after two previously announced villains — Spikor and Beast Man — ended up popping up in the clip. Well, no dice on that one. There was no sign of Orko in the trailer, and he continues to not be mentioned in any of the official press information for the film. The top comment on the r/movies Reddit page about the trailer has u/ProfessionalAge9736 asking, in all caps, “WHERE IS ORKO?!?” with nearly 300 upvotes at press time. That same question was asked, with an equal level of impassioned frustration, all over X, under just about every post that shared the trailer. 

“Tron: Ares” ended up being best known as Jared Leto’s 2025 sci-fi flop that lost Disney over $100 million. It was just the latest in a string of high profile commercial disappointments for Leto, who doesn’t seem to be the box office draw that Hollywood was so keen to make him over the last decade or so. Even beyond the perceived quality of his movies — some of which, like “Blade Runner 2049,” were actually great — Leto just has something of a stink on him.  

That is to say, when his name is included in the cast list for an upcoming movie, the overwhelming responses are groans and eye rolls. This doesn’t bode well for “Masters of the Universe,” seeing as how Leto is playing legendary main antagonist Skeletor. And Leto’s involvement in the movie has been a frequent point of contention in discussions of the trailer thus far, even among those who were otherwise impressed with how the character looks in the movie. 

X user @GoodjobJ echoed a lot of people’s feelings on how Leto tainted the trailer’s otherwise good vibes when he posted, “It looks fun until you realize Jared Leto is playing Skeletor.” In a popular comment on Reddit, u/Slutnado wrote, “There’s still time to recast Jared Leto,” to which u/Tumblrrito replied, “UGH this alone makes it unwatchable to me.” We suspect that a lot will come down to how Leto’s Skeletor actually sounds, something that the trailer did not reveal. 

Up to this point, Nicholas Galitzine — who is bringing Prince Adam/He-Man to life in “Masters of the Universe” — has been known entirely for musicals, comedies, and romantic dramas. And those skills translated just fine to the parts of the trailer where he was mild-mannered Adam Glenn. But until he was finally shown in He-Man’s iconic loin cloth and chest plate outfit, nobody really knew if Galitzine could pull it off.

Well, those worries were immediately put to rest. X user @danidelle23 gushed, “Nicholas Galitzine heard all the critics say he wasn’t right for He-Man and proved every single one of them wrong!” next to a short gif of the actor from the trailer in his He-Man attire. In an article for Gayety that collected various social media posts praising the actor’s impressive physique in the trailer, the consensus was summed up thusly: “Within minutes of the trailer’s release, social feeds filled with paused screenshots, enthusiastic commentary, and thirst-forward reactions praising the physical overhaul. For many viewers, the nostalgia came second. The abs did not.”

Alison Brie’s transformation from sitcom “Community” to rom-com “Somebody I Used To Know” involved expanding into the world of action and stunt work on Netflix’s “GLOW.” Anyone who watched that show, especially those that are aware the actor did all her own wrestling, immediately knew that Brie could have a career as an action star if she wanted to. That, plus her physical resemblance to the classic He-Man villain, had fans thrilled when it was announced Brie would be playing Evil-Lyn in “Masters of the Universe.”

The shots of Brie in the trailer go by extremely quickly, and it takes some very careful pausing to get a good look at the actor as Evil-Lyn. But it was enough to confirm that everyone was right to be excited for not only the character’s inclusion in the film, but Brie playing her. U/Ironyfree_annie on Reddit surely spoke for many when she wrote, “I’m just here for Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn.” 

@TreyHilburn on X said, “Yea Skeletor looks cool and all… buuut let’s just admit It’s all about Allison Brie as Evil-Lyn!,” also adding — in a reference for all the “Community” fans — “I’ll take this over six seasons and a movie.” 

An initial concern with all the Earth/real world stuff shown at the beginning of the “Masters of the Universe” trailer was that it was going to copy the 1987 movie — which had He-Man travel to Earth and spend the bulk of his time there, thus negating the need for much in the way of special effects or fantasy realms. But it becomes clear pretty quickly that much of the new movie, will, in fact, take place in Eternia. Fortunately, it looks like the movie was given the proper budget for the set designers and effects teams to build an impressive-looking Eternia.

“They got the look right… it looks cartoon accurate… but scaled into a movie,” @TheMekon_Venus on X said of the shots of Eternia in the trailer. Empire Online described “the elaborate world-building that’s gone into creating [director Travis] Knight’s vision of He-Man’s home-planet, Eternia.” The article later spoke of the various vehicles and flying contraptions shown in the trailer, and how the artists “do something new and, dare we say, sexy with the original design concepts.”

And despite the divisive casting choice of Leto, the look of Skeletor still received glowing praise. Jordan Biordi of Yahoo wrote, “Skeletor looks particularly impressive thanks to modern-day visual effects.” 

As mentioned, He-Man has remained an active character up through today, and saw several reinventions for multiple generations of fans. Still, it is the Gen Xers and Elder Millennials who were there for — and more specifically, were children during — the run of the original “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” cartoon that seem to be geeking out over the new “Masters of the Universe” trailer the most.

On Reddit, u/UnDosTresPecao wrote, “As someone who grew up on He Man, I actually loved it.” Reporter Melissa Chan posted on X, “Yes I’m an ’80s kid and I am totally losing my mind over the ‘Masters of the Universe’ trailer.” The initial teaser for the trailer proper leaned heavily on ’80s nostalgia, with images of period-appropriate food, fashion, and a clip from the OG cartoon — shown playing from a classic tube television — to really make it clear who the target audience is. 

And on that note, many of the outlets that covered the trailer zeroed in on that, from Space.com‘s “by the power of nostalgia!” to Yahoo proclaiming that the trailer “looks like a nostalgic romp.” The messaging here is clear — if you think “Masters of the Universe” looks bad, get off our lawn, whippersnappers!

One of Hollywood’s biggest offenders in the realm of overhyped superhero movies that ended up being terrible, the original 1987 “Masters of the Universe” movie was lambasted by critics and fell flat on its face at the box office. In the years since, the movie has developed a minor cult following, though mostly on a purely campy, so-bad-it’s-good level. That, and the delightfully over-the-top performance of Frank Langella as Skeletor, the only actor in the movie who seemed to actually realize the kind of movie they were making.

All that is to say that the new “Masters of the Universe” really has nowhere to go but up by comparison. All the trailer had to do was not be a complete embarrassment — and it certainly wasn’t — for it to be obvious that it is going to be the better He-Man movie. Fortunately, it seems like it’s going to end up being a lot more than just better by default. Even so, it’ll be nice for fans of the character and franchise to have a movie that they might be able to love genuinely rather than ironically.