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Amazon's Masters of the Universe movie wants to be Barbie for boys, with Thor: Ragnarok vibes
Mattel Films' upcoming film, Masters of the Universe, is exploring similar territory to Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie
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Mattel's effort to take the summer box office by storm continues with their upcoming Masters of the Universe film, produced in partnership with Amazon-MGM Studios. And now, we've gotten the first trailer for the film, directed by Travis Knight (Bumblebee, Kubo and the Two Strings), and it's looking very much like a Mattel project.
Remember how Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie gave us a story where Barbie herself (Margot Robbie) ventured into our real world, and subsequently discovered that our world is missing the magic and whimsy of her world? A similar idea is at the core of Masters of the Universe. Check it out below.
In the upcoming film, He-Man has been stuck on Earth for years, away from his home world of Eternia. He lives a whimsy-less life and works a boring office job. But, his ending up back in Eternia gives him the chance to go on a Thor: Ragnarok-inspired adventure, complete with Idris Elba, colorful production design, rock music, synthesizers, lots of lightning bolts, and a muscled blond dude at the center of it all.
One of the biggest things that the Masters of the Universe trailer has to prove is that an old fantasy property like it can get a facelift to make it hip again in the eyes of the public. Taika Waititi's irreverent approach to the MCU's Thor in Thor: Ragnarok reignited fan interest in the character, with composer Mark Mothersbaugh's zany score and the film's Jack Kirby-inspired sets on the planet Sakaar inviting fans to look at Thor through a completely different lens. That said, Ragnarok came out in 2017, and Waititi's follow-up, Thor: Love and Thunder, didn't perform as strongly at the box office.
Either way, we'll see how things play out for He-Man when Masters of the Universe releases in theaters on June 5, 2026.
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