He-Man: Kyle Allen is Your New Live-Action He-Man and Will Air on Netflix
After years of development limbo, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe fans are getting another chance to see Prince of Eternia make it to the big screen. Netflix has acquired the rights to the project from Sony, and production is set to start this summer with West Side Story star Kyle Allen in the titular hero’s role.
Kyle Allen has been cast as He-Man in the live-action ‘MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE’ film for Netflix. pic.twitter.com/X58NCdJ0Zn
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 28, 2022
The series is based on Mattel’s famous hyper-muscular toy line, The Masters of the Universe, which rose to popularity in the 1980s. An extremely successful Filmation animated series that aired between 1983 and 1985 helped to boost the line’s popularity.
The He-Man and the Masters of the Universe franchise is one of Mattel’s most famous, with a long track record that includes multiple animated series, movies, toys, graphic novels, comics (both published by DC), video games (which included voice acting from Dolph Lundgren), spin-off shows (including one called She-Ra: Princess of Power), and more.
The property has seen many different variations over the years, including a syndicated live-action series starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man in the early ’90s, which was set on the distant world of Eternia. That all came before an ill-fated reboot of the franchise by director Jon M. Chu as a motion-captured 3D film back in 2009, but the production was scuttled after only a couple of months over budget issues.
In 2010, director McG tried his hand at bringing He-Man into theaters as a feature film, with Adam Sandler reportedly being eyed for the role of He-Man/Prince Adam and James Marsden as his nemesis, Skeletor. That version of the project also fell apart.
The new movie will be directed by Anders Walter, a photographer and filmmaker who has previously worked on the cult TV comedy Party Down. The script was written by Jacobson and Gordon, who also wrote commercials for companies like Kia Motors, Audi, Heineken, and Casper.
The plot of the film has yet to be determined by Netflix, although it’s reasonable to assume that Allen will play Prince Adam of Eternia, He-Man’s secret alter ego. Adam is a young prince who wants to use his magic sword and strong allies and adversaries to safeguard his planet from Skeletor’s malevolent schemes, including Beast Man, Mer-Man, Trap-Jaw, and Hordak.
Are you excited about a new He-Man live-action take? Let us know in the comments below!
Covering superheroes, anything dark, horror, and more! Lead writer for Fan Fest
