We recently saw a first glimpse of "Masters of the Universe", director Travis Knight's live-action adaptation of the Mattel animated show of the same name, in the form of a trailer. Starring Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, the action-fantasy epic has Jared Leto playing the antagonist Skeletor.
In a new interview with Empire magazine, Knight spoke about being faithful to the original depiction. “Skeletor was a really interesting villain. He looked cool. He was scary. He was funny. He was insecure. And then of course he had this distinctive voice.”
There was a reason Knight called on Leto to play this role. “I wanted someone to craft their own version of that. Jared approached us because he loves Skeletor and has a history with the character. He wanted to swing for the fences. And, ultimately, we landed on something that I’m really happy with. Skeletor’s kind of the embodiment of toxic masculinity.”
Other principal characters include Camila Mendes as Teela, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, Morena Baccarin as The Sorceress, Idris Elba as Duncan/Man-At-Arms, James Purefoy as King Randor, Charlotte Riley as Queen Marlena, Sam C. Wilson as Trap Jaw and Sasheer Zamata as Suzie.
Written by Chris Butler, “Masters of the Universe” is bankrolled by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Mattel Films, and Escape Artists. Amazon MGM handles distribution. Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists are involved as co-producers.
Galitizine is known for appearances in "Mary & George", "Red, White & Royal Blue", and "The Idea of You".
Travis Knight is known for directing the "Transformers" spin-off "Bumblebee" and the stop-motion animated fantasy "Kubo and the Two Strings".
