Masters Of The Universe: Relevation VS. Revolution

Masters Of The Universe is one of the more enduring franchises to still survive the weird market of the 1980s. The toy line was created by Mattel at first to compete with Star Wars as well as to stand as its own succession into the field of sci-fi/fantasy which included coming up with its an original animated TV series from Filmation of He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe and its sequel She-Ra: Princess Of Power. Despite Filmation's limited resources and reusing the same footage and animated sequences throughout each episode, both shows were viewed as being a fixed figure among 80s cartoons. This lead to several spinoffs, both animated and live-action, but when it came to following up the original series most of them went in their own direction. Then after coming out with a successful reboot of She-Ra, Netflix focused on doing another MOTU animated series, this time produced by Clerks creator Kevin Smith, otherwise known as half of Jay and Silent Bob. Even though Smith already had a history of creating his own View Askewniverse along with several comic books and other geek-centered properties, so having one the biggest fanboys working on revitalizing the MOTU saga seemed like a good idea.

This began in 2021 with Revelation which was released in two separate parts consisting of five episodes each. The first part had He-Man and Skeletor seemingly dying which leaves the rest of Eternia to pick up the pieces of the mess the lead characters left behind, and the second half has less substance as it dealt with various people gaining the Power of Grayskull and its impacts on the universe. In 2024, a new 5-episode series titled Revolution continued where Revelation left off with Eternia being invaded by the Horde and several truths about the past finally being revealed. Both Revelation and Revolution left their impression with old and new MOTU fans, even though most were turned off with the second half of Revelation to even bother with Revolution. Let's see the differences between both titles and see which one did more justice to the MOTU legacy.

Both series were animated by studios DR Movie and Powerhouse which treated this like a theatrical feature with a dynamic style and a real flare for bringing back the 80s nostalgia to modern audiences who have grown up on anime and video games. The production was also blessed with amazing vocal talents and a soaring musical score that immerses you in the world they've created. The premise behind this was that the series acts as a pseudo-sequel to the original He-Man cartoon along with elements from the MOTU movie and other sources such as the various comics and characters' backstory that were explored in expanded media. So, Revelation treats the original She-Ra cartoon as non-canonical which slims the narrative solely to the regular cast of Eternia instead of Etheria.

Revelation starts with a huge battle between He-Man and Skeletor once again for the secrets of Castle Grayskull which leads to the alleged death of the lead hero and villain. The remaining part of the first half shows Teela along with her new partner Andra going on a quest to restore the Sword of Power along with other friends and former enemies like Evil-Lyn. Teela and her party travel from the hellish Subternia to the heavenly Preternia to reforge the Power Sword and resurrect Adam whose secret identity as He-Man is out in the open, even though this also brings Skeletor back to life who claims the Power of Grayskull for himself. The second half might have had Skeletor ultimately winning if he hadn't lost his power to Evil-Lyn who destroys Preternia and plans to wreck the universe. Teela stops this by becoming the new Sorceress and restoring order with Skeletor crawling back to Snake Mountain which has been taken over by a mysterious new cybertronic idol called Motherboard that secretly works for the Horde lead by Skeletor's old boss Hordak.

Revolution picks up with Adam's father Randor dying leaving him to take the crown of the kingdom of Eternos, even though a blue-skinned stranger named Keldor from the forbidden island of Gar arrives claiming to be the elder brother and true heir to the throne. Afterwards, the newly cyborg Skeletor attacks Eternos and starts to infect its citizens with a nanites which takes them over. Keldor helps them fend off Skeletor's attack, and He-Man declares him the new king while he sends the Sword of Power to be modified by his old friend Gwildor from the live-action movie to enhance it to counter this new technology in one big swoop. Hordak arrives on Eternia, his agent Motherboard takes over Grayskull, while Skeletor realizes that he really was Keldor this whole time and has a final battle with Hordak to settle their rivalry. Teela gains the powers of the three Eternian animal gods so she can remake Preternia and help He-Man defeat Skeletor. There's a stinger at the end showing Hordak still alive and being sent back to his leader, Horde Prime, thanks to a mysterious Horde captain.

Story wise, both Revelation and Revolution handled the MOTU lore well. It’s not a direct sequel to the Filmation shows since nothing of the first She-Ra show gets brought up here, and aspects from the live-action movie were also thrown in. Revelation broke more ground as it went off the beaten path and shows what the supporting characters would be like if the main protagonist and antagonist weren’t around anymore, and its first half is a long fetch quest trying to restore a magical artifact, even though the second half wastes a lot of time deciding who is really worthy of wielding that kind of godly power. Revolution on the other hand dug much more into the prior MOTU established history by incorporating elements from different He-Man resources such as the DC Comics and the 2000’s animated series. It brings up the fact that Skeletor is really He-Man's uncle and that he used to work for the Horde when they first invaded Eternia. Even though he is given cybernetic implants to make him compliant to the Horde, Skeletor managed to break free of his programming and discovered the truth of his past thanks to his hidden personality of Keldor who is just as ambitious as his present self that wants to usurp Hordak and his forces. 

Comparing the characters in both shows is a sliding scale as well. Adam himself is either dead for most of the time or shifting to his Hulk form in Revelation, whereas in Revolution he’s more aware of the weight of his decisions, even though giving up the kingdom to a total stranger like Keldor was pretty dumb in hindsight. Teela struggles in the first series to find her identity and comes off being a whiner to most viewers, but in the second she’s reaffirmed her role as the new Sorceress and just trying to work out her feelings for her childhood friend. One of the most surprising story arcs is Orko becoming a full-blown mage, even though he had to die to have that happen like when Gandalf changed his color from Gray to White. The biggest character elevation of all was Evil-Lyn who after finally breaking from Skeletor’s influence manages to rise to being the new Big Bad, then redeeming herself by helping the good guys save the planet for which she becomes a Cosmic Enforcer that is the MOTU equivalent of the Green Lanterns. Beast Man went through some changes in Revelation but is completely left out of Revolution. 

The voice actors selected were totally spot on for both shows. Chris Wood who played Mon-El on Supergirl was a fitting choice for He-Man/Adam, along with Supergirl herself, Melissa Benoist, portraying Teela. The Teela from Revelation was voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar, though more fans seem to prefer Benoist’s performance. Skeletor was played by none other than Mark Hamill who already had experience playing skeletal villains, but then having Keldor voiced by the living legend of William Shatner was too good to be true. For me, it was a thrill having two sci-fi legends simultaneously voicing my favorite 80s cartoon bad guy. There were other Star Trek alumni in the cast such as Jeffrey Combs as Zodak, Gates McFadden as Queen Marlena(originally played by Alicia Silverstone), John de Lancie is booming as Granamyr, Tony Todd is magnificent in the premiere of Scare Glow, and Keith David does his best galactic conqueror as Hordak. Former MOTU actors like Meg Foster, Cam Clarke, and Alan Oppenheimer were given small roles, as well as other animated voice overs by Grey Delisle, Cree Summer, Phil Lamarr, Kevin Conroy, Susan Eisenberg Kevin Michael Richardson, Diedrich Bader, and Stephen Root. Lian Cunningham was terrific as Man-At-Arms and seriously helped drive the story along. The replacements they made for Revolution along with the additional cast seem to work more for the second show’s favor as opposed to Revelation.  

Overall, Revolution was more appealing to old school MOTU fans than Revelation. The animation, pacing, character motivations, and overall layout works better as a 5-episode series instead of a series broken up into two chapters. Revolution checks a lot more boxes for its audience with a largely fulfilling plot and calls to all branches of the He-Man fandom including the new Netflix children's series plus Dolph Lundgren's hair mullet, even though your choice may vary with all the pop culture homages. No word yet if there will be a continuation of this particular saga, but since a new live-action movie is coming out, there still might be some fabulous secrets yet to be revealed in this version of Eternia.