After a tumultuous week of internet criticism of the new Masters of the Universe: Revelation series, showrunner Kevin Smith hosted a special edition of his Fatman Beyond podcast dedicated to the show: He-Man Beyond Revelation. Joined by Griffin Neuman, the voice of Orko in the new show, the two talked about their careers, their love of He-man, the new Netflix show, and the fan reaction to it for over two hours (!). We’ve combed through the podcast and fished out all the juiciest hints and tidbits about the remainder of the first season we could find… and beyond! Here are 10 things we learned about the future of the show, direct from Kevin Smith!
Note: This article contains spoilers for the first five episodes of Masters of the Universe: Revelation that are currently available on Netflix, as well as speculation and spoilers for the next five episodes and quite possibly beyond. Continue at your own peril!
1. When Can We Expect The Remaining 5 Episodes Of The Season?
“Season 2,” “Season 1: Part 2,” “The Second Course,” “Reckoning,” whatever Netflix ends up call the remaining five episodes that have already been produced, they should arrive on Netflix at either the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022 according to Smith. Smith also mentioned that the upcoming CGI series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe would air after his show, which we take to mean after the entire first season of his show is available, at some point in 2022.
2. Orko Lives?
While Orko apparently died in Episode 4, Nuemann and Smith danced around the diminutive magician’s ultimate fate. The two joked about his final lines mirroring those of another famous magician from Fantasy and Sci-Fi, who “definitely” stayed dead “forever” the first time they died.
“Demon be gone! Go back to your shadow!”
Orko (and some other guy…)
The two went on to point out that of the rest of the characters who died in the first five episodes, all came back in some way. Smith also invited Neuman back for a follow up podcast after the final five episodes aired, noting “I suspect Griffin will be back when we put up the next five because we’ll have something to talk about at that point.”
3. Teela: Princess of Power?
One of the most contentious elements of Revelations (for some people, not us), has been the perceived changes made to Teela’s character. The Internet is rife with articles and Youtube videos taking offense at everything from her haircut, to a perceived change in sexual orientation, to her somehow usurping He-Man as the star of the show.
With He-Man out of the picture, a least temporarily, Teela was the natural choice to step up. Smith addressed the complaints head on stating that Teela has “a friend who’s a girl, but not a girlfriend,” and that “Teela does not wield the sword of power ever, in any of the (10) episodes.” So that puts an end to that.
4. Teela’s Destiny
Furthermore, Smith highlighted that He-Man’s sacrifice in Episode 1 in no way indicated that he was somehow stepping aside. They clarified that Teela has her own role in the new series and it ties directly into the original Funimation cartoon. Episode 6, “Teela’s Quest” in particular – which you can watch on the Masters of the Universe He-Man & She-Ra Youtube Channel. In that episode, written by Paul Dini of Batman: The Animated Series fame, it was revealed that Teela was the Sorceress daughter. Before wiping this knowledge from Teela’s mind, the Sorceress told her that, “Someday you will take my place as the mystic guardian of Grayskull.” Perhaps this prophecy will finally come true sooner rather than later?
Sidenote: That episode also revealed that Adam’s mother, Queen Marlena, was from Earth! How did I miss that all these years!!!???
5. Proto He-Man?
Following on from the opening to the series, whose art style echoed that of the original mini comics that was packed in with the first wave of He-Man toys, Smith pointed out there would be more homages on the way. The Episode 7 fight would include a reference to the very first sketch for He-Man. This featured a look more in keeping with Conan the Barbarian, with He-man brandishing an axe and shield instead of the famous power sword. Presumably he’s referring to this sketch by Mark Taylor.
6. What of He-Man?
Despite the apparent death of Prince Adam in Episode 5 when he was was stabbed by Skeletor, Smith pointed out that this was far from the last time we’d see He-Man. “Episode 6 goes hard” he said. They “do something they’ve never done in the franchise before.” Griffin added that we’re “gonna get more He-Man than you think you wanted.” The pair also said that Episode 7 contains a brutal seven minute fight between He-Man and Skeletor/Skelegod. The only animated fight Smith could compare it to was the Omni-man fight from the end of Invincible!
7. Don’t Call It A Callback!
Don’t expect any references in the remaining episodes to 2002’s He-Man and The Masters of the Universe series from Mike Young Productions . Smith said that “that wasn’t allowed for us to play with.” They didn’t mention The New Adventures of He-Man at all!
8. Me(thod)-Man
When correcting Smith that he wasn’t the only voice actor who recorded in New York, Griffin let it slip that rapper/actor Method Man also recorded his lines from New York. Smith rushed to stop Neuman from saying anything more as they really didn’t want to reveal who Method Man was playing. Considering the characters on the poster that we’ve not seen yet, could Method Man be playing Clamp Champ? We’ve already seen Fisto (tee hee!) and Stratos, albeit it only in flashbacks. Perhaps he could be playing someone else? Man-E-Faces? Modulok? Snout Spout? Maybe King Hiss could make appearance, seeing as he, like Scare Glow never made it into the original Filmation series, and Scare Glow had a very big role to play in this new one.
9. A Game of Keep Away
Hinting at what else we can expect from the rest of the series, Smith pointed out that “the key to the story is keep away, you have to “keep away” with the sword. Whoever gets the sword becomes the Master of the Universe, so in order to have an interesting story, the first thing you do is take the most powerful man in the universe (He-Man) and try and keep the sword away from him.”
With Adam having been “kept away” in Preternia for the first part of the season, and now facing defeat at the hands of Skelegod, we can guess that the second half of the series will take a more traditional heroes journey approach as Prince Adam strives to discover his inner strength to defeat Skeletor. The time for “keep away” is over. It’s time for Adam to take back what’s his.
10. Don’t Say “Goodbye,” Say “Good Journey”
While countering criticism that Smith wanted to destroy He-Man, the pair indicated that the series, “Leaves the door open for more adventures, but tells a complete satisfying story.” While news that executive producer Ted Biaselli wants “to do more of this, he wants to do many seasons,” should be taken with a pinch of salt (what executive doesn’t want to see more of their show!), Smith was frequently seen trying to contain himself when the future of the show was discussed. He did let slip that Netflix thought they were “safe as kittens“ when it came to the response they had been looking for (which is not the audience score from rotten tomatoes). Smith also stated that “he knows it’s being watched a lot.” Later on he said that “if” there were any follow up seasons “they wouldn’t appear until 2023!” Could this mean that plans are already underway? Could Netflix be have greenlit Season 2 already?
All of us here at Goggler thoroughly enjoyed Masters Of The Universe: Revelation and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the rest of Season 1 and beyond.
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