Masters Of The Universe: Revolution Review: Brand New He-Man Stories

Kevin Smith’s Masters Of The Universe: Revolution review will focus on the new series currently on Netflix. Revolution is a follow-up, or season two of the first season, Revelation. While some of the stories definitely feel like an over-correction from the divisive reaction of that season, most of it takes the story into very new places. And in a way that’s organic and builds on the franchise’s decades-long history. Revolution creates an internal conflict within our hero, and surprisingly, also our villain. Read on for my Masters Of The Universe: Revelation review.

Please note that this Masters Of The Universe: Revelation review will be completely spoiler-free.

Masters Of The Universe: Revolution Creates Original Conflicts

Image via Netflix.

Revolution is unique in the sense that it’s telling absolutely original new stories, without being reliant on any of the mythos from the source material. Well, not entirely, but for the most part. While Revelation was Kevin Smith directly making a sequel to the original animated series, Revolution is something new. The opening episode sees Prince Adam (Chris Wood) having to deal with the death of his father, King Randor. Right away, the hero of our story struggles with what kind of hero to be; become the new King, or continue to be the Champion of the planet, as He-Man. It’s a struggle that’s much more formidable than any fight with Skeletor.

And speaking of Skeletor (Mark Hamill), even he gets a unique arc in Masters Of The Universe: Revolution, with the reveal of his shocking origin story. That’s one of the best things that I like about Smith’s iteration of Masters Of The Universe (MOTU), how he is able to give depth and nuance to a villain who was sometimes shown as a bumbling comic relief. Since Revelation, continuing to Revolution, Skeletor changes, evolves, grows and becomes much more formidable. And his arc in Revolution is quite possibly the most interesting Skeletor has ever been.

Masters Of The Universe: Revolution Review Is Spoiler-Free

Image via Netflix.

The New Revolution series also expands on the mythos of He-Man and the power of Grayskull in even more interesting ways than Revelation did. Audiences get more explanation of how magic works in Eternia, especially alongside the technology as well, and how the two concepts complement each other. The world also grows as we are introduced to yet another big bad with the reveal of Hordak (Keith David). All in all, this MOTU creates a lot more story for future seasons, that feel worth exploring. But not in a way that’s holding back in this season at all.

Revolution, despite being half the episode count of Revelation, feels more like a complete story. The pacing is brisk with plot points progressing multiple times an episode. But it never feels rushed or out of nowhere. Each story beat and insanely cool thing that happens feels earned and is just as exciting as if they had spent multiple episodes building to it. The writing feels organic and the twists and turns keep audiences guessing and wanting more.

The Writing Is Excellent Here

It’s surprising to see how Smith and co-writer Tim Sheridan adapted the main story of He-Man from the previous 90’s cartoons, to create this new story set in the same world. Characters like Man-At-Arms (Liam Cunningham) and Teela (Melissa Benoist) get a lot to do, as they evolve from their previous iterations, into something new and something much cooler. Teela’s arc does at times, feel abandoned from Revelation. Especially given the backlash creators got for making her the main lead for the first half of Revelation. But she still gets a major plot thread of her own. Things get even more interesting as there is also a romance brewing this season.

Masters Of The Universe: Revolution works due to the writers making sure to move the story forward in a way that homages the original, while still doing something new. All the while still having amazing action, cool adventures and side stories that are light-hearted enough for kids, but serious enough for adults. Revolution is a great addition to the He-Man mythos and makes room for a lot more stories in this universe.

Masters Of The Universe: Revolution is now streaming on Netflix.

What did you think of this new direction for He-Man? Let me know in the comments below or connect with me on X (Twitter) at @theshahshahid for more MOTU talk.