Masters of the Universe fans have been waiting nearly 20 years for a theatrical reboot of the popular sci-fi/fantasy franchise, but their patience will be rewarded on the 2026 movies schedule this summer. The new Masters of the Universe movie brings He-Man back to the big screen with Nicholas Galitzine inhabiting the role, Of course, you can’t have the Power Sword-wielding hero not battle his arch-nemesis Skeletor, and director Travis Knight shared how he bluntly reacted to how the reboot was going to change up the villain’s look before he came long.
Jared Leto is playing Skeletor in live-action this time around, following in the footsteps of Frank Langella in the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie. And as you can see in the Masters of the Universe trailer, Leto’s Skeletor looks pretty faithful to the source material, skull face and all. But in previous iterations of the reboot, that skeletal visage was going to just be a golden skull mask. As Knight recalled to Empire about how he reacted to this baffling change:
I said, ‘F— that s—. Skeletor has a skull face.' That’s just the way it is. It’s a living, talking, emoting skull, and that’s that.
I mean, yeah. If you’re going to make a Masters of the Universe movie, Skeletor needs to have the actual skull face, not merely using a skull mask to cover a normal-looking face. It makes me think that this incarnation of the character was from earlier in Masters of the Universe’s long development. In the late 2000s or even early 2010s, I could imagine a writer or studio executive being under the impression that going the mask route would have made Skeletor more palatable for general audiences.
Let’s just be thankful Travis Knight put the kibosh on that idea. The director also described Skeletor in the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon as being “cool,” “scary,” “funny” and “intimidating,” all with a “distinctive voice.” From his perspective, Jared Leto fit all of those qualifications, with Knight saying:
I wanted someone to craft their own version of that. Jared approached us, because he loves Skeletor and has his own 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.
This is the first time I’ve heard toxic masculinity applied to Skeletor, but in terms of pure entitlement by believing he should control Castle Grayskull and rule Eternia, it makes sense. It’s also not like he’s a stellar boss to minions like Evil-Lyn, Goat Man and Tri-Klops, He only values their help in accomplishing his evil schemes, and if that usefulness runs out or they in any way jeopardize those plans, he’ll toss them aside. I would say Skeletor needs to get a talking to from HR, but who are we kidding, he probably had that division of his operation eliminated.
Jared Leto’ and Nicholas Galitzine are joined in Masters of the Universe by Camila Mendes as Teela, Idris Elba as Man-at-Arms, Alisone Brie as Evil-Lyn, Morena Baccarin as The Sorceress, among others. This take on the property sees He-Man, a.k.a. Prince Adam, being stranded on Earth for 20 years. Upon regaining his Power Sword, he’ll return to Eternia to help its remaining warriors fight Skeletor and his forces, and we’ll see how that conflict turns out on June 5.
