News He-Man anime series from Kevin Smith coming to Netflix

[Myko]

It's the other way around, Hordak (and the Evil Horde) was created as toys for the He-Man toyline, but the He-Man cartoon was ending so they ended up in the She-Ra cartoon instead.

Edit to be more accurate: The Evil Horde was developed by Mattel and Filmation in conjunction for the MOTU toyline and the She-Ra cartoon. Catra appears in the Princess of Power-toyline while the other horde characters (Hordak, Leech, Grizzlor, Mantenna) are in the MOTU toyline.

Non-cartoon works would predominantly use Hordak as a He-Man villain.

 

[Reverend]

Adam is royal.

If Adam orders Teela to be intimate, she has to, on pain of death from the palace guard. Which seems even weirder if this was when she was a palace guard or/and man at arms... Because then it would be her job to kick the shit out of herself for disobeying a royal edict.

Guy...

Even if they had a consensual relationship, and they were both of age, if the king or queen didn't like it, then could just have Teela hung anyway.

Guy....

A royal's word is law.

GUY! Remember to breath. Also, I think you've forgotten to take your pills again!

 

[Mach5]

Do you think that controversy isn't helping promote the series?

I think it's safe to conclude that it is.

Up 415 spots in just a few days.

 

[Saul]

And the same can be said of (and about) the '80's She-Ra show that these idiots love to push over the new one (with the same claims about it being 'woke').

Completely don't get that. I never met a girl interested in She-ra (that's not to say they don't/didn't exist) but I knew boys who were He-man fans and had She-ra figures and watched She-ra. I watched She-ra too.

People tend to be intimidated by the sheer volume. 110 episodes, pretty big commitment. Totally worth it.

Totally, totally worth it. I remember way back when I spoke to someone about Babylon 5, Deep Space Nine, Star Wars and how epic they were. They hadn't seen any of them but from but my description of each franchise they had recommended 'Legend of Galactic Heroes' and I was blown away by it. Game of Thrones in space.

 

[Mach5]

Game of Thrones in space.

Only with organic plot progression and a satisfying ending.

 

[Pauln6]

I'm 6 episodes into the 2002 show. Apart from the inexplicable oddity of the bee people all being male, it's great. Teela's crush on He-Man has appeared for the first time and Skeletor has just sussed that there is something odd going on with Greyskull. It's great to see the plot moving forward.

Evil Lynn is the best character by a mile.

 

[Mach5]

I'm 6 episodes into the 2002 show. Apart from the inexplicable oddity of the bee people all being male, it's great. Teela's crush on He-Man has appeared for the first time and Skeletor has just sussed that there is something odd going on with Greyskull. It's great to see the plot moving forward.

Evil Lynn is the best character by a mile.

The 3-part pilot is fantastic, but you haven't seen anything yet. For me, the good stuff starts with episode 9.

 

[JD]

I can't remember if we were talking about the bit twist openly or not, so I'll just talk in code.
I just read part of Tor.com's review, and I didn't not realize the big controversial thing happened at the beginning of the season, from the way people had been talking, I thought it was at the end.
It is pretty brave to open the series like that, but even if it wasn't the big cliffhanger, I'd still expect it to be undone by the end of the show.
One other thing I noticed that is noteworthy, is that the show is just Masters of the Universe: Revelation, with no mention of He-Man. So really, there was no promise of He-Man, in the title at least.

 

[Unicron]

For those whinging about Teela being given too much focus as a main character and a heroes journey arc: 1) she was ALWAYS a main character, second only He-Man on the show in terms of agency. 2) her backstory and ultimate destiny were set up on one of the show's earliest episodes! Like seriously; episode # 6 'Teela's Quest', look it up! So it was baked in from the get go, they're just now finally getting around to paying it off.

I've been reading an interesting variety of opinions on several different venues, and Teela's handling is one of the main criticisms. And I don't think it's because many of those critics (the saner ones, anyway ) think she's not worthy of being a main character or having new development, by any means. The problem is that some aspects of the scripts don't make a lot of sense from either a character development standpoint or a broader story standpoint.

I mean, I get that Randor is understandably angry that Adam/He-Man is apparently dead and he didn't know the truth, but to take that anger out on Man-At-Arms and effectively banish him, on pain of death? And Teela likewise acting as if Adam keeping his secret is equivalent to always lying to her, when that's clearly not true?

I rewatched the episodes today and I still enjoy way more of it than I have issues with. I'm interested to see what the second half will reveal. But I do think there's some valid criticism in how some aspects of the characters are written, and I think Teela's arc could have been executed better in ways. I don't think the writing is totally awful, by any means, but at times it falters. Some of it feels a bit rushed to me. Some parts are quite good.

As for characters staying dead or not: they're clearly operating on the level of mythic storytelling here. We're talking ancient Greek myths, Journey into the West, that whole vibe. So people dying, going to the next world and coming back is all part and parcel of it, especially when you get into the apocalyptic, ragnarokian phase of storytelling.

I admit that in my rewatch today, some of the elements of Preternia as an afterlife concept don't entirely make sense to me, as shown. Is it meant to be only for the champions (sword bearers) of Grayskull or more of a general purpose heaven? The latter would explain why Moss Man is there, the former assumption not quite as much. Some fans have also criticized that Grayskull, He-Ro and other veteran champions don't seem overly interested in saving Eternia, which I can sort of understand. Another area where I felt the script could be improved, myself.

As always, YMMV.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The 3-part pilot is fantastic, but you haven't seen anything yet. For me, the good stuff starts with episode 9.

For me the good stuff started with Stratos, who seems to talk a lot, sounding like Sean Connery for no apparent reason.

 

[Pauln6]

For me the good stuff started with Stratos, who seems to talk a lot, sounding like Sean Connery for no apparent reason.

Lol. I though he was dead! Looked like he was captured along with Adam but then he didn't appear in the episode again.

 

[Reverend]

I mean, I get that Randor is understandably angry that Adam/He-Man is apparently dead and he didn't know the truth, but to take that anger out on Man-At-Arms and effectively banish him, on pain of death?

Kings can be like that. Also, if a King can't trust his most trusted servant to tell him the truth, especially about his son and heir (literally the most important thing to him, ever) then banishment on pain of death is the merciful choice. He could have ordered him executed on the spot.

And Teela likewise acting as if Adam keeping his secret is equivalent to always lying to her, when that's clearly not true?

It clearly IS true; Adam even acknowledges it. It's not simply a lie of omission, there must have been dozens and dozens of incidents where the subject came up between them, like say "He-Man just saved the kingdom, and where were you hiding where all of this was going on!?" and Adam would play the fool. All of this would have gone on for YEARS by this point.
And it's not just because he kept it from her, but that pretty much everyone around her was deemed worthy to be in on the secret *except* her. That's got to feel like distrust, disrespect, and dishonesty, which to a warrior with the whole code of honour thing is a pretty big deal. For it to all come out publicly and simultaneous with loosing her best friend right before her eyes must have been both humiliating and emotionally devastating.

 

[Mach5]

And it's not just because he kept it from her, but that pretty much everyone around her was deemed worthy to be in on the secret *except* her.

As I was watching their confrontation in episode 5, I caught myself thinking "you're asking the wrong questions". It shouldn't be about him leading a double life so much as, so many other people being in on it, but not his closest friend. What I would ask is: "What was it that made ME unworthy?"

 

[Reverend]

As I was watching their confrontation in episode 5, I caught myself thinking "you're asking the wrong questions". It shouldn't be about him leading a double life so much as, so many other people being in on it, but not his closest friend. What I would ask is: "What was it that made ME unworthy?"

I think that's the intended implication that's been eating at her, but she hasn't said it aloud yet because she's either afraid to admit it to herself, afraid of the answer, or because she thinks she already knows. Or all of those knotted into one ball of rage and insecurity.
Somewhere deep down, she feels like she's unworthy somehow. The orphan girl, the one made into a playmate an minder for the soft, lazy prince, the one they all pity.
She's wrong, and will likely find out exactly how wrong before the second part is complete, but we're not there yet.

 

[Mach5]

Skelly getting jabbed in Mexico:

Mad props, Skelly.

Get your shots, people.

 

[Skipper]

It clearly IS true; Adam even acknowledges it. It's not simply a lie of omission, there must have been dozens and dozens of incidents where the subject came up between them, like say "He-Man just saved the kingdom, and where were you hiding where all of this was going on!?" and Adam would play the fool. All of this would have gone on for YEARS by this point.
And it's not just because he kept it from her, but that pretty much everyone around her was deemed worthy to be in on the secret *except* her. That's got to feel like distrust, disrespect, and dishonesty, which to a warrior with the whole code of honour thing is a pretty big deal. For it to all come out publicly and simultaneous with loosing her best friend right before her eyes must have been both humiliating and emotionally devastating.

It's interesting how much this mirrors the situation of Lois Lane from the Silver / Bronze Age. What was just a funny plot device now has become something akin to gaslighting. In fact, in every modern Superman reboot Lois discovers his secret identity almost immediately because modern authors know that it would be somewhat hypocritical for the one who considers himself the Champion of "Truth and Justice" to continue lying to his friends for no sensible reason. If someone wrote a direct sequel to the Silver Age Superman stories and Lois found out the truth, I'm sure she'd have a similar reaction to Teela's.

 

[Skipper]

I mean:


"Clark, do you really mindwipe people without their consent? Something that if others did you would call them 'criminals' and put them in jail?"

 

[Skipper]

"And remember to always be honest and sincere with your friends! I'm obviously excluded, because I absolutely entitled to tell all the lies I want to my friends and my family.

So, the second today moral lesson is 'Do as I say, not as I do', I suppose?"

 

[Mach5]

OK, so from an in-universe perspective... Why DID Adam keep Teela in the dark all that time?

 

[Skipper]

OK, so from an in-universe perspective... Why DID Adam keep Teela in the dark all that time?

@Christopher had a good theory.

I suppose I can see some reason why it might be considered inappropriate or dangerous for the prince of the realm to go out and fight villains, so maybe Adam wouldn't be allowed to be He-Man if his parents found out, and Teela was his guardian who was responsible for his safety and obligated to report to the king and queen. Although there's certainly no shortage of princes in history who've been warriors, so I'm not sure how well that works.