Musclor et les Maîtres de l'univers

After the disappointing and divisive "MOTU Revelations" earlier in the year I was certainly apprehensive about this new take on the He-Man franchise.

The art style and re-working of certain characters concerned me as an "OG fan" even if it was clear this version would be aimed at a much younger audience.

But not only was this show a hit with my 7 year old son, but I found myself really enjoying it too!

As is quite often the case with most nostalgic properties and comic book adaptations, there seems to be a current trend of "subverting" expectations, gender and sexuality politics being shoehorned in and well, just changes for the sake of making changes.

What I loved about this show is I really didn't feel any of that. Yes Ram Man has been gender swapped and Teela and The Sorceress (The Eldress now) have been race swapped, but I honestly felt these changes served to strengthen the show instead of detracting from it and brought some more balance to the cast of characters which in this day and age can only help to attract that all important new generation of fans.

The main reason I liked this show way more than Kevin Smith's effort was that although the emphasis is on teamwork and family, He-Man is still front and centre in his own show as he should be.

He was proactive, caring and above all else GOOD.

I'm sure this version of MOTU will also be divisive among the core fanbase but I believe the spirit of the original was upheld and properly respected.

I hope this show is a hit with kids and we can all enjoy more He-Man in many years to come.

We have the power.

Granted, when I saw the trailer for this second new 2021 series from Netflix which brought back to life my childhood hero He-Man, I have to admit that I wasn't immediately sold, nor were I particularly thrilled. Why? Well, the art style just seemed to be aiming at a very young audience here. But still, it being a "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" series, of course I opted to watch it.

Initially, I wasn't particularly swayed as I started watching this new 2021 series, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt and kept watching all 10 episodes of season one. And I have to say that while this 2021 version of "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" definitely was nowhere near close to its source material, then it actually started to grow on me.

The story told in this new series is reminiscent to the old classics, but then again, it is totally changed, for better or worse. The storyline was fast paced, which was actually a good thing, and I have to say that the storyline, if you totally ignore everything you've learned from the 1980s or 2000s series, then it is actually entertaining enough.

And they made some very radical changes to the lore and the characters. Without delving too much into detail, then some of these changes were not sitting particularly well with me as it totally ignored already established characters, backgrounds and lore. Sure, I get that this new 2021 series is aimed at a brand new audience, but come on, changing things around like that is most likely not going to go well with the older fans - such as myself, for example.

Visually, then the art and drawing style used in this 2021 new series is something of an acquired taste, because it definitely is unique. Sure, there were some charm and appeal to the art style, and it was beautifully drawn, but it was just too chunky and bulky.

The 2021 series "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" is watchable and entertaining for what it is, but this is not going to be a long-run pleaser for the older fans of the franchise.

Essentially then the 2021 "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" series is a re-make or re-invention of the franchise that we didn't really need, and thus feels fully and wholly unnecessary.

My rating of the 2021 Netflix series "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" lands on a six out of ten stars. It actually turned out to be better and more entertaining than what the trailer initially lead to show. I was impressed, sure, but certain things changed just doesn't sit well with me.

Because it's a complete reboot, I'm giving it a lot of slack. If I were a kid today, I would probably love it. As an adult who grew up with the original, it's a bit disappointing.

They do give reasonable story lines to some of the changes they made, if a little cliché at times. I don't know that the cyberpunk feel is right for the property. It's grown on me over the 10 episodes, but it's still a little weird. It really bothers me that He-Man skips leg day. EVERY DAY IS LEG DAY! And the wannabe "imagine dragons" theme song is just awful.

Also, making the shift from a hero-focused story to an ensemble team story, somewhat reminiscent of power rangers dynamics, feels odd.

This is not at all the He-Man I grew up with, and it's not how I would have done a reboot. I don't believe we needed a hard reboot like this. The 200X series was the right way to do a reboot (and it had things I didn't love as well...) But it's not terrible, and it's orders of magnitude better than Kevin Smith's travesty.

Despite all the changes to the original He-Man this is not as bad as the awful "Revelation". This is a complete new version of MOTU and even as someone who grew up with classic He-Man I can accept that.

It was fun to watch and I don't mind the changes they made to the story, but I don't like what they did to the look of the characters. If they would actually resemble the classic MOTU characters I would like this show a lot, but I don't like the new look at all. Only He-Man, Skeletor and Battle-Cut have resemblance to what we know and loved.

Maybe todays kids like this - I don't know. We'll see how much toys they sell with this.

But unlike "Revelation" this is less of an insult to old fans, because it is willingly directed to a new audience.

That being said: Fun watchable kids show, with hardly any resemblance to the classic He-Man characters.

Unfortunately the title song is weak and not very catchy.

Having grown up watching the original, I didn't care for this show at first. I didn't like the first few episodes because they were more Troll Hunters and Clone Wars than Masters of the Universe. I think it wasn't until around the 4th episode that I started to like the show. It finally felt like MOTU, but in a different universe.

I recommend giving this show a chance. Battle Cat is the best part of the show. The whinny, insecure He-Man, not so much.