‘Masters of the Universe’ Almost Never Got That She-Ra Scene, and It Could Change Everything for a Sequel
The long road from toy shelf to multiplex has never been easy for He-Man, and the new live-action ‘Masters of the Universe’ is no exception. After nearly four decades of development limbo, director Travis Knight finally brought the beloved franchise back to the big screen with a cast that includes Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Alison Brie, Idris Elba, and Jared Leto as the iconic villain Skeletor. The film landed in theaters on June 5, carrying the weight of a generation’s nostalgia and the ambitions of a franchise hungry for a new beginning.
Critics landed at a 66% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus noting that the film finds the humanity in He-Man through a self-deprecating script and a spirited cast, while audiences gave it a warmer reception with an 87% approval score. The opening weekend audience skewed heavily toward those who grew up with the original animated series, with the 45-to-54 age bracket making up the largest demographic at 29%. It was a passionate crowd, but not necessarily a massive one, and the box office reflected that tension.
The film is projected to close out its opening weekend with a global total of roughly 54 million dollars, comprising around 29 million domestically and an additional 25 million from international theaters. Against a production budget reported between 170 and 200 million dollars, that figure represents a difficult start for a franchise counting on sequel momentum. The real conversation, however, has shifted from opening numbers to what the film’s credits are quietly promising.
Entertainment Weekly spoke with director Travis Knight and star Nicholas Galitzine about the film’s two end-credits scenes and what they reveal about where Eternia could go next. The first scene features Idris Elba’s Duncan, known as Man-at-Arms, standing alongside Queen Marlena as they survey a restored Eternos following He-Man’s defeat of Skeletor. The second is the one that nearly didn’t exist at all. Knight confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that including She-Ra in the film was plagued by a tangled rights situation, explaining that the character was in the movie, then out, then back in again, with the team writing the scene in a modular way so it could be used if the clearance came through and dropped if it didn’t.
Even once they secured the rights, the scene came together with almost no money left in the budget, with Knight describing the crew as scrambling to build a set and pull together a costume at the very end of the shoot. The secrecy around it was so complete that the studio itself hadn’t seen the finished version until it screened at the premiere. Knight told Screen Rant that She-Ra would play a very, very big role if a sequel moves forward, though the identity of the actress playing her remains officially undisclosed.
Whether that sequel gets made may hinge on legs that the opening weekend alone cannot provide. But the creative intent is clearly there, and the credits are doing the heavy lifting of building a world that extends well beyond this first chapter. With Prince Adam now established as the protector of Eternia and the power of Grayskull firmly in his hands, the post-credits scenes are laser-focused on franchise expansion. For fans of the original mythology, the question now is whether audiences will show up in large enough numbers to let that vision play out.
If you stayed through the credits, we want to know: did that She-Ra reveal change your excitement for a potential ‘Masters of the Universe’ sequel, or does the box office reality have you worried the story ends here?
