YMMV / He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2021)

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Was King Randor upset seeing Adam flee because he had to pull rank on his own son for his own good or because Adam refused to give up the sword he believes no one should wield.
  • Was Orko the Great's legacy a complete lie and he's always been a coward and Inept Mage, or was he truly The Archmage who lost all confidence in himself after failing King Grayskull and the Trollans?
• Awesome Ego: It's almost unanimously agreed upon that Skeletor is the highlight of any He-Man adaptation; the show's take on him this time around however ups his typical It's All About Me approach up to eleven and beyond, while proving himself to be a legitimate threat all the way through, up to even anticipating his own betrayal from the Dark Masters a decade in advance and planning accordingly, that keeps him a true threat that can match blow-to-blow with He-Man that almost has never before seen in any other adaptation... all the while chewing every piece of shrubbery and fixture on the scene with how much of a Large Ham he is:
  Skeletor: I alone determine when you have access to MY Havoc. I alone will decide what YOU can do with it and when. I, am now the MASTER of YOUR universe! Now rise, my Dark Masters, AND WREAK HAAAAAVOC!
• Awesome Music: "The Power Is Ours" by Ali Dee, the full version of the show's theme song. An uplifting and suitably epic track for a modern Masters of The Universe show.
• Complete Monster: Skeletor began as the would-be usurper Prince Keldor. After trying to kill his young nephew and being trapped for his crimes, the reborn Keldor quickly resumes his plans of trying to claim Eternia's throne for himself. Killing multiple people and risking countless lives to achieve his ends, Skeletor takes the throne. When deposed and seemingly killed, Skeletor persuades a hesitant Krass to join him and raise an undead army. Possessing the bones of King Grayskull, Skeletor then surpasses his previous crimes in scale by trying to unleash a flood of Havoc that would turn the strong into his brainwashed undead minions and kill the weak, with intent to purge all those living. Skeletor then continues by torturing Krass, only stopping when He-Man gives him the Sword of Power and the opportunity remake the universe in his own visage as a narcissistic tribute to himself. Repeatedly proving he was evil from the very beginning and abandoning all that made him human in pursuit of power, Keldor even bemoans his own life being saved, having relished both the power of Havoc and the inhumanity it gave him.
• Diagnosed by the Audience:
  • Nothing is directly named or even called out, but it is clear that Duncan is the most socially awkward of the group (which is saying something). He tends to be equal parts excitable and nervous, alternating often depending on the situation. Plus, one of his favorite things about his transformation is that he "finally has a tool that works as fast as [his] mind does", all but outright stating some form of hyperactivity.
  • "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Heroes and Villains Guidebook" suggests that Duncan might have a minor case of Imposter Syndrome as one of his given fears is that he's nothing more than one of Kronis's "inventions".
• Evil Is Cool:
  • For many fans, the Dark Masters steal the show due to their cool designs, fun personalities, and interesting dynamic due to none of them being particularly loyal to each other. In particular is Skeletor himself, per usual. It helps he wins in the first two seasons in increasingly spectacular fashion.
  • Mer-Man only gets a couple episodes of spotlight, but he proves to be a Genius Bruiser whose undercurrent of Undying Loyalty to King Grayskull gives him a firm root of badass, he's voiced by a (mostly) dead-serious George Takei, whose performance shows just how intimidating he can be if he so chooses.
  • The original Skeletor, aka King Grayskull. The fact he's voiced by Alan Oppenheimer in a brilliant Casting Gag was enough to score this, but the fact he gets to use the original Skeletor voice and is a genuine threat despite being long gone cements him as a delightfully complex and fairly minimalist antagonist.
  • It's hard to overstate the awesomeness of seeing Hordak, who had not only been well-received or hyped up by multiple other series beforehand, but first appears as an Affably Evil villain whose mere presence turns the sky into a red storm. The kicker? Their voice being provided by Kevin Conroy.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The scene in Episode 2 where Krass, while not liking having to leave the jungle or their lives have changed since Teela showed up with the sword, assures Adam he won't lose her or Cringer becomes this when he ends up losing her due to her betrayal in the Season 2 finale.
• Ho Yay:
  • There are a few... moments between Tuvar and Baddrah, especially in the episode "Orko the Great."
    (after falling out of the metal tree Ork-0 created)
    Tuvar: Let's not tell anyone about this, eh Baddrah?
    Baddrah: (helps him to his feet) What happens in the tree... stays in the tree.
    (They lean on each other as they walk off)
  • Kronis has a rather interesting reaction to seeing Skeletor naked. Instead of showing disgust which is typical of these types of shows, Kronis stares gape-mouthed at Skeletor until Evelyn closes his mouth for him.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: One criticism of the show is that due to its ten-episode count, with the first three episodes being an origin story and the last episodes of Season 1 being a two-parter, the show's pacing is very compressed as a result, which means the characters and Eternos aren't as fleshed out as they could be.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Evil-Lyn, after repeated failures in betraying both King Randor and Skeletor, truly comes into her own upon escaping an Eternian prison. Leading her Dark Masters to regain the Power of Havoc via exploiting the stored power of Skeletor's undead army, Evil-Lyn proceeds in abandoning her goals to save Teela, betraying the girl but tossing down her staff for her to retrieve upon surviving, and abandoning her comrades. Going to Castle Grayskull, she then plants doubt about allying with Skeletor in the hesitant Krass' mind. Upon Skeletor nearly wiping out Eternia's life, Evil-Lyn unhesitantly joins the Masters in defending the planet, only stopping when she's dragged away by her own minion. Evil-Lyn proves to learn from her mistakes well, even telling the newly-arrived Hordak that she will never be his servant.
  • Mer-Man is the last Aquatican and a faithful servant of the late King Grayskull. Defending his tomb for hundreds of years, Mer-Man introduces himself by ambushing Eldress, Duncan and Teela, before proceeding to reveal that Eldress killed King Grayskull, shaking Teela's spirit. Then confronting both sides, Mer-Man manages to hold them back with a combination of force and cleverness, psychically disabling Teela by showing her her worst fears, and even tricking Adam into entering the tomb and sealing him in with intent to return Grayskull's sword to him. Defined by Undying Loyalty, Mer-Man never ceases in his mission to resurrect his long-dead ruler.
• Memetic Mutation: "He-Man Fortnite"^Explanation  It's been immediately noticed in the previews how the animation looks incredibly similar to Fortnite to the point some thought Fortnite was doing a collaboration with Mattel.
• Narm Charm: Those willing to give the show a chance find Ram Ma'am's name this. Yes, it's silly... but it also sounds exactly like a name the original series would've come up with.
• No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: Much like She-Ra before it, the show garnered so much online vitriol (helped by franchise fans already angry at Revelations) that despite the massive amount of dislikes (before YouTube disabled Dislikes) it garnered, the trailer for the show actually ended up trending on YouTube in the top 10 on the day it aired.
• Older Than They Think:
  • He-Man sharing power with companions dates back to the original series when he used the power to turn Cringer into Battle Cat. He's just expanding the number of companions he shares with.
  • This isn't the first time Masters of the Universe has gone full sci-fi. The New Adventures of He-Man also did so about 30 years prior. Nor is it the first time science fiction elements have been present, as they've always been part of the franchise.
  • This isn't the first time Trap Jaw was completely green either. He was fully green when he debuted and was later given a blue body while his head remained green. His switch between the fully green Kronis and the blue body/green face Trap Jaw is a reference to that.
  • He-Man lived in a jungle tribe in the earliest mini-comics before he was changed to a prince who would transform into He-Man.
  • Being kidnapped as a child and raised by animals in the forest before being brought back to civilization is similar to He-Man's adopted son, He-Ro from the cancelled He-Ro, Son of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Sequel Series.
  • This isn't the first time Evil-Lyn was originally called Evelyn. The Universe Bible to the original cartoon said that she Was Once A Woman called Evelyn on the same spaceship that brought Queen Marlena from Earth but got transformed into Evil-Lyn on the Fisher Kingdom planet of Infinita.
• Spiritual Successor:
  • A rag-tag group consisting of main kid characters who are able to transform into full-frown superheroes in their quest against evil rulers made this series similar to Digimon Frontier
  • To Franchise/Shazam, with its hero being a young teen who gains a superpowered adult hero form, who has a tiger as his ally, and who shares his power with others for good.
• Tainted by the Preview: While it didn't inspire nearly as much backlash as Masters of the Universe: Revelation (though the fact that it came out afterwards in release and the negative press on that show didn't exactly help), many were put off by the drastic design and personality changes, particularly to Teela, Man-At-Arms, and Ram Man. There's also discourse over the decision to lean more to the science side of science fantasy (rather than fantasy side the classic and 2002 series used) as well as the standard backlash against any cartoon going full 3D CGI rather than traditional 2D animation.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • When Evelyn brings Battle Cat's shadow to life, you'd think it would survive and become this show's version of Panthor, right? Nope. It dies in the same episode it's created. And if Painthor being introduced as Skeletor's vehicle is any indication, it seems the idea of Panthor as a character won't be coming up in this adaptation.
  • Krass' heel turn in the third season doesn't ever live up to it's real potential either, as they keep everything contained to just her and Adam and Teela and Duncan are kind of left out of it, even Cringer who helped raise them in the Tiger tribe doesn't get to do much in the way of interaction with her.
  • Season One repeatedly hints that the original Orko the Great is less than savory, with Ork-0 acting rather condescending towards the Masters upon first being given the legacy recording and Eldress telling Ork-0 that he lacked "true heart". The idea of a more antagonistic or even villainous Orko seems like a fascinating character, especially given the potential it holds for conflicts involving Ork-0 (who has his memories/personality and ends Season 2 declaring that he's not defined by who Orko the Great was) or Eldress (who knew him well enough to see that side of him). Come Season 3, however, and all of the previous foreshadowing is thrown out the window, with Orko the Great instead being a kind and helpful Trollan who only shows up for a single episode and the "true heart" line never coming up again.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: We never find out why the Tiger Tribe dislikes magic and technology so much.
• Unexpected Character: While King Grayskull is expected to appear in a modern He-Man adaptation, ever since his introduction to franchise in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002). What was not expected however is him being the original Skeletor before Keldor, voiced by the original Skeletor himself, complete with his classic Evil Laugh from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983).
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Krass shows little interest in defending Eternos, instead just wanting to return to the Tiger Tribe, and dislikes Adam focusing on protecting the whole world rather than their small corner of it, even believing Adam doesn't need her when that's never the case. In the first episode, she wasn't concerned with Adam's feelings about wanting to find his family. While Krass never asked for such responsibility, it's difficult to see her as having a solid argument when it involves leaving innocent people in the capital to suffer Skeletor's wrath, and instead comes off as her resenting her best friend for choosing to see the big picture. By the end of Season Two, she does however admit to her failings, knowing that her selfishness is what makes herself her own worst enemy, and which Skeletor's ghost expertly uses to his advantage, getting her to embrace it and become part of the new Big Bad Duumvirate with him.
• Win Back the Crowd: While numerous fans were put off by the announcement of the series, due to both coming off the heels of the very divisive Masters of the Universe: Revelation and its massive change in art and animation, once the series actually aired, most of those fans found themselves impressed about how it had all the charm of the original series while also improving on several disliked aspects. As a result, most fans of the Masters of the Universe franchise consider it a much more faithful continuation than Revelation in spite of being an Alternate Continuity.

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