Masters of the Universe truly embraced the original animated series in so many ways, including the character designs and the world of Eternia itself. Still, not everything made the jump to the live-action film, and while they could be referenced or show up in a sequel, as of right now, they are missing from the story, and we are breaking down 5 of the major Masters of the Universe details missing from the newest film.
5. Queen Marlena’s Backstory
Masters of the Universe begins with Prince Adam’s early days in Eternia, and one of the first people we meet outside of Adam is his mother, Queen Marlena. While we see a bit of her dynamic with Adam, we don’t get a lot of time to spend with her over the course of the movie. That limited screen time doesn’t provide the opportunity to learn much about her backstory, including how she ended up on Eternia in the first place.
In the original series, it’s established over the course of the series that she is one of the first female space explorers in Earth’s history, and she crash-lands on Eternia and goes on to meet King Randor. She even has the chance to return to Earth at one point, but decides to stay on Eternia. None of this is referenced in the movie outside of the fact that Marlena did live on Earth previously, which is why she sends Adam there to keep him and the Sword safe from Skeletor.
4. Beast Man’s Powers
Beast Man gets a solo spotlight in Masters of the Universe in a thrilling scene that leads to Adam’s return to Eternia, and he pops up a few more times in scenes with Skeletor. While his design and the amount of grief that Skeletor gives Beast Man are all very much pulled from the show, one key ability was left out, and that’s Beast Man’s very useful telepathic powers.
In the animated series, Beast Man controls various beasts and animals on Eternia through telepathic control, and he also commanded a force of Shadow Beasts who didn’t require his telepathic abilities. Granted, he couldn’t control every creature, including Cringer or Panther, but the skill still definitely came in handy.
3. He-Man’s Power Has Limits
Once Prince Adam transforms into He-Man, we see him start to learn how to use his powers and ultimately become a one-man wrecking crew. It all begins with Trap Jaw and then moves to an absolutely thrilling battle against several villains before finally facing Skeletor, but nowhere in that journey do we see him limited by something from the original series.
In the animated series, if He-Man used too much power, he would revert back to his Prince Adam form. Once he rested, he would be able to transform once again, but that’s not really an issue in the movie. He does revert back to Prince Adam form twice in the movie, but one time is after a sneak attack from Skeletor while the other is upon getting stabbed with his own sword. In both cases, he is able to transform again later, but there doesn’t seem to be a power limit to worry about in this version of the character.
2. Skeletor’s Origins
There’s a sequence later in the movie that brings up Skeletor’s true origins, and the film opts to make it clean and simple in that Skeletor is evil, and that’s all you need to know. That’s actually perfect for new fans of the franchise, but there are some details left out of that approach from the original series.
In the animated series, Skeletor is said to be a demon from another dimension, and he was once a member of the Evil Horde. His mentor was Hordak, and they invaded Eternia side by side, though things went bad when Hordak left Skeletor to be captured by Man-At-Arms. Skeletor then sold out Hordak, who had kidnapped Adam’s twin sister Adora. None of that is in the movie, but if we get a She-Ra story in a sequel, some of that will likely be brought into the spotlight.
1. Teela’s Real Mother
A major part of Teela’s story in the movie is in relation to her father Man-At-Arms, as we see their dynamic before his defeat, after he’s become a shell of himself, and his eventual comeback, but even that doesn’t provide the full story.
That’s because Teela is actually the daughter of the Sorceress, and she was found as a baby by Man-At-Arms. The Sorceress wasn’t able to raise her, so she entrusted Teela’s care to Man-At-Arms, though she always kept watch over Teela, and they still shared a core connection. If a sequel happens, this could be explored, or at least a twist on these events, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
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