This article includes spoilers for Masters of the Universe: Revelation.
Kevin Smith is himself a self-confessed fanboy, who loves to deep dive into the world of comics, movies and TV, with a dedicated passion. So, when approached by Mattel to adapt Masters of the Universe: Revelation, he jumped at the chance and crafted something he promised fans would love.
Skip to the week after its release and a lot of fans are displeased. So incensed were many by what Smith cooked up for the story's big twist, they took to Rotten Tomatoes in their hordes, leaving the show with a measly Audience Rating.
As it turns out, the ire of He-Man's loyal fanbase was… misplaced.
LAST CHANCE BEFORE SPOILERS!
Season one is split in two parts; five episodes are available now with the back half set to drop at some point in the future. In the first episode, Prince Adam/He-Man, along with Skeletor, seemingly dies and is largely absent until the final moments of episode four, where it's revealed he was alive in the Hall of Heroes in Preternia. Yay! Except, the end of episode five, Skeletor emerges, restored after his supposed demise, and stabs Prince Adam in the back.
Cut to credits.
Dedicated fans took to Twitter to immediately denounce Smith and the show for its treatment of Prince Adam. The general consensus among devotees finds fault with the fact Smith promised a continuation of He-Man's story, no-one wants to see a character OTHER than He-Man, how DARE he… well, you get the picture.
It's understandable to hear fans' outrage, but it turns out he's alive.
"I see people online go, ‘Hey man, they’re getting rid of He-Man!'” Smith said during a conversation with Variety. "Like, you really fucking think Mattel Television, who hired me and paid me money, wants to do a fucking Masters of the Universe show without He-Man? Grow the fuck up, man. Like, that blew my mind, bunch of people being like, ‘Oh, I smell it. This is a bait and switch.'"
Adds Chris Wood, who voices He-Man: "Adam’s not dead; he’s very wounded. If you want to light the whole world on fire, in terms of destroying a fandom, you’d take He-Man out and be like, 'That’s it, he’s gone, bye!' Now what they’ve done is they’ve found really interesting ways to turn the dynamics of the show on its head and raise the stakes to a point that the original never saw."
Raising stakes? While none of the cast and crew interviewed dive into story specifics, Part 2 is likely to follow the original pitch made by Mattel Television's creative VP Rob David, who adds: "A lot of Part 2 is a world in which Skeletor has the power – then we get to say, ‘Well, what made Adam special? What does it mean to have the power? What made Adam the person who was most worthy to be He-Man?’ I will tell you this: Adam’s story is not done and will never be done. Not saying what happens to him, but I’m just saying the story continues."
You can catch the first five episodes of Masters of the Universe: Revelation over on Netflix. While we've no set date for Part 2, there's still plenty of great series to watch, with our picks of the best Netflix shows to stream now.
