Masters of the Universe: Revelation part 2 review: Philosophical and…sexy?

Just like He-Man’s Power Sword in the Masters of the Universe sequel show RevelationThe series was divided in two, with one half of the show airing in July 2021 and the other half slated for release in November. Netflix was lucky enough to find an organic midpoint for the break in Kevin Smith’s animated throwback, even though the show was written as a single season. The first half did end on a pair of major cliffhangers, and the concluding five episodes only make good on half of the midpoint’s initial promise. However, the second half of this series is very worthwhile. It doesn’t flow as smoothly as part 1, and it skips a handful of vital emotional beats. But part 2 is so packed with enormous ideas that the episodes’ unevenness feels less like a bug, and more like an unavoidable feature.

[Ed. note: Significant spoilers ahead for part 1 of Masters of the Universe: Revelation.]

Even though Revelation is packaged as a Gen-X nostalgia act, it’s still primarily a children’s show. (Though not as much as Netflix’s other 2021 He-Man series, a full reboot aimed at a much younger audience.) Even so, Revelation’s second half matures in fascinating ways, mostly concerning Evil-Lyn (Lena Heady), Part 2’s MVP. It also maintains the fun and silly thrills that are expected of a series inspired by a toy line.

Part 1 was the final chapter. The slain Prince Adam (Chris Wood), forgoing eternal bliss to aid his friends, was then stabbed to death by Mark Hamill’s Skeletor. Mid-season’s finale showed that the show was preparing for Adam to die a second death, with the knowledge that he can only come back from his grave once more. Part 2 solves the problem in a clever way. Although the fast resolution is a faux-out, Revelation answers its other lingering question with aplomb: What if the cackling, megalomaniacal Skeletor were to gain access to He-Man’s legendary power of Grayskull?

Image by Netflix

This power-up is the type of design that will sell hardcore fan a cool action figure: Skeletor grows even larger, has two ram horns and has a neck entirely made of flames. One of many power-ups for Skeletor. What If…Fan-service is not for the answers that fantasies, but rather as entertainment. OnlyFan-service), but it is done in ways that often present a character-focused dilemma.

For instance: what would happen to Prince Adam if he called down “the power” without using his sword as a conduit, the way he always has in the past? It’s a zippy anime-inspired adventure that brings out the answers. This unhinged power fantasy, however, allows for an intimate father-son story and informs another. Revelation’s major second-half themes: the nature of power, and the thin line between holding onto it and willingly giving it up.

Just like the 2021 He-Man sequel, Revelation wrestles with the basic premise of its 1980s predecessor, in which only one chosen warrior has “the power.” The show places significant narrative focus on the fact that as many times as Prince Adam has transformed into He-Man, he has reverted to his human form just as frequently, rather than remaining in super-powered He-Man form. When he ends up mindless and raging (based partially on the toy Wun-Darr, or “Savage He-Man”), it’s a whip-smart narrative trajectory, since it both prevents him from performing that graceful sacrifice again, and inadvertently aligns him with villains like Skeletor, who never willingly cede their power.

Part 2 of He-Man and Skeletor gets more screentime than Part 1 but the main story is still about the sidekicks they were in Part 1. He-Man’s ally Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is finally allowed to confront the secrets of her parentage — a narrative thread the ’80s show was never able to tie up. Unfortunately, her arc isn’t given the same time and care as it was in Part 1. She rushes to get from one beat to the next without struggling as hard as she did in Part 1.

Over the course of her life, she experiences a major shift in her status quo RevelationIt’s visually striking, yet it is also very easy to use. That’s arguably the biggest failing of Part 2. And yet this narrative sacrifice feels almost worthwhile, since more of the focus this time falls on Evil-Lyn, Skeletor’s second-in-command, and a character who ends up at the center of the show’s thematic musings on power.

Image by Netflix

Skeletor conscripts Lyn to be the Sorceress for Grayskull using his newly discovered abilities. This role offers new opportunities and possibilities. Among them is the power to witness the big picture of the universe itself — a universe Skeletor hopes to master, as the title suggests. You can access this view through an amazing visual display. This also hits the show on a fundamental level. The series introduces grandiose ideas, such as cosmic optimism into what was essentially a child’s cartoon. The reconciliation between these heady concepts and the whiz-bang action is often debonair, especially in the way the show entwines each larger theme with Lyn’s character arc and her complicated relationship to Skeletor. There’s an intriguing, melancholy form of apocalyptic villainy here.

The aesthetic expression of Lyn’s story is just as fascinating, from dreams and abstract visions meant to contextualize the enormity of her experience, to the change in her appearance during Part 2. Like the introduction of “Savage He-Man,” her changes function as a power fantasy, but also facilitate character evolution. She’s also afforded a unique physical appeal, the kind not often seen in modern children’s entertainment. This was more frequent during the original. He-Man.)

It’s more satisfying to feel her embrace of her new shape than the usual gaze of pinup dream, which is only for teens and straight men. There are scenes where her seductiveness takes center stage, but it’s a self-aware ploy, and her physical transformations feel almost on-par with He-Man’s, in terms of how chiseled and muscular the show allows her to be. Her beauty standards are not the only ones she meets. When her outfits become more revealing, and more akin to ’80s metal album covers, they reveal physical might.

Teela’s father, the bearded, heavy-set Duncan/Man-At-Arms (Liam Cunningham), is afforded a similarly unconventional (and emotionally rooted) sensuality, with shirtless scenes that show off his broad and hairy torso while centering his soft-spoken vulnerability. Arguably, these more tantalizing designs are meant for the original show’s now-adult audience. But as with Part 1, writer, story editor, and executive producer Kevin Smith doesn’t seem to have adult nostalgia in mind, beyond a few minor hints of fan-service.

Although his story deals with complex spiritual ideas, it simplifies them to appeal to younger audiences. A key episode about ascendancy is titled “Comes With What You See Here,” as if to contextualize lineage through the language of a Mattel playset. While the original He-Man has a reputation as a straight male power fantasy, the visual appeal of some of the characters feels much broader in scope here, between Duncan’s bear-like appearance, and the butch hairdo Lyn ends up with (not unlike Teela’s in Part 1).

Image by Netflix

It’s a small tease for a queer reading of the show, but it’s only a tease. The supporting character Andra (Tiffany Smith), who shared a flirty dynamic with Teela in Part 1, is far less present in Part 2, which also speaks to the way Teela’s prior development is placed on the back burner in favor of a sped-up trajectory. However, the action scenes are quite impressive and both of them end up in the middle. One of the ways Part 2 improves on its predecessor is through its more varied setpieces, which are not only larger and more colorful, but flow with a more zestful energy, as Bear McCreary’s sweeping, adventurous score continues to pulsate.

What’s more, the action never feels like empty calories. In spite of an ever-growing arsenal of magical powers and technological accessories wielded against a faceless horde, the battles are always rooted in character beats, and punctuated by meaningful decisions — the kind that made the show worth following in the first place.

Part 2 features bigger action and surprising alliances. Good-vs..-evil dynamics are centered on recognizable philosophy. Masters of the Universe proves that familiar children’s adventure can still feel fresh, even when it takes the form of a 30-years-later nostalgia revival. While Part 2 is much messier than Part 1, its bumps are a byproduct of tackling strange and humongous narrative ideas that most children’s shows wouldn’t dream of touching, and it succeeds by wrapping them in shiny packaging.

Part 2 Masters of the UniverseNetflix streaming available now