Is Kevin Smith’s Netflix He-Man Reboot ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’ in Continuity With ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power?’
Netflix has been releasing more and more original programming, and one of the latest announcements is the return of He-Man. Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation will debut on Netflix on July 23, 2021. It’s not the He-Man series that Netflix has planned. A family-friendly CG-animated series titled He-Man and the Masters of the Universe has also been announced.
For some fans, these announcements weren’t too surprising, since Netflix released a reboot of She-Ra, which ran alongside the He-Man cartoons in the mid-1980s.
In the original cartoons, She-Ra and He-Man were twins, so it begs the question: does the current Netflix Masters of the Universe: Revelation share a continuity to the previous She-Ra: Princess of Power that ended its fifth season in 2020? It seems that the answer is no, but there is still hope that we might see She-Ra make an appearance.
Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation is not a reboot
Masters of the Universe: Revelation isn’t actually a reboot of the classic 1980s cartoon, according to The Verge. Kevin Smith makes it clear that the show is a continuation of the original He-Man cartoon. SyFy Wire says that the show picks up right where the original He-Man cartoon left off and continues from there.
Smith’s animated show is intended for adults, and he says that the first 10 minutes feels like an old He-Man episode, but then the characters have to deal with the fallout of something awful happening.
Smith says that the new show was engineered so that fans who watch aren’t left thinking that this isn’t the He-Man that they know. While some things are updated, including the animation style and storylines, the characters and the world are the same. As a continuation, Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation does not share a continuity with Netflix’s rebooted She-Ra series.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power ran for five seasons on Netflix
Netflix debuted the She-Ra reboot, titled She-Ra and the Princesses of Power in 2018. The original series, She-Ra: Princess of Power ran 1985-1986. The 1985 series was created as a spinoff of the He-Man series, and there were multiple crossover episodes. The characters of He-Man and She-Ra were twins. In Netflix’s reboot of She-Ra, the character Adora is an orphan, rather than named as He-Man’s twin sister.
Despite the differences in origin, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power delighted fans. The series was nominated for an Emmy and saw critical acclaim for its diverse cast, good storylines, and complex relationships. It also won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming.
There is still hope to see She-Ra crossover into He-Man’s universe
He-Man did not appear in Netflix’s She-Ra reboot because the showrunner, Noelle Stevenson, wanted She-Ra to become a hero “in her own right,” according to Screenrant. That isn’t to say that Stevenson wouldn’t love to see a crossover. Previous incarnations of the characters did a Christmas Special together, which Stevenson says she would love to see.
It may not happen with Smith’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation, though. The two shows differ in tone and do not share continuity. The upcoming family-friendly He-Man and the Masters of the Universe might show more promise of a crossover. This project is still in development, though, so not much is known about it. If it’s a family-friendly show, then it likely shares a similar tone as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and maybe set in that show’s universe.
She-Ran and the Princesses of Power can be seen on Netflix, and is definitely worth a watch while you’re waiting for Masters of the Universe: Revelation. Kevin Smith’s continuation will air on Netflix on July 23rd.
