It's apple to oranges in comparison.

Revelation, for all intents and purposes, is revisiting a pre existing fictional property, aka Filmation MotU. It is constrained by established story elements despite technically not being a part of Filmation continuity. However, it relies heavily on Filmation MotU canon.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe on Netflix is its own continuity and story so it spends the first 4 episodes alone establishing the setting and characters. This show has the luxury of more time available for world building.

The big difference is tone. Revelation is making effort to be "grown up", as it is catering to an older audience. It is more overtly grim. HMatMotU is designed for the youth demographic and has a lighter mood, though it tackles issues no less "serious" such as class division in a society where the ruling regime is a questionable republic.

The cast of the protagonists of show feel like a genuine group of companions while the villains have interesting depth, with backstory potential and actual personality.

The writers put in nods to MotU lore in ways that aren't clumsy and heavy handed. I have the feeling they are fans of the brand or at least knowledgeable.

HMatMotU is a refreshing direction for MotU. It's a solid effort to make a MotU property that a new audience can call its own. At the very least, it's a solid action adventure cartoon for kids that is smart enough for older viewers to enjoy.

Interesting explanation for sure. I'm glad effort was put into Cringer's name reasoning!

And agreed, name changes can be as troublesome as anything else. Fandom is difficult to please so it's "Damned if you do, damned if you don't.".

 

Episode 6 thoughts right after viewing:

Spoiler

• I love the idea of RK-o as a robot who thinks he is Orko the Great, King Grayskull's wizard. It really is a fun and interesting take on the archetype of a bumbling wizard.
• Kronis getting more screen time is awesome. His personality strikes me as a sort of evil Han Solo, with a subtle roguish charm. Roger Craig Smith, the voice actor, is excellent. I love how he is set up as a competent character, in both his display of infiltration and being referred to as a genius by Duncan for his engineering prowess.
• Krass and Teela have a wonderful bonding moment, Barf Ball, during their team work moment against RK-o.
• The special attacks like He-Man's Lightning Strike and Teela's and Krass' Barf Ball team up move are fun.
• This episode was Duncan's self discovery episode with him going from doubting his own role and capabilities to proclaiming "I'm the one who fixes things!". I really like the character and how he has a good heart.
• Krass' impromptu musical number about the team was cute. I really like the team chemistry and dynamic.
• Love the continued foreshadowing of Two Bad via Tuvar and Baddrah's reoccurring appearances.
• I'm liking the complexity of Adam's relationship with Randor.

 

Only on the pilot so far, but it's pretty great. Better than Revelations, and I liked Revelations. Screenplay was by Bryan Q Miller I noticed, so if you enjoyed Stephanie Brown Batgirl this should be up your alley

 

Nearing the end of season 1.

Horakoth? Wow, what a reference!

 

Got through the first four episodes - off to a great start!

 

Episode 7 and loving everything!

Even Keldor's bone jokes.

 

Just finished season 1.

I am very pleased with the show. I was cautiously optimistic going into season 1 and was supportive of it simply as a part of MotU's future but had no expectations of it being more than passable. I'm happy to be proven wrong. It's a great new addition to MotU.

People can certainly say it's not for them due to personal taste but on an objective level, HMatMotU is a well executed show. The writing is good, with a balance of humor and pathos. The pacing is handled well. I never felt that any episode was a slog to get through. Each protagonist has their episode and moments to shine.

One strength of the show is that it avoids the pitfall of having He-Man function as a deus ex machina, which happens in Filmation and 200x. HMatMotU has a great way of making all main protagonists and antagonists feel competent. No one is a mere sidekick or lackey.

The contrast in how the Powers of Grayskull and Havoc are used in their respective teams is interesting.

Spoiler

I love how Skeletor uses the Kerbonite and Havoc to entrap and enslave the Dark Masters whereas Adam's sharing of the Power of Grayskull brings out the best in his companions, liberating them.

I even have grown to enjoy the opening sequence and theme song, appreciating the meaning of the lyrics after the theme of the importance of teamwork is made known after getting into the show.

Honestly, as much as I enjoy Revelation, I prefer HMatMotU over it. Partly because I feel Revelation doesn’t nearly do as much to bolster and grow MotU but also because, frankly, I feel like HMatMotU is more genuine in its expression of love for the MotU property. In hindsight, Revelation, at least in part 1, feels too cynical.

HMatMotU is doing its own thing but even so, it retains the spirit of MotU as an uplifting and aspirational story. It's not all sunshine and roses, there are some heavy subjects and turmoil in relationships, but the protagonists are admirable people, and all are capable without diminishing anyone else. No one is there to fill a quota and each person is valuable in their own right.

The messages in the story are organically woven into the narrative with no heavy handed pandering or patronizing. There is no agenda external to the purpose of telling the story of the show.

It's a show that I think Lou Scheimer would fully be supportive of and it carries on his philosophy with regard to providing a work of entertainment that can help kids find moral values that are sorely lacking in most popular culture sources these days.

 

Um......
Correct me if I'm wrong but.....

Spoiler

Did Skeletor win?!? At the end there?

Even though it may be short lived.

 

That seems to be the case.

Spoiler

I think the show is setting up a second season where a significant portion of the plot will involve retaking the throne of Eternos and possibly introducing the Snake Men by the season finale, perhaps the Horde, though I'm leaning more towards the former as there have been a few lore exposition moments regarding the Snake Men Empire in season 1 serving as foreshadowing.

 

ON ep 5 and it's a great kids show.

Don't mean that in a bad way.

No prior knowledge needed. Hoping She-Ra makes an appearance sometime later. I loved that she brought in a whole new cast and loved the crossovers.

 

I just finished binge-watching the whole season and I feel like Skeletor will be recruiting more henchmen throughout 2nd season and more Masters will be introduced while setting up future villains in later seasons.

 

Just watched episodes five and six.

Spoiler

Felt bad for ORK-0, poor guy just wanted people to believe that he's Orko the Great. I wasn't sure how to feel about robot Orko, but he was great. Meanwhile, Skeletor somehow manages to be just as hilarious as he is intimidating.

 

I just watched the first episode and fucking loved it (didn’t even realize it was out until this morning). I loved the trailer, but I was concerned that the actual show would pale in comparison…it doesn’t, so far. I dig the humor, the positivity and the teamwork aspect. Everybody has a role to fill and everyone has an actual believable personality. I even like Evil-Lyn (or is it Evilyn now??). Anyway, I recommend people give it a shot. If this doesn’t bring modern kids into MOTU, nothing will. It’s just a fun show.

 

I've come to the same conclusion. The Powers of Grayskull and Havoc are a nice narrative way to introduce the various characters of MotU into this show's story without feeling so random.

By the end of the season, I appreciate Ben Diskin's Skeletor portrayal and the direction the voice director and script have taken with the character. At first, I was feeling "Okay, it's a bit big and over the top and scenery chewing. The other characters are far more nuanced..." but the more the story unfolded, the more I saw it was deliberate! Skeletor is meant to highlight some of the absurdity of MotU without being derisive of it. It has fun with it. Like when Skeletor formally introduces himself in his new form, with his new moniker, to the Masters, He-Man/Adam simply responds with "Uh...why?". Skeletor then goes onto explain how he's a skeleton man, etc., similar to how we see the fourth wall breaking asides in things like the Austin Powers movies that I find fun...it's great how this show pokes fun at its legacy in MotU without shame or embarrassment or mean spiritedness. It recognizes that things like "He-Man" and "Skeletor" are absurd but that's okay! They're having fun with it and it encourages viewers to have fun with it too and buy into the experience.

I love Skeletor in this show. In fact, I love all the characters. Everyone is likeable and I can get behind them and their motivations.

I totally agree. I think it's clear that I'm a big fan of MotU at this point and that I can forgive things that others are more critical of, though I consider myself critical without getting hyperbolic about how good or bad something is. With that in mind, I really feel encouraged by this cartoon's first season. It can certainly fall apart in subsequent seasons (Voltron: Legendary Defender season 7, I'm looking at you.) but it's off to a great start.

First and foremost, I think this is a great introduction to MotU for kids these days. It's not weighed down by previous lore, it totally does its own thing while paying respect to what came before it. I know 200x has its ardent fans these days but frankly, I feel that it was "safe" move by Mattel in being simply a minor update to Filmation MotU whereas HMatMotU on Netflix is a bolder step taken and carves its own path. I think it has demonstrated that its writers and their work is just as good, if not better, than 200x. Certainly equal to and, in my opinion, better than Revelation, at least as far as the first 5 episodes.

Pacing, characterization, world building, these things and more in the new cartoon are executed so well. Thought has been put into the show's details such as differentiation in magical use. Evil-Lyn being a "word witch" and Teela being a "hand witch" gave me D&D reference goose bumps for allusions to Verbal and Somatic spell casting.

I'm rewatching season 1 with the captions turned on so that I can pick up things I missed during my first binge watch through. I feel like this show will become a future classic because it's not simply a good MotU cartoon, it's simply a good cartoon, period.

 

There are many things they’ve done that make it feel more real and dynamic. Lots of details…the way they zoom in on Evil-Lyn’s mouth when she casts a spell…the facial expressions…the excellent voice acting…humor that actually hits…the ability of the characters to act and think rationally…giving people personalities with more than one dimension…etc. It is obvious that this show was written and produced by talented people who give a shit about whether or not the audience enjoys the fruits of their labor. Hasbro should ask these guys to start making TF cartoons for them…haha…

 

My favorite thing is how everyone goes by their real names instead of just all being known by their typical names all the time (so Evil-Lyn is just Evelyn, Trap Jaw is Kronis, Beast Man is...I don't know how to spell it, etc.). I think this is actually the first time they use everyone's real names in conjunction with their usual monikers.

 

Total agreement.

I know it's not hard to criticize the WFC Netflix trilogy but this cartoon is a perfect example of how to revitalize a brand's entertainment media division, in contrast to how the WFC trilogy was executed.

I mean, you could remove or replace the names of people, places, and things, in HMatMotU and it would work just as well as a story because the writers put plot and character and brand agnostic creative decisions before slavish adherence to lore specific archetypes or tropes. I'm not so sure you could do the same thing with WFC.

Yeah, characters are treated with more depth, including the reference to each other with their names rather than arbitrary use of their vintage toy names. As an aside, I love how R'Qazz refers to himself in the third person.

 

Finished the season.

Spoiler

Quite a cliffhanger to have Skeletor win. And we have no idea where Castle Grayskull has gone, or if it's even still on Eternia.

Loved the transformations of Skeletor's minions into their Dark Master forms - especially R'Qazz, where his literal inner Beast Man rips his way out of him. What stood out to me was how they used what is essentially a modified Horde emblem to represent Evil-Lyn in her transformation sequence. Probably doesn't mean anything, it's just interesting. I suspect we'll see Snake Men before we see The Horde, though.

 

Spoiler

I believe there are references to Evil-Lyn and a connection to the Horde in her Dark Master form with the transformation, her bat wings, and her special attack "Wings of Horakoth/Horokoth".

 

Spoiler

Didn't catch that was supposed to be a reference, looked into it, and WOW that's quite an easter egg.

Speaking of, it stands out in the family portrait that there's a suspiciously empty seat next to Adam. Presumably it's where Randor ought to be sitting, but he's standing behind Adam and Marlena, with Keldor standing at the side. It's probably nothing, but it seems almost like a nod that there's a missing member of the royal family there.

And on that note, the portrait is the only example of Marlena's existence in this continuity. She isn't referenced nor does she make a physical appearance in the present. What happened to her? Is she dead? Did her grief over the loss of her son lead her to abandon the throne? Is that even Marlena in the portrait, or someone else?