Just like He-Man’s Power Sword in the Masters of the Universe sequel show Revelation, the series itself was split in half, with the first half airing in July 2021, and the second held for November release.
At the same time, it keeps providing the goofy thrills expected from a series based on a line of toys.
By the mid-season finale, the show had set up both the possibility and the potential fallout of Adam dying a second time, knowing he only gets to come back from the dead once.
The resultant powered-up design is the kind of cool iteration designed to sell a new action figure to hardcore fans: Skeletor gets even bigger, grows a pair of ram horns, and has a neck made entirely of flames.
Like that other 2021 He-Man reboot, 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.
But while He-Man and Skeletor have more screen time in Part 2 than in Part 1, the story still largely belongs to the women who were their sidekicks in the original show.
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.
The show presents that access via a dazzling visual display that also hits the series on a fundamental level, by introducing grandiose ideas like cosmic nihilism into what is essentially a kiddie cartoon.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
The supporting character Andra , 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.
What’s more, the action never feels like empty calories.
With bigger action, surprising allegiances, and good-vs.-evil dynamics centered around recognizable philosophies, Part 2 of Masters of the Universe: Revelation proves that familiar children’s adventure can still feel fresh, even when it takes the form of a 30-years-later nostalgia revival.