By: John M Jerva

I’m not gonna lie and I’m gonna shoot from the hip. I didn’t have the faintest clue who Kyle Allen was until I saw the article in The Hollywood Reporter which has brought word that the long delayed Masters of the Universe movie has now landed at Netflix. I know who he is now and I must confess that this might be one of the worst casting choices ever. I hope I’m wrong as this franchise holds a special place on my heart.

Originally, Noah Centineo was attached to star as He-Man when the project was positioned at Sony Pictures. That incarnation of the IP has been DOA for a while now but good old Netflix has swooped in to resurrect the project with Kyle Allen (West Side Story) set to star as He-Man AKA Prince Adam, who is the heir apparent to the throne of the planet Eternia.

So just to put this in your mind, we’ve gone from Dolph Lundgren playing He-Man in the 1987 Cannon Films version to Noah Centineo to now Kyle Allen. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that this casting of the iconic character is steadily going backwards. I’m sort of intrigued to see how they’re going to pull this off and make Allen resemble anything like the character. I mean, have you seen Allen? Normally I’m a firm believer of being positive until I see footage but this is stretching it to say the least. I digress however. I’ll just let you see the visual down below for the full effect because after all, a picture is worth 1000 words.

The Nee Brothers, who rollover from when Sony was in it, are still set to helm the film from a script penned by Aaron Nee and Adam Nee along with David Callaham who is best known for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Sony will still retain the theatrical and streaming rights to the movie in China as Netflix does not operate in that country.

I’m going to assume that once the the Power Sword transforms Prince Adam into his alter ego of He-Man, some CGI will play a role in making him look like the true character, or maybe not and Allen is going to go on one huge bodybuilding regime. Better yet, maybe when Allen transforms, a completely different actor will step in like Lou Ferrigno did along with Bill Bixby in the original Incredible Hulk TV series. It’s anybody’s guess at this point. The internet is definitely abuzz with this casting choice as many are scratching their heads.

Netflix already has two successful animated series based on Masters of the Universe on the service right now. Masters of the Universe: Revalation is set for a second season on the platform while the more kid friendly He-Man and the Masters of the Universe has hit the target with the younger crowd.

Allen’s casting is the only one so far so I’m assuming that we will get more on that front soon as Netflix is hoping to start shooting this summer.

I straight up have always loved the tongue in cheek Cannon version ever since I saw it in the theaters back in ‘87. Yes, Lundgren was just starting out but he was spot on as He-Man and Frank Langella was equally solid as Skeletor. Even though there was a lot of cheese served with the movie, it’s a bona fide cult classic that mixed in a little Star Wars with it. I was always bummed that we never got a proper sequel which was teased after the credits.

This one is certainly going to be interesting as it develops so keep it locked and loaded right here for more details to drop as we are your destination for everything action in 2022 and beyond!

In the meantime, remember how glorious the 1987 film was with the original theatrical trainer below! “I have the power!”

Source: THR