“Masters of the Universe” Trailer Sparks Debate

Following the release of the first trailer for the live-action “Masters of the Universe” film earlier this week, there was plenty of discussion on social media, with much of the criticism of the trailer falling into two general areas.

The first was about the overall Earth scenes – those moments drawing comparisons to Kenneth Branagh’s first “Thor” film and questions about how much of the film’s story takes place on Earth (rumors have suggested very little) as opposed to Eternia.

The second, however, came down to a single shot – a scene in which Nicholas Galitzine’s Adam Glenn is sitting at his office desk, and we see his nameplate on it along with the pronouns ‘He/Him’.

Most seemed to take it for the visual gag it appears to be – a fun play on words on the ‘He-Man’ name. That hasn’t stopped both engagement farming bots and actual people from sparking debate about the film seemingly taking a ‘political stance’ according to EW.

Conservative author Jon Del Arroz wrote in a frequently retweeted post on X: “Now they’re making a Masters of the Universe and giving He-Man pronouns. These people won’t stop until they ruin everything.”

Others have wondered if this was deliberately included in the trailer to generate online rage bait, as it has successfully kept the film a trending topic for several days now.

The film also stars Camila Mendes as Teela, Idris Elba as Man-at-Arms, Jared Leto as Skeletor, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, James Purefoy as King Randor, Charlotte Riley as Queen Marlena, Morena Baccarin as the Sorceress, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Malcolm/Fisto, Kristen Wiig as the voice of Roboto, Jon Xue Zhang as Ram-Man, Kojo Attah as Tri-Klops, Sam C. Wilson as Trap Jaw, and Sasheer Zamata as Suzie.

Travis Knight directs “Masters of the Universe” which is slated to open in cinemas on June 5th.