Netflix's He-Man Revelation trailer reveals an epic sequel

Netflix has the power! The streaming giant is super-charging the summer with the Power of Grayskull, and it begins now. The teaser trailer for the anime-inspired He-Man sequel series, The Masters of the Universe: Revelation, is now online.

Set to Bonnie Tyler’s unforgettable 1984 pop anthem “Holding Out for a Hero,” the new teaser for Revelation promises the epic return for the ‘80s action figure icon and his sci-fi/fantasy universe.

Shepherded by Clerks and Dogma director Kevin Smith, Revelation picks up where the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon left off. After a devastating battle between He-Man and his nemesis Skeletor, the Guardians of Grayskull are fractured, and it’s up to He-Man’s closest ally Teela (voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar) to reunite the heroes.

While the teaser is just a minute and a half long and doesn’t reveal too much about the plot, it does its job packing all the magic and mayhem fans will see in the first five episodes on July 23.

You can watch the teaser in the embed below.

Along with the teaser, Netflix also announced a new companion talk show, awkwardly titled Revelations: The Masters of the Universe Revelation Aftershow. The half-hour series will star hosts Kevin Smith, Mattel Television’s Rob David, and Tiffany Smith (voice of “Andra”) as they welcome guests from Revelation to discuss and recap all things Masters of the Universe.

True to the trailer’s advertising, it has been a long time since He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ruled the airwaves and dominated toy shelves. The original show lasted for two seasons and a whopping 130 episodes — plus the popular spin-off She-Ra: Princess of Power, with its own Netflix reboot — and aired its last episode in 1984.

While a few sequels and reboots make up the franchise’s history, not to mention the live-action Masters of the Universe film from 1987 (with Dolph Lundgren as He-Man), Revelation is a star-studded revival with clear ambitions to bring attention back to He-Man for a new generation.

And when we mean star-studded, we mean it. None other than Mark Hamill voices the villain Skeletor, who lives on in countless memes, plus Game of Thrones veteran Lena Headey as Evil-Lyn. Other notable cast members include Liam Cunningham, Stephen Root, Diedrich Bader, Griffin Newman, Henry Rollins, Alicia Silverstone, Justin Long, Kevin Conroy, Phil LaMarr, Tony Todd, and Chris Wood (Supergirl) as the voice of Prince Adam and He-Man.

While the teaser doesn’t give much away about Revelation, its kinetic editing, epic visuals (see He-Man throw boulders eight times bigger than his chest), and color palette that calls to mind action figure packaging is sure to restore some power back in Gen-X nostalgia.

The Masters of the Universe: Revelation will begin streaming on Netflix on July 23.

Correction 6/10/21: This article previously titled the series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Revelation when the title is actually Masters of the Universe: Revelation. The headline also described it as anime, which is incorrect.