Masters of the Universe: Revelation Part 2: A Fitting Conclusion

Anyone who has been a part of a fandom for a long time and has seen the material grow and evolve will have the same response when asked what they want of a new iteration of the thing they love. They want the person who is making it to treat it with the same care and reverence that they do. It is a request that comes from a deep love for the property that, in all likelihood, they have followed for years dating back to childhood. If executed correctly, this new show or movie should please not just old fans but also bring in new fans to breathe new life into a franchise that may have been dormant. Part 2 of Masters of the Universe: Revelation accomplishes this and goes above and beyond what other distant sequels have accomplished in the past.

The animation is sleek and beautiful, at times merging the traditional 2D with more modern 3D to create a unique aesthetic. It takes full advantage of the medium to show magic and mysticism in a truly fantastical fantasy world that is unlike anything else. The voice cast does an excellent job bringing these classic characters to life and deliver nuance to, what could very easily become if not guided properly, very silly material. The emotions hit home as do the parent-child relationships that form the core of this show.

The show (Revelation as a whole, this is a “Part 2” for a reason) stands alone very well, something that is a type of necessity for a series of this type. Considering how hard it is to find the original series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, there is a good chance that someone may walk into this blind with only the general idea that there is a character named He-Man that does exist in the modern pantheon of mythical heroes. A viewer does not need to have seen any of the original series or the mid-2000s series to enjoy this show. Viewers of the originals will not feel short-changed however as this show dives deep in expanding the lore behind the world of Eternia in new and interesting ways.

The show is mature without being unnecessarily explicit, both sexually and violently. There is violence but blood and gore are not over the top to the point where it is gratuitous and there is no sexual content in the show at all. This show proves the point that a series can be aged up to match the audience and also fit into a new era of what can be expected (reasonably) from a series, without falling back on the easy things to bump the rating up a notch to create an artificial maturity. The core issues in this show, aside from the usual conflicts one would expect, are about the relationships between mothers and daughters and fathers and sons. It is a story about what happens when the bonds of trust between family members are broken and how they can be mended. It is deeper and more morally ambiguous than one would typically expect from a show about a guy with a sword who represents pure good fighting against a neon green skeleton man who represents pure evil.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation Part 2 is available to stream on Netflix and is worth the time to watch it. Considering that the episodes are only about a half hour long, it is not a massive time-sink to watch them all.

Rating: 9/10