WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse #2, from Tim Seeley, Dan Fraga, Richard Friend, Matt Yackey and Saida Temofonte, on sale now.
In DC's He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse, the creative team is taking a different approach, using the one Keldor remaining who didn't devolve into Skeletor as the lead character to save reality. He's got the Dolph Lundgren He-Man from the 1987 film at his side, as well as the classic cartoon He-Man, but Keldor's been prophesied as the person who'll truly stop the Anti-He-Man from reshaping existence.
And so, as Keldor tries his best to prevent the villain from attaining the Power Prime by recovering Grayskull's secrets across all realities, he gets a massive upgrade thanks to a magical staff which will undoubtedly help hone his craft as a mage. However, it comes at a cost, as the evil Skeletor from the Primus Universe has to die first for this to happen.
Keldor's squad arrives aboard the Starship Eternia in the realm The New Adventures of He-Man cartoon took place in the '90s. This is the area Space He-Man polices, protecting Primus with his ponytail, lack of armor, blue pants and the Guardians. He does have his Sword of Power and the Power of Eternia with him, so he is equipped to get the job done, although this new threat isn't anything he's faced before. Anti-He-Man eventually boards, looking for the source of He-Man's strength, a relic called the Heart of Eternia.
The He-Men race off to try to stop the villain but Keldor ends up meeting a familiar face in the Primus Skeletor. He was thrust forward in time as well with Prince Adam, as this was a sequel to the classic cartoon, but rather than taking his legion with him, Skeletor united with the mutants in this reality to chart chaos like never before. But rather than a powered-up tyrant, Keldor finds a villain who's a mere shell of himself, broken and drained from his dark magic. In fact, Skeletor's boosting himself using a special helmet as tech is the key to ensuring he can still perform a sorcerer's feats.
Skeletor warns Keldor that the darkness must be embraced if he's to realize his true potential, and in a traitorous act as the youngster offers sympathy, Skeletor drains Keldor of some of his life force so as to take Anti out himself. Keldor's stunned, weakened and simply scared of what he could become someday as he recovers. The betrayal backfires, however, because after Anti kills the Primus He-Man, when Skeletor arrives, Anti grabs him by the neck and ruthlessly snaps it.
Anti (the He-Man from the Anti-Eternia Universe) takes pleasure in killing this version of his own uncle (as Keldor was King Randor's brother), and with the Heart of Eternia now in his clutches and two enemies dead, he teleports out to continue his mission. Luckily, Skeletor, in his dying breath, bestows his all-powerful staff to Keldor so he could focus, control and exponentially grow his abilities too. He sees the teen's potential and wants him to evolve.
Keldor accepts it as he needs all the help he can get to become the hero he's destined to be, but we should be worried about potential corruption. We don't know the failsafes Skeletor placed in the staff if ever he needed to be reborn, and ultimately, this could be the beginning of Keldor turning into the tyrant he doesn't ever want to transform into.
He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse #3 releases Jan. 15 from DC Comics.