Masters of the Universe: Revelation showrunner Kevin Smith recently revealed that he was told to give the upcoming Netflix series a more Shakespearean feel.
While speaking to GameSpot, Smith discussed how Revelation came to be, starting with him meeting with Mattel's vice president of creative content Rob David. "He's like, 'We want to do a show that honors the original show and just kind of continues the storyline,'" Smith said. "'This show is for all the people who grew up watching the original Masters of the Universe.'"
Smith also recounted his meeting with Netflix, where he appealed to the company's director of original programming Ted Bieseli, himself a fan of the franchise. According to Smith, Bieseli said he wanted to "'do for this what Marvel does for me.'"
"'I go to see a Marvel movie, I get my childhood served back to me in a new and interesting way that I could sit down and explain to my kid or my wife what's going on because I know this s*** insanely well,'" he continued. Smith further added that although Bieseli liked his idea, he also told Smith to not make fun of Masters of the Universe.
"He's going, 'Just treat this [intellectual property] like Shakespeare,'" Smith said. "'There's a rich, deep bench of characters as deep as the bench of Marvel characters and DC characters and we don't make fun of those characters. I'm not saying it can't be funny, but don't mock it.'" However, Smith was inspired by this comparison, despite the oddness of it.
"Him saying treat it like Shakespeare formed the basis for what it became, where it was like, 'Oh my God, we get to write lofty [faux Shakespeare] dialogue for these characters. I can't write dialogue like this for Jay and Silent Bob. They don't get to say s*** like this,'" he said. "For me, it was dream come true stuff -- to write huge superhero dialogue and have it be heard. I've written superhero dialogue for like the comic books, but you don't generally get to hear it performed."
Developed by Kevin Smith and produced by Mattel Television with animation by Powerhouse Animation, Masters of the Universe: Revelation stars Mark Hamill as Skeletor, Lena Headey as Evil-Lyn, Chris Wood as Prince Adam/He-Man, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Teela, Liam Cunningham as Man-At-Arms, Stephen Root as Cringer, Diedrich Bader as King Randor/Trap Jaw, Griffin Newman as Orko, Tiffany Smith as Andra, Henry Rollins as Tri-Klops, Alan Oppenheimer (original Skeletor) as Moss Man, Susan Eisenberg as Sorceress, Alicia Silverstone as Queen Marlena, Justin Long as Roboto, Jason Mewes as Stinkor, Phil LaMarr as He-Ro, Tony Todd as Scare Glow, Cree Summer as Priestess, Kevin Michael Richardson as Beast Man and Kevin Conroy as Mer-Man. The series premieres July 23 on Netflix.
Source: GameSpot