Welcome to the fifth installment of Page One Rewrite, in which I examine adaptations of genre properties that just couldn’t make it. This week, I look back at the 2008 script for a proposed Masters of the Universe film. The project has remained in development for all of these years, shedding writers and directors like a Snake Man outgrowing his skin.
Grayskull: The Masters of the Universe was the proposed title of Justin Marks' shockingly earnest attempt to reintroduce the world of Eternia. (We looked at his other famous abandoned script, the Green Arrow project Supermax, a few months back.) Marks' genuine affection for the property is evident throughout the screenplay. There are no winks at the audience or apologies for some of the more ridiculous names in the canon. There's not a single joke.
Some background on this might be necessary, as we are discussing a property that's almost 40 years old. Masters of the Universe is the 1980s Mattel toyline that brought us He-Man and his cast of characters. He-Man is a noble warrior for good, pitted against the sorcerer Skeletor on the planet Eternia. Both sides of the struggle feature a cast of colorful (some would argue ridiculous) fighters.
While stories of He-Man being an outright ripoff of Conan have been exaggerated, the mythos does fit into the mold of the late-'70s/early-'80s sword and sorcery craze. There's also no small amount of Star Wars in this world, with futuristic sci-fi intermingling with medieval technology and imagery. The toys and accompanying animated series were initially massive hits, but the 1987 live-action film bombed, just as toy sales were declining.
Mattel has attempted to revive the property repeatedly, having only moderate success in the early 2000s with a rebooted, anime-flavored series airing on Cartoon Network. Still, affection for the franchise runs deep, explaining why we keep hearing about Netflix revivals, and this movie, which the toymaker swears will happen one day.
Marks' script has been described as "Lord of the Rings meets The Matrix," which is difficult to argue. The opening has sorceress Evil-Lyn detailing the origin of the universe as a mythic swordsmith forges two magic swords at the beginning of time. These are the legendary Sword of Light and Sword of Darkness. Mythology is established, revealing that the joining of the two swords enabled King Grayskull to save Eternia from the Forces of Darkness decades ago. Following his victory, Grayskull entrusts six wise warriors -- the original Masters of the Universe -- to hide the two swords.
In the present day, Evil-Lyn (who has betrayed her fellow Masters) leads the villainous Keldor to the Sword of Darkness. As he touches the hilt, darkness consumes his flesh, foreshadowing his transformation into Skeletor. Keldor leads an attack on his brother, King Randor, who's introduced lecturing his son Adam, a spoiled teen who can't seem to avoid getting into fights.
There's no room for rest in this script. A few pages after King Randor is introduced, he's murdered by Keldor and his legion of flunkies (who will evolve into their recognizable Masters forms by the end). Adam is believed dead, but escapes while Randor's loyal agent Man-At-Arms stays to lead a resistance.
While Eternia is forced to live under Keldor's rule, Adam trains in the wilderness with the mysterious Zodak. (Given the way he's described in the script, there's no way the studio wasn't considering Laurence Fishburne for this role.) We have hints Adam is destined for more, as he receives visions of the Sorceress and Castle Grayskull. Adam trains for seven years, becoming a man, but still unsure of his destiny.
Zodak, like all mentor figures, must die in order for Adam to receive that kick in the gut. He ends up aligned with Man-At-Arm's resistance, meeting potential love interest Teela, and Dekker, another of the original Masters, who split the swords decades earlier. (Dekker is an ultra-obscure figure in the lore, so many fans are puzzled as to why Marks chose to use him.) Dekker aids Adam in his search for Castle Grayskull, where he's destined to once again combine the Light and Dark swords. Evil-Lyn is aware of the prophesy, and pushes Keldor to locate Adam and this Sword of Ligh before the darkness he's brought to Eternia kills the planet.
Eventually, Keldor tires of Evil-Lyn and strangles her. And she isn't the only well-known Masters character to die in the script. Marks was going for a borderline R-rating, as evidenced by brutal passages throughout the story (including one decapitation for an established Skeletor flunkie). It's arguably necessary to spruce up what could be a fairly bland section: Adam's quest to discover Castle Grayskull.
Shockingly, Adam locates the Castle (which is hidden underwater) and the Sword of Light. And, following a battle with Keldor -- whose face has finally rotted, allowing him to now declare himself Skeletor -- he gains the Sword of Dark, as well. Joining the swords, Adam is transformed into He-Man (literally at a hundred pages into the script), and leads the heroes to a final victory over Skeletor's forces.
Perhaps as an homage to the final scene of 1987's Masters of the Universe, Marks throws in an after-credits sequence, which establishes that Skeletor is still alive.
Ultimately, this script was abandoned when the project bounced between studios. Mattel was optimistic a new production would get off the ground quickly, but, well ... we're still waiting.
FAN SERVICE
As noted earlier, this was written by a true believer. Although Marks is occasionally reluctant to have characters speak some of the sillier names in Masters lore, he still works in everyone from Fisto to Mekanek, while also incorporating a few of the beloved vehicles from the early days of the toyline.
He also makes sure Adam encounters Battle Cat during his time in the wilderness, rectifying a mistake from 1987's film that bothers fans to this day. Several notable figures are missing, such as Stratos and Mer-Man, but it's easy to imagine them popping up in the later two movies planned in the series. (Orko, the comedic sidekick from the cartoon, likely wouldn't appear, given the mood of this script.)
Acknowledging the importance of the two swords -- an element played up in the early marketing for the toys, but abandoned by the cartoon -- also indicates how passionate Marks is about this lore. A casual fan wouldn't pick up on this at all, but the hardcore audience should appreciate it.
NON-FAN SERVICE
Hollywood is mocked for its obsession with origins, and this does fall into that category. While not as egregious as, say, G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, we do have a He-Man movie that only features He-Man and Skeletor in the final act. The origins are logical and well-paced, and the bit about Keldor wearing a chrome skeleton mask in the months before his face becomes a literal skull is nice, but it's possible some fans would view this as pandering to the normies.
“UM, ACTUALLY ..."
Traditionally, Evil-Lyn isn't portrayed as one of the Masters. Nor is Prince Adam a short-tempered teenage punk, ready for a fight. And Zodak is no mentor, he's an inscrutable figure, typically played as a neutral observer. (Or in some interpretations, that's another distinct character, spelled Zodac.) Other traditional elements, such as Prince Adam serving as He-Man's secret identity, are also abandoned. It's not entirely clear in the script if Adam even undergoes a noticeable physical transformation after becoming He-Man. Instead, he dons the cross-styled armor.
DID WE DODGE A BULLET?
There's no slang, no cutesy dialogue here. It was Game of Thrones before there was a (live-action) Game of Thrones. Perhaps some elements of the script are derivative, but it's not as if Masters was wildly original in the first place. It was conceived specifically as a mashed-together version of popular concepts. Really, all the script needed to do was create a believable world for these characters and some excuses for cool visual effects and action sequences. On that level, it works very well.
Playing Masters as a joke is easy. The character names are often silly, and the average audience member likely associates the mythos with the cheaply animated weekday cartoon. Asking the audience to embrace the world, to dismiss any thought of it as '80s camp, is far more difficult. That does require some graphic violence, a somber tone, and just maybe, a few gratuitous death scenes.
Is there too much "origin-itis" here? Yeah. Marks seems to be reaching for enough material to fill the runtime as we wait for He-Man's debut. So much so, time's devoted to character arcs for some of the teen soldiers serving under Man-At-Arms. I suspect the average viewer would rather that time be spent on the star. Still, it's a promising script. In a world that brought us far too many Michael Bay Transformers films, it's a shame a movie written by a hardcore fan (but with an eye towards modern audiences) didn't receive its shot at the box office.
That’s all for now. Until next time, check out the G. I. Joe novels I wrote for the Kindle Worlds project for free over at Smashwords.