The first He-Man stories debuted in 1982 in the form of mini-comics published by DC Comics and sold with the He-Man action figures produced by Mattel. Since then, the character of He-Man has been the focus of comics published by DC and Dark Horse, as well as the 1987 film, Masters of the Universe.
Netflix's 2021 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe will be the fifth of a long line of cartoon series focusing on He-Man that began with 1983's classic Filmation cartoon. Even with such a long history of adaptations, Masters of the Universe: Revelation still manages to hold its own.
10 Revelation is The best adaptation: Depicted Teela & Prince Adam As Actual Friends On Equal Footing
In the 1983 Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe show, Prince Adam was depicted as needing to lie about his secret identity as He-Man. Part of that lie often involved pretending to be cowardly or uninterested in fighting. As a result, his personal bodyguard and Captain of the Royal Guard, Teela, was always frustrated at him. That characterization of Teela continued into the 2002 series to the point where it was often difficult to remember these two were ever supposed to like each other.
However, the first time Revelation depicts Teela and Adam talking to each other, it is clear they are friends. She teases him, but he teases her right back. This is a friendship of push and pull, and they care about each other equally.
9 It Wasn't: Filmation's Orko Backstory Was Superior
In Revelation, Orko is a failure at magic for his entire life, until he ultimately sacrifices himself in order to save his friends and teammates. While this lead to a beautiful conversation and temporary friendship with Evil-Lyn, Filmation depicted a more complex Orko backstory.
In the Filmation version, Orko was a great and powerful wizard in his homeland of Trolla. Upon coming to Eternia, he immediately saved Prince Adam and lost his magical pendant in the process. After losing the pendant, Orko's magic no longer works very well. The Filmation series also stated that Trolla's "natural laws" worked differently than Eternia's, and that was why Orko had such difficulty.
8 Revelation is The best adaptation: Gave Teela A Life Separate From He-Man
Revelation is the first He-Man adaptation to give Teela her own characterization that was not dependent upon He-Man. In Revelation, Teela has a best friend named Andra whom Adam barely knows. She has skills and adventures away from Adam, He-Man, and the Sorceress. Her fears are explored and end up having to do with the secret of being the Sorceress' daughter, even though she doesn't know that yet.
The character exploration separately from He-Man is particularly important because many adaptations marry Teela and Adam off, and there's never a good reason for that. In Revelation, it becomes clear that Teela is a heroic match for the hero, and their friendship was one that mattered deeply—but was not all that mattered in Teela's life.
7 It Wasn't: He-Man/Thundercats Gave Randor A More Realistic Reaction
King Randor's reaction in Revelation to finding out that his cowardly son who disappointed him was He-Man was very much over the top. Randor's immediate reaction is to start yelling and threatening to execute Man-At-Arms. He has Duncan and Orko exiled from the palace and issues an execution warning to anyone going near Castle Grayskull.
Revelation is not the first time a He-Man adaptation allowed Randor to learn Prince Adam's secret. In the 2016-2017 He-Man/Thundercats crossover comics series published by DC Comics, Randor also learns of his son's secret after his son appears to die. In that comic, Randor is immediately full of grief and regret. But he remains a good king and keeps Eternia's best interest in mind while he grieves. After Adam comes back, the two of them are able to have a closer bond than ever. This handling of the secret is much more realistic of a good man and good king.
6 Revelation is The best adaptation: Explored The Relationship Between Magic & Technology Better
Eternia has always been a land where both magic and technology existed. In many adaptations, the two forces tend to work together without any problems. But in Revelation, the differences in philosophy between people who relied on magic and those who focused on technology were emphasized due to Tri-Klops' cult and the decline of magic on Eternia.
Seeing the two sides pitted against each other was a unique feature of Revelation and one that added a greater depth to Eternian lore.
5 It Wasn't: 2002 He-Man's Keldor Origin Remains A Better Background Story For Skeletor
In the 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe show produced by Mike Young Productions, Skeletor's background story involved him being Keldor, half-brother of Randor. The Keldor origin had been hinted at in previous story bibles and minicomics, but the 2002 series marked the animated debut of Keldor. Later comics would include Keldor as a half-brother of Randor and a prince of Eternia, whose thirst for power was due to his certainty that he deserved the throne instead of Randor.
In the 2021 Revelation comic prequel, Kevin Smith decided to go with a different origin for Skeletor and invented an origin that involved Skeletor as an inhabitant of another dimension with a tragically murdered wife and daughter. This origin more accurately reflects the "demon from another dimension" that Filmation's cartoon used. However, the Keldor backstory was a more complex story than the "murdered wife and daughter" origin Revelation gave Skeletor.
4 Revelation is The best adaptation: Had The Best Orko & Man-At-Arms Relationship
Since Orko's creation, Man-at-Arms has always had a difficult time dealing with him. The unpredictability of Orko's magic has often conflicted with Duncan's no-nonsense way of looking at the world. This makes sense, given that Duncan is not only in charge of keeping the royal family safe, but he also has to act as a father figure to both the future Sorceress and Prince Adam.
Revelation definitely demonstrates how well Orko is able to get on Duncan's nerves at the beginning of the story. But as Eternia fell apart, it became clear that Duncan treasured Orko's friendship. After both were kicked out of the palace following Adam's death, Orko began to get ill due to the lack of magic on Eternia. Duncan took on a caretaker role, demonstrating his affection in a way that was far more explicit than any previous Duncan and Orko interaction.
3 It Wasn't: Previous Cartoons Did A Better Job Showing The Sorceress' Power
Revelation was able to balance a variety of characters. Characters such as Prince Adam, Orko, Duncan, Teela, Andra, and Evil-Lyn were given increased characterizations and skills in this particular adaptation of He-Man. But one character who did not have the best display of power in Revelation was the Sorceress.
Both Filmation and 2002 He-Man did a much better job demonstrating how powerful the Sorceress was, while Revelation mostly depicted her as being tricked, weak, and doting on her daughter.
2 Revelation is The best adaptation: Depicted A More Interesting King Grayskull
The character of King Grayskull was depicted in 2002's He-Man and was noted to be an ancestor to both Randor and Adam. This Grayskull looks almost identical to He-Man and was in love with his time's Sorceress. There's very little to separate Prince Adam from his ancestor, which is unrealistic and makes Adam less special. He is only a hero because his ancestor was in that telling of King Grayskull.
One of the best improvements Revelation made was to make a more interesting King Grayskull. This King Grayskull may or may not have been Adam's ancestor, but he certainly was an entirely different person. He was funny, argued against Adam going back to Eternia, and believed in reaping his reward. Having a King Grayskull who shared kindness and empathy with Adam without being a clone was a much better storytelling device.
1 It Wasn't: 2002 He-Man Left Room For She-Ra To Exist, But Revelation Did Not
At the present, the character of She-Ra or Princess Adora cannot be part of the Revelation storyline. She-Ra cannot be part of Revelation for the same reason that He-Man could not be part of Netflix's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. The right to make He-Man cartoons and the right to make She-Ra cartoons are owned by separate companies.
She-Ra was also not in 2002's He-Man, but there were multiple opportunities that allowed her to still exist. The audience was introduced to the Horde, Skeletor was working for the Horde previously and there were comments about a time in which the king and queen had been very sad. All of these allowed Adora to possibly still exist, even if she could not be shown yet. However, Revelation's entire storyline revolved around the necessity to rebuild the Sword of Power—because there was no other sword like it. That implies She-Ra's Sword of Protection does not exist and shuts the door on the possibility of She-Ra existing at all.