Netflix's Masters of the Universe: Revelation is about to send Prince Adam and the citizens of Eternia on an adventure unlike any they've undertaken before. Across the first five episodes of the upcoming series, which was executive produced by Kevin Smith, Castle Grayskull is under siege once again by Skeletor and his minions. Fortunately, He-Man and his friends are there to stand in its defense -- but the subsequent battle may change them, Eternia and the whole universe forever.
Speaking to CBR, Masters of the Universe: Revelation stars Sarah Michelle Gellar (Teela), Chris Wood (Prince Adam) and Tiffany Smith (Andra) explained how the series updates their characters and grounds them with real emotion. They described the series as a "modern-day homage" to the original and explained how their characters' relationships will grow and evolve. They also broke down how their characters find their power in the new series and more.
CBR: These characters have been around for nearly 40 years, so what did you know you had to bring to your performance to make them feel consistent with previous versions of them?
Sarah Michelle Gellar: Well, I think, to go back to the original, I think it probably had to be hardest -- I'm not gonna speak for you, Chris [Wood], although I do speak very well as you -- but I think that that's so ingrained in people's mind, you know, "I have the power!"... I mean, people know Teela, but she was sort of a secondary. She was always there, but she didn't really have a voice. She didn't make that impression.
So I think, for me, it was more about just discovering who she was and what this journey was going to look like, and it made it a little bit easier in terms of the past. The cartoon is written so differently now. I think that it was of its time; it was a little more one-dimensional, and these are much more grounded in real emotions and real characters.
Chris Wood: Yeah, no, I mean, Sarah is right. It was sort of like "I have the pressure" was the He-Man tagline for this version. I mean, I think people will feel how different this show is in terms of it's rounded out, the universe has expanded, it feels more adult, but it also feels the same. It's hard to explain, but would you guys say that? It feels true to the original, but it also is its whole new evolved thing.
Gellar: It's an homage to the original. It's a modern-day homage to the original.
Wood: And it's not a sequel! It really is like it's continuing from where the show ended, but it's just elevated in every way. I mean, like you said, it was 40 years ago -- almost! I guess it was 38 years ago.
Gellar: Some of us were here for it the first time, Chris.
Wood: Exactly, Sarah.
Gellar: Yeah, just me. Just me and Mark [Hamill].
Wood: But yeah, I mean, there was a little bit of pressure. I think everyone probably felt that. I'm sure Mark did in his own right. He's proven his voice acting abilities countless times, so I don't think he has much to worry about. But hopefully fans respond positively to everyone's portrayal.
Tiffany Smith: Fortunately, for me, I didn't have that pressure, because Andra is pretty much a new character. If you're a real old school fan, you know that there is the name that we've used before in Masters of the Universe, but this character wasn't really fleshed out and wasn't on the series in the 80s. So I didn't have the pressure of matching anything.
So for me, it was so much of taking a lot of myself: the excitement, the joy that I have. She's the audience's eyes, the fangirl within the world of Eternia. And then getting to be a little bit more badass, because she's the engineer. She makes awesome weapons, and she can fight with the best of them.
What I love so much is getting to see it all come together, because this is the first time that we've been in the same space together, talking about the show and watching it and seeing the dynamic between all the different characters work so well. I love the fact that Teela and Andra have this awesome best friend relationship where they have each other's back and they can say what they're thinking. They're kind of each other's family for a large part of the series.
Which aspect of your character do you relate to the most and why?
Smith: I think that the first thing that I related to with her is the fangirl aspect. Like I said, I grew up watching the show. So I was so excited to get to be a part of this world again -- again! To get to be part of the world in the first place, not just in my imagination while I was watching! So that aspect really was wonderful because there's moments where she's like, "Oh my gosh, Grayskull?! I heard about that as a kid!" So that part was really cool.
I really connected with the fact that here's this girl who is looking for adventure, but is also trying to find her place as a hero, her purpose in the world of Eternia, and doing that along with one of her best girlfriends. I think that's something that most people can relate to, is finding their place and using their power, their strengths to make where they are even better and hopefully you have family and friends to support you along the way. So those were the things that I connected to -- and her awesome arm muscles, because mine are just as badass as hers. (Not at all.)
Gellar: I think Teela's journey is something that everybody can relate to, whether female, male, you haven't decided. We all going through that stage where you go from a young adult to an adult and your whole life, you're in school, you have a job, you're all set up. Your parents, they tell you what to do. Then, all of a sudden, you get in the real world and that's when you actually need to find out who you are. I think that's Teela's journey, is finding out what her power is and what her place is, without the constraints of the castle and her father and all those. I just think it's an extremely relatable journey.
Wood: I connect with the quad muscles. It's the chiseled sides of my torso.
Gellar: Chris, you know your quads aren't in your torso, right?
Wood: No, his quads are the size of my torso was what I was saying!
Gellar: Oh, his quads are the size -- got it. Just making sure we are anatomically correct here.
Wood: It was something back in school that I always mixed up was the torso and the quads, but today, I remember!
Gellar: I just hope I get to do every interview for the rest of my life with Chris. That's what I'm pitching. We didn't even work in the job together, but we're still going to do the interview together!
Executive produced by Kevin Smith, the first five episodes of Masters of the Universe: Revolution arrive Friday on Netflix.