Masters of The Universe (2026) is AWFUL. And also... AWFULLY FUN!
The review embargo for Masters of The Universe seems to have broken and if you have paid any attention to the reviews, you’ve absolutely noticed that opinions are very mixed.
What you need to know about this movie is that Masters of The Universe is absolutely one of THE WORST movies of 2026. But what you also need to know is that it is also one of THE MOST FUN movies of 2026. I’ll get to how this can be in just a moment. But first…
Over the last couple of days, fuelled by the huge box office of low-budget horror films Backrooms and Obsession, the conversation in culture circles has been about how audiences, particularly younger audiences, are YouTube-influenced and are now seeking interesting filmmakers and not IP. Mostly, this is an overblown talking point and has very little in the way of evidence to back up the huge cultural shift many proclaimed this past week.
Masters of The Universe feeds into this conversation. It is yet another example of a film with IP that lacks relevance for modern audiences. The property is a nostalgia play for those that were boys in the mid-80s. Sure, there have been a few animated shows on Netflix tied into the Masters of The Universe IP over the last few years, but the audience for those were the kids of the 80s. Nothing has really been done to revitalise the IP for younger generations.
The concern I had going into the film is that it would not only be a bad movie, but that it would also be a tired nostalgia-swamp of limited entertainment value. Yeah, I watched He-Man and the Masters of The Universe as a kid, but it was never my fav’rit.
This new film walks so close to the line of going through the motions. It is too celebratory of characters that anyone unfamiliar with MoTU will be baffled by. It’s too darn long (seriously… how is a He-Man movie over two hours?). And it has a really weak-lead in the form of talent vacuum Nicholas Galitzine.
But the film is gorgeously lit, has action sequences that feel mostly real and isn’t weightless Marvel-style CGI mush on screen, and the show has this very self-aware tongue-in-cheek sense of humour to it. The film isn’t self-mocking exactly (though, it does do that), but rather it is celebrating the ridiculous of it all across the action figures, 80s cartoon(s), comics, memes, etc. It’s less a celebration of the He-Man cartoon and mythology as it is the cultural phenomenon of the show.
There’s also an incredible performance by Jared Leto as bad guy Skeletor. It is heightened camp in the best possible way. I’m not sure how much of the performance physically actually is Leto as he is unrecognisable under the mask he is wearing… Leto may well be in this as much as Pedro Pascal was on set for The Mandalorian. At least voice-wise, it is the performance of the year.
Please understand that this film will have you cheering at the audacity of it almost as much as you’ll be groaning at the fact you’re sitting through the film. But… you will never check your watch and you will laugh along with this film far more than you ever expected.
I’ve not had an experience at the cinema like this before. Director Travis Knight (son of former Nike co-founder Phil Knight… as played by Ben Affleck in Air) has delivered the best possible version of a Masters of The Universe movie to the screen. It will make a great Saturday morning trip to the cinema… especially if you are a 10 year-old kid.
Aussie streamer Stan to launch ad-supported plan
Stan, the first major SVOD service to launch in Australia (sorry Presto and Quickflix, but you know it’s true), has followed in the footsteps of its international rivals and will launch an ad-supported tier.
The service, which has barely updated its look and feel since it launched in 2015, will launch the ad-tier later this year at a date TBA for $9.99 per month, including HD streaming. The plan will be branded Basic with Ads. The current Basic plan doesn’t have HD and costs $12 per month.
It isn’t clear whether the Nine-owned Stan plans to introduce HD to its Basic plan, because if there are no changes the new ad-supported plan is really Basic with Ads and HD. If it does introduce HD to the Basic plan, is a $2 difference each month really enough to get you opting for the ad-supported plan?
Nine promises more details closer to launch.
Maybe you should be watching the best Jon Hamm show currently on TV
At the end of the week the season 2 finale of Apple TV series Your Friends and Neighbors is set to stream. The third season is already greenlit (and may have even already started production, if my memory serves correctly), which thrills me greatly.
I quite liked the show with season one. For those of you not across it, this is the show with Jon Hamm starring as a former finance guy who is ousted by his firm and stays afloat financially by robbing his very wealthy former neighbours. He has stayed in their social circles and supports his wife and kids who still live in the elite, 1% neighbourhood.
The show is a mix of satire, wealth porn, and family relationship dramedy.
Season one ended on the dopiest note possible, with Jon Hamm given the opportunity to return to his former job. But instead, to keep the premise of the show alive, he turns it down to instead keep risking his freedom by stealing watches and other exceedingly expensive trinkets from mansions.
Where season two has really elevated itself is through the smart decision to more or less jettison the worst part of the show, which was the stealing from the neighbours. It has also wisely given a lot more time to the supporting cast, elevating them into actual characters. As season two winds to an end, this show is right now among my favourite ongoing series.
If you haven’t been watching it, it’s a good one to binge through. Add it to your list.
News Desk
Following the very public dressing down of new 60 Minutes EP Nick Bilton, CBS News (to nobody’s actual surprise) has terminated the employment of longtime on-air 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley. Read: Variety
Clint Eastwood is now seemingly retired. His final film was Juror #2, a tight courtroom drama that pretty much went straight to streaming. Read: The Playlist
The Hunting Party has been cancelled after two very long seasons on NBC. Read: THR
The Stargate reboot is dead at Prime Video. Read: Variety
A TV series adaptation of the 1979 Al Pacino-starring film And Justice for All is in the works at Netflix. Read: Deadline
Will Arnett will join Kristen Stewart in the upcoming Prime Video series The Challenger, which is about Astronaut Sally Ride and the Challenger shuttle disaster. Read: Variety
Miles & Wu is a new animated show from studio Vampire Squid Productions, which is known for making one of TV’s best kids shows Octonauts. The new cartoon will be produced using AI-assisted animation technology and will embrace the Octonauts motto: ‘Explore, Rescue, Protect.’ Read: Deadline
Aussie Shore, your favourite reality show and mine (no, seriously… who even knew this show existed?), will relocate to the Gold Coast from Cairns for its third season. Tammy Hembrow will replace Charlotte Crosby as the House Boss for the show. Who even are these people? Read: iF
Emily Feingold is leaving Netflix after a nine-year run. She oversaw communications for the US and Canada. Read: THR
Trailer Park
Silo will be back on Apple TV for season 3 on July 3.
Husbands in Action debuts on Netflix June 19.
A detective teams up with his ex-wife's new husband to chase down her kidnappers. Can this unlikely duo put aside their differences for one wild rescue?
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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