Netflix’s “Masters of the Universe” animated series boldly went where no He-Man had gone before by recruiting “Star Trek” legend William Shatner as a lesser-known version of his most famous villain. Yes, Captain Kirk himself is a key player in the sequel series from Kevin Smith — one of the best TV revivals of all time.
“Masters of the Universe: Revolution” picks up years after the original 1983 “He-Man” series (which had to limit its amount of violence). It dives deep into the lore to develop Skeletor (Mark Hamill) and explain his history before he was just a skull-faced agent of chaos. Shatner plays Keldor, the man Skeletor used to be. More importantly, he’s King Randor’s (Diedrich Bader) half-brother.
In flashbacks, the show reveals that his face was burnt off when Hordak (Keith David) gave him the Havoc staff. This jaw-dropping reveal was hinted at in the original mini comics from the 1980s, and it was also referenced in the 2002 “He-Man” animated series, but it was never explored in as much depth as in “Masters of the Universe: Revolution.”
Kevin Smith knew he had to recruit William Shatner
William Shatner told The Los Angeles Times that he wasn’t sure how to bring Keldor to life, saying, “I didn’t know what to do about it, an ancient animated character. How do you look for some way to do it in a new fashion, add some character to it? I didn’t know how to make choices so I just sort of intuitively went along.”
While Shatner may seem like an odd choice for the underrated animated show, Kevin Smith told SFX Magazine (per MovieWeb) that he had a specific motivation for doing so. Smith explained, “When we were talking about casting the role, his was the first name that came up. I said, ‘If we do this, then Captain Kirk and Luke Skywalker will act opposite each other. Like, we’ll have them actually chewing the scenery around each other.’ And for an old-school pop culture junkie from the ’70s like myself, that would be worth the journey alone.”
This makes “Masters of the Universe: Revolution” something of an unofficial crossover between “Star Wars” and “Star Trek.” Actors and fans alike have long wondered what the two franchises would look like together. But it’s likely never going to happen considering how different they are, and because they’re owned by completely separate companies.
