Masters of the Universe features several noteworthy cameos. However, by far the biggest are Dolph Lundgren, who starred as He-Man in 1987's Masters of the Universe, and She-Ra, who appears in the movie's second post-credits scene.
Lundgren bumps into Nicholas Galitzine's Adam at a gym and offers some words of advice about how being a man is about more than muscles. He wishes him a "good journey" as he leaves, which is a nod to what He-Man said to other characters in the previous live-action adaptation.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Galitzine recalled, "I seem to remember sort of quite brightly going to [director Travis Knight] and going, 'You know what would be a great idea, is if we had Dolph Lundgren in the movie.' And he kind of looked at me like, 'Yeah, we've been planning something for...' like I had come up with this really novel [concept]."
Saying he felt "lucky" to share the screen with his predecessor, the actor added, "I also think in the way we did it, it's humorous, but it's got a bit of a sort of a meta quality to it. I end up sort of saying the lines that he says to me in my war seminar [later in the movie]. I hope Dolph feels this way, but there was a very real passing of the torch, which felt very special, certainly for me."
While Lundgren has yet to comment on his Masters of the Universe role, he was at the movie's world premiere and happily posed for photos with Galitzine on the red carpet. There had been speculation he'd play King Randor, but his credited role in this reboot is "Macho Man."
Knight, meanwhile, revealed that the meeting was once a lot different. He explained, "Originally, it was a much longer scene where we saw a lot of different aspects inside the scene, and then he has his exchange with Dolph, and that also was originally a significantly longer scene. You plan these things, and as you start putting the movie together, a movie is a time-based art."
"That means along the way, you have to cut a lot of things that you love. But you really get down to the essence of what that interaction is, and to me, it's about Dolph giving this young man at the beginning of his journey a little bit of life advice, a little hard-fought wisdom. And then when you see later in the movie how that comes back around and how that affects things, I think it's absolutely joyful."
As for She-Ra, Prince Adam's twin sister is shown from behind—wearing the classic costume from the cartoons—with the Sword of Protection in hand, seemingly ready to reunite with her brother in Eternia.
In a separate conversation with ScreenRant, Knight remained tight-lipped about the contents of the scene, but confirmed that She-Ra was included in Masters of the Universe with the intention of setting up a sequel:
"I've said this before, but when I make a movie, I assume I never get another shot at playing around with these characters in this world, so you don't want to leave anything out there. You want to put everything you have into the movie, which we did. And the film stands on its own two feet. I think it tells a story from beginning to end. I think it's fun, I think it's action-packed, and it's emotional. But there is a world that exists outside of the frame of the movie, and those character stories do go on whether we tell them cinematically or not. Adam's sister has always been a huge part of the franchise. If we're to be so lucky to tell another story in this universe, she would play a very, very big role in another movie."
The actress who played She-Ra in Masters of the Universe has been revealed, though it's widely believed she was a stand-in for whoever takes on the role in a potential follow-up.
In Masters of the Universe, Director Travis Knight brings the legendary franchise back to the big screen in this epic live-action adventure. After being separated for 15 years, the Sword of Power leads Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) back to Eternia, where he discovers his home shattered under the fiendish rule of Skeletor (Jared Leto).
To save his family and his world, Adam must join forces with his closest allies, Teela (Camila Mendes) and Duncan/Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba), and embrace his true destiny as He-Man — the most powerful man in the universe.
Masters of the Universe is now playing in theaters.