Amazon and Mattel's long-gestating Masters of the Universe movie finds villain in Alison Brie as production nears
Not who you'd first expect for the Evil-Lyn role, but it might work.
The new live-action Masters of the Universe movie has been in the works, in one way or another, for close to two decades, but with Amazon MGM Studios now teaming up with Mattel following the success of Barbie at Warner Bros. Discovery, it appears the project is finally moving forward. Now, Alison Brie's been cast in the major villain role of Evil-Lyn.
The Hollywood Reporter shared this news, also pointing out that production might be starting sooner rather than later. The news arrives after The Idea of You's Nicholas Galitzine nabbed the protagonist part of Adam/He-Man back in May.
The previous iteration of the project, which Netflix had been prepping for a long time, had the Nee brothers (The Lost City) guiding the project and Kyle Allen (West Side Story) announced to star in it as Adam/He-Man. After a full reboot of the project once it moved to Amazon, Travis Knight (Bumblebee) and his usual writing partner Chris Butler (Kubo and the Two Strings) took over directing and scripting duties. Given the source material, that's the kind of creative talent you want to get, but it remains to be seen whether they'll be allowed to properly cook the stew.
Evil-Lyn is Skeletor's second-in-command and is characterized by her practice of the dark arts. Meg Foster portrayed the character in the 1987 live-action movie, and Brie should bring in a different kind of energy to the role for sure. That said, after her roles in Community and Mad Men back in the day, she moved onto more unexpected parts, such as her fantastic lead performance in Netflix's GLOW. In recent times, she's been trying to balance out comedic roles with far more dramatic parts, and that seems to be working out fine for her. Now, a return to the mainstream arena (after a number of voice roles in animated series such as Star Wars: Visions and Rick and Morty) only feels logical.
As it stands, the current official synopsis reads as follows: "Masters of the Universe introduces a 10-year-old Prince Adam, who crashed to Earth in a spaceship and was separated from his magical Power Sword — the only link to his home on Eternia... After tracking it down almost two decades later... Prince Adam is whisked back across space to defend his home planet against the evil forces of Skeletor. But to defeat such a powerful villain, Prince Adam will first need to uncover the mysteries of his past and become He-Man: the most powerful man in the Universe!"
Masters of the Universe should release in theaters worldwide on June 5, 2026... unless the curse remains active.