Noah Centineo has exited the Masters of the Universe movie. The teen heartthrob had been cast as the lead character, He-Man, and had worked out extensively to bulk up for the role as the legendary action figure, but… well, the movie hasn’t gotten made in the two years since he was cast, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the actor has decided to walk away. No reason was given, but a representative said “He is no longer attached to that project.”
Centineo is attached to another superhero project, as he has been cast as Atom-Smasher in the DC Comics movie Black Adam with Dwayne Johnson in the titular role, Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate.
Aaron and Adam Nee are attached to Masters of the Universe as writers and co-directors. This project has been in the works for many years now. David S. Goyer (Batman V Superman) penned an earlier draft of the script. As did Christopher Yost (The F.B.I Files) and Iron Man‘s Matt Holloway and Art Marcum.
Mattel
In case you weren’t aware, Masters of the Universe was one of the best-selling toy lines of the 1980s, and its accompanying cartoon, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was a ratings smash which eventually spawned a female-centric spinoff Sh-Ra: Princess of Power. She-Ra was launched in a theatrical animated movie, courtesy of Filmation, but that flopped. A live-action Masters of the Universe film was released in 1987, but the cartoon and toy line had peaked by then, and that film also flopped at the box office.
She-Ra was revived as a Netflix original series, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, but due to licensing issues, made no references to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. But Netflix is set to present TWO new He-Man cartoons. Masters of the Universe: Revelations is produced by Kevin Smith and will be a continuation of the original cartoon series. A second series, simply called Masters of the Universe, will be rendered in CGI and will be aimed at a younger audience. To pave the way, Mattel recently released new Masters of the Universe action figures, originally released only at Walmart, but now available everywhere.
Will this Masters of the Universe movie ever actually get made? We will have to wait and see.
In the meantime, check back for updates as they arrive.
