So the first trailer for the live-action Masters Of The Universe dropped earlier this week, and already it seems to have become something of a lightning rod for online debate. The reason? A scene where Nicholas Galitzine’s Adam is sitting at his office desk, and his name plate includes the pronouns ‘He/Him’.
Of course, the usual suspects online were already raging, writing column inches and social media posts decrying this as some kind of travesty.
Author Jon Del Arroz has also got in on the reactive act, furiously posting on X:
“Now they’re making a Masters of the Universe and giving He-Man pronouns. These people won’t stop until they ruin everything.”
Hey, look. This is Hollywood, and it is always a possibility. Or maybe, just maybe, it is a bit more nuanced than that. For a start, the pronouns ‘He/Him” allow a small visual gag around his future identity as He-Man, compounded by the later wording used in the trailer about how “He… became… He-Man”.
Still, it’s also the internet, and subtlety and nuance are not the internet’s strong suit.
There is also another, potentially deeper and more intriguing aspect to what has been shown, if only people would stop shouting at their screens. At least one Outposter here has already pointed this out. This is because, as we know, Outposters (that’s you) are supreme online movie beings who think more deeply, and do not just consume.
The trailer shows Adam deeply unfulfilled in an HR role, a business area that is the domain of women, stuck behind his pronoun-toting desk, unenthusiastically wearing a lanyard with HR messaging on it, hectored by his “diverse” woman HR manager.
It also shows him in a bedroom that is, as was pointed out in the Disqus on the original trailer thread, the representation of the “Men actually live like this and think it’s OK” meme. Later in the trailer, he is blocked by a geek girl with interestingly colored hair, and he ignores her to try to reclaim his sword.
Could it be that there is much more actually going on here than simply the Pavlovian reaction of “Pronouns? WOKE!” and it has something more interesting to say about things?
Another issue some are raising online is concern over how much of the film’s story takes place on Earth. Some rumors from the test screenings say it is very little, and it serves mostly as a setup before the real business gets underway on Eternia.
Travis Knight, son of the Nike co-founder Phil Knight and current CEO of Laika Studios, directs. Many say he made the best Transformers effort in the form of Bumblebee.
Masters of the Universe opens in cinemas on June 5th.
