He-Man is coming—and he’s bringing a lot of friends and enemies with him. The long-in-the-works Masters of the Universe film has been adding cast for months, beginning with Nicholas Galitzine (The Idea of You) as Prince Adam/He-Man. Alison Brie (GLOW) is playing Evil-Lyn; Camilla Mendes (Riverdale) is Teela; Jared Leto (Morbius) is Skeletor; and Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) is Duncan/Man-at-Arms.
And now, He-Man has parents, a sorceress, and a guy named Fisto.
The Hollywood Reporter has the news that James Purefoy and Charlotte Riley will play King Randor and Queen Marlena, who may or may not be totally oblivious to their son’s secret identity.
Purefoy has been in a handful of SFF-adjacent projects, including Pennyworth, Altered Carbon, and A Discovery of Witches. Riley was recently in Prime Video’s sadly short-lived The Peripheral, and was Arabella in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. She is 17 years younger than Purefoy and a mere 13 years older than the actor playing her son. Clearly we learned nothing from Dune.
On the plus side, however, Deadline reports that the film has also cast Morena Baccarin as The Sorceress. Yes, that’s her whole name—except when she turns into a falcon; then she’s called Zoar. The Sorceress, in He-Man lore, is only powerful within Castle Grayskull, which seems like a pretty bad deal. Baccarin is known for a lot of geek things, from Firefly to Deadpool; she also starred in the series The Endgame (pictured above).
And last but hardly least, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Captain America: Brave New World’s Copperhead) is set to play Malcolm, also known as Fisto, who has a big metal fist. He was a bad guy, and then became a good guy. One wonders if his outfit will be cartoon-accurate; one sympathizes, if so.
Masters of the Universe is directed by Nike scion Travis Knight (Bumblebee); the screenplay, according to Deadline, “by Chris Buttler with first draft by David Callaham, and Aaron and Adam Nee.” Castle Grayskull comes to life in theaters on June 5th, 2026.[end-game]
