Toon Zone Talkback - "Masters of the Universe 2002": The Power Returns, In Style

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MalikWoW!

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This is the talkback thread for "Masters of the Universe 2002": The Power Returns, In Style.
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Am I the only one who has never seen a full episode of He-Man, old or new?
 
Perhaps so. I'm old enough to have seen the original series when it premiered. I remember liking it but it was never one of my all-time faves. My faves during the ealry 80s were Transformers (G1), Voltron, & G.I. Joe. Yes, I saw the live-action film at the theater but evn as a kid, I didn't care much for it. I was intrigued when CN announced they were revamping not only He-Man but Transformers as well. Much to my disappoint, TF: Armada blew chunks whereas He-Man (2K2) delivered the goods and then some. I particularly enjoyed Evil-Lyn. Yes, the origin trilogy is drawn out and would've benefited from being a 2-parter however much, if not all of S1, merits 4 stars from me. This series takes me back to the "good ole" days of CN:

He-Man, Megas XLR, Samurai Jack, Justice League, Teen Titans. Good times!
 
As a wee lad I used to love all things Eternia/Etheria (He-Man), but looking back I have to say the series was pretty cheesy. I'm still kind of suprised He-Man 2002 bombed as badly as it did. It was a similar take on the characters only much more well-written, (Think comparing superfriends to JLA). I guess it didn't catch on with the kiddies and nostalgia seekers weren't enough to push up the ratings.
 
I think by that point, He-Man's style of episodic, same cast of characters, no one ever dies action toon was considered hopelessly outdated in an era where violent serials, edited from TV-MA to TV-Y7 shows where main characters died became the norm on the network that aired it. He-Man was for lack of a better term, outdated.
 
The premiere did have a great moment. After the showdown with Skeletor the king is thrown off the cliff, and He-Man jumps after him and manages to catch him.

The King: "He-Man! You can fly?!"
He-Man: "Well, actually...no."



I think there is something to that. He-Man 2002 was a decent American cartoon, and I'd say they updated it about as well as possible. However, lots of twirling and spinning weapons don't make great action.
 
I don't think the best shows necessarily get the ratings they should, due to when they air or the audience being more interested in flashier shows. And, aside from some gratitious (sp) toy plugs (Samurai armor, anyone?), I think this was one of the best.

But I think a big issue with MOTU's relaunch was its lack of younger characters. If there had been a couple more Masters around the age of Adam and Teela, I think there would have been more kid appeal... and Teela being Captain of the Guard would've meant more. There's just too many kid-led shows and superheroes relaunched younger and younger- like how Spiderman and X-Men's most recent shows were set in high school.
 
My complaint with MOTU 2002 is it's second season. You know, with Skeletor replaced with the Snake Men. Replacing the villain almost never works and it didn't work for me.
 
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