The very last post-credits scene (of three!) in Travis Knight’s Masters of the Universe is actually a cheeky nod to the post-credits scene from the original MOTU film, nearly forty years ago. That tease at the end of the infamous Cannon Films movie from 1987 never received a follow-up, but maybe things will play out differently this time. But both scenes tease the return of arch-villain Skeletor in a future installment, ready to plague our hero, He-Man. Back then, that second cinematic adventure never came to be. Maybe now, things will work out for the better.
In the new MOTU film, after He-Man (Nicholas Galatzine) defeats Skeletor (Jared Leto) and leaves nothing but a skull on the ground in Castle Grayskull, we cut to six months later. The final post-credits scene shows Alison Brie’s Evil-Lyn descending a staircase in the Castle, picking up Skeletor’s discarded skull head. (Hey, how did she get in there?) She smiles wickedly at him, and says to her boss “You’ve looked better,” and walks off as we hear Jared Leto’s cackle. Obviously, Evil-Lyn will use her dark sorcery to bring her master, the Lord of Snake Mountain, back to life. Maybe a trip to the afterlife of Subternia is in order in MOTU Part Two? The Kevin Smith animated series on Netflix did something similar when its Skeletor died.
This is clearly all a nod to the way the original Masters of the Universe ended. Back in the ’80s, movies barely ever had a post-credits seen teasing a sequel. This was way before the MCU popularized them. Usually, they were joke scenes, like in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or The Muppet Movie, before that. But Masters of the Universe actually teased Skeletor’s return in a sequel. After He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) throws Skeletor (Frank Langella) down an abyss in his final battle, the post-credits scene sees Skeletor’s head pop up out of the water and declare, “I’ll be back!” Well, sadly, Skeletor was not back, and Cannon Films didn’t last much longer as a studio. Largely because of the box office failure of Masters of the Universe.
Both Skeletor post-credits teases are pretty campy, which is fitting for such a camptastic villain. Say what you want about Frank Langella as Skeletor, but he’s the best thing about that movie. And he actually, the actor has a tremendous fondness for that role, even to this day. If Masters of the Universe 2026 gets a second chapter, it would fulfill a forty-year-old promise. We hope that Skeletor’s old boss and mentor, Hordak, is the one who brings him back to life. And then, the two can team up to take down He-Man and She-Ra. That’s the sequel we’d love to see. And if someone else plays Skeletor besides Jared Leto this time? Well, then that’s perfectly ok too. We won’t get mad about it.
Masters of the Universe is now playing in theaters everywhere.