He-Man, a fictional superhero from the sword and sorcery franchise Masters of the Universe created by Mattel, has often attracted queer interpretations and discussions over his status as a gay icon. His first appearance was in the 1982 comics included with his toy figures. The animated television series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe , which aired from 1983 to 1986, focused on the character and established traits that would remain consistent in future installments of the franchise.
Homosexual readings of He-Man have been discussed by cultural critics and academics, having also been referenced in other forms of media. He-Man has been noted for the homoeroticism and gay subtext surrounding his character. While the original series aired during a period of public suppression of homosexuality, elements of queer coding have been noted since He-Man's inception. Discussions have focused on his adherence to various gay stereotypes regarding his physical appearance, including connections to LGBT subcultures such as gay clone culture. His double life, being both He-Man and Prince Adam, has been viewed as reminiscent of closeted gay men. He-Man's relationships with other male characters—such as Skeletor and Man-at-Arms—have also been highlighted.
Since his creation, He-Man has become a gay icon and amassed an LGBT following, especially amongst gay men; the character has also been noted for his sex appeal to that demographic. According to various insiders and employees, Mattel is aware of and receptive to He-Man's gay icon status and his following in the LGBT community, as well as the perception of the character as a gay man.
He-Man is the protagonist of the Masters of the Universe toy line, [2] created by Mattel, [3] with his first appearance being during 1982 in minicomics packed with the toys. [4] The cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe , based on Mattel's toyline, [3] first aired in 1983 [5] and would go on to air 130 episodes, concluding its run in 1985. [6] The series established He-Man as the alter ego of Prince Adam of Eternia, [5] who is the son of King Randor and Queen Marlena. [7] He-Man and his allies battle against the forces of the villainous Skeletor and strive to protect the secrets of Castle Grayskull from his clutches. [7]
The original series aired during the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981–1989), [a] which film scholar Jake Pitre acknowledges as a period in which producers attempted to "defuse any possible queer readings" of their cartoons. [10] Regarding this, Anthony Gramuglia of Comic Book Resources stated that because censors often prevented explicit representation of LGBT characters, creators often had to rely on queer coding, giving characters camp qualities to implicitly indicate their LGBT status. [1]
According to professor Jeffery P. Dennis, cartoons are "unusually amenable to subtexts that hint at or even celebrate same-sex desire", [11] and "often produce a tacit validation of same-sex romantic or domestic relationships, even when the animators have no such interest". [11] Dennis says that even in cartoons that lack a same-sex pairing, readers may interpret a queer identity in a character such as He-Man, who "was muscular and never dated girls". [12] Professor Jes Battis also said the original cartoon series "dealt in themes of queerness and secrecy", [13] while Syfy writer Jordan Zakarin described it as "the gayest show that has ever been on TV". [14]
Literature professor Michael G. Cornelius has argued that homoeroticism is prevalent in the Masters of the Universe franchise, [15] highlighting how He-Man's muscular body was the focal point of the franchise, [16] and was highly objectified. [17] Cornelius describes He-Man's body as reminiscent of the Castro clone (or gay clone) look prominent in the United States when the original cartoon aired. [18] Gay clone culture was characterized by a butch and masculine look, and a muscular physique; alongside dressing like a blue-collar worker. [19] Cornelius noted that both the He-Man franchise and gay clone culture "fetishized […] the male form". [20]
Concerning the attention afforded to the male physical form, alongside its fetishization, Cornelius has written that within Masters of the Universe, the body acts as the "key signifier in the fashioning of male identity". [18] Similarly, in gay clone culture the male body is viewed simultaneously as "object of desire and object of subjective fashioning", [18] with gay clone culture requiring a muscular physique to "manoeuvre successfully". [18] Cornelius believes that while He-Man was likely not created to reflect this aspects of gay clone culture, both said culture and the Masters of the Universe franchise display similar social anxieties and desires regarding the male body that differ from the "larger heteronormative continuum present in society at the time". [18]
When it comes to specific aspects of the character's wardrobe, Cornelius further argues that many aspects of Prince Adam's and He-Man's individual outfits conform to various gay stereotypes. [15] Fetish wear designer David Chlopecki describes Prince Adam as a "very gay guy", highlighting him wearing lavender, pink, and white spandex, as well as his "blond pageboy haircut". [14] Slate's Sam Anderson—who described the original series as containing "accidental homo-eroticism"—also discussed Adam's clothing, particularly his "lavender stretch pants, furry purple Ugg boots, and a sleeveless pink blouse". [21]
Regarding the character's appearance after transforming, NPR described He-Man's outfit as adding to the show's homoerotic subtext given its resemblance to leather subculture. [22] Specifically, discussions have highlighted He-Man's harness, [14] [23] which was considered homoerotic imagery in the 1980s. [1] Relating to this, Cornelius notes how the Village People modelled their outfits after the gay clone culture of New York and argues that He-Man, with his "leather strapping and 'furry underwear' ", would have "blended right in". [24]
When Prince Adam says the phrase, "By the power of Grayskull, I have the power", he transforms into He-Man, the strongest man in the universe, and gains a variety of abilities; [25] the phrase also allows his feline companion Cringer to simultaneously transform into Battle Cat. [6] The only other people aware of his secret identity were Orko, Duncan / Man-At-Arms, and the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull who gave Adam his powers. [26]
The character's double life has been noted as containing queer subtext, [27] with The Guardian stating that the character became "renowned within the LGBTQ+ community" because they "saw parallels" in the secret life of Prince Adam. [28] According to Battis, Adam's need to "hide his true identity as [He-Man]" is one of the show's key queer aspects. [13] Highsnobiety 's Sophia Atkinson noted his double life reflects the "difficulties of living as a gay man". [29]
British newspaper The Daily Telegraph said the character's dual identity represents a man's struggle to accept his sexuality; Prince Adam is closeted and has a secret while He-Man is "out-and-proud". [30] Writing for The Johns Hopkins News-Letter , Matt Johnson described the series' depiction of He-Man as a "thinly veiled treatise on the state of gay male sexuality in the eighties". [31] Johnson views Adam as a sexually repressed, closeted gay man whose transformation into He-Man represents his pent-up frustrations reaching their peak. [31]
While He-Man's sexuality has never been directly addressed, across various media in the franchise, the character has never shown romantic interest in women. [29] [32] Skeletor's obsession with He-Man has invited homoerotic interpretations. [33] He-Man's relationship with Man-At-Arms, one of the few characters aware of his secret identity, has also been described as being homoerotic. [34] Men's Health has noted how He-Man's relationships with both Skeletor and Man-At-Arms contain a "will-they-or-won't-they tension". [35]
He-Man's homoeroticism and implied homosexuality resulted in the character and show drawing a queer audience when the cartoon first aired, [1] with the character being now viewed as a gay icon. [b] Wired magazine's Lorenzo Fantoni, describing He-Man as a "muscular blonde" who fights with "hairy men and equally muscular enemies", believes the character becoming a gay icon was inevitable. [37] Author and professor Jarrett Neal described the original cartoon as having featured such "blatant homoerotic imagery [that] Mattel can [receive] credit for captivating an entire generation of gay men"; [38] Neal further stated he identified with Prince Adam and wished to attain the "physicality and confidence of He-Man". [39] Men's Health said gay men were one of the three core groups that were consumers of He-Man toys, alongside bodybuilders and law-enforcement officers. [35]
In conjunction with his status as a gay icon, He-Man has also been acknowledged to be a sex symbol for gay men. LGBT lifestyle magazine Out described the original series as "one of the gayest ... cartoons of all time", writing that the 1987 film "turn[ed] an entire generation of boys at least a little gay". [40] Instinct magazine's Gerald Biggerstaff described the original cartoon as being quite popular with gay men who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, and that for many of them, He-Man "prompted [their] gay awakenings". [41]
In 2003, HX Magazine editors compiled a list of must-see television series with attractive male leads; [42] He-Man was the only animated character to make the list, being described as the "object of all our childhood wet dreams". [42] [c] British magazine Gay Times listed He-Man as a cartoon character their editors were attracted to while growing up, noting Dolph Lundgren's depiction of him in the live-action film. [43] In the same publication, actor Andrew Hayden-Smith said he realized he was gay while playing with his He-Man figure as a child, being attracted to the character's physique—particularly his pecs. [44]
According to Erika Scheimer, lesbian daughter of Filmation co-founder Lou Scheimer, the company welcomed gay artists. She said that members of the studio "long[ed] to see themselves onscreen", often joking that He-Man is gay. [35]
Mark Morse, Mattel's director of global marketing from 2008 to 2017, stated in 2018 that the idea of representing him as openly gay in a future franchise had not been discussed at the company. [35] That same year, the company released the Laughing Prince Adam figure, which "seemed to nod to" gay interpretations of He-Man. [35] Morse, who created early prototypes, stated Mattel wanted to ensure the figure would not be viewed as offensive to the LGBT+ community. [35]
In an interview with gay online magazine Queerty , Rob David and Tim Sheridan, who work on Masters of the Universe: Revelation , discussed the character's homoeroticism and gay fanbase. [36] Sheridan, a gay man who is one of the show's writers, believes that the original show's themes led to He-Man fostering a gay fanbase despite not being openly gay. [36] He also said He-Man is coded in such a way in Revelation that his character can be interpreted in numerous ways, which Sheridan believes can bring people together. [36] According to David, who is an executive producer of Revelation and Mattel's Vice President of Creative Content, Mattel is "very comfortable" with He-Man's gay audience and the perception of the character as a gay man. [36]
ND Stevenson, the creator of the 2018 series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power , has also called He-Man—alongside She-Ra—a gay icon, [45] He-Man's LGBT fanbase has been credited as helping provide support for the inclusion of openly queer characters in the She-Ra reboot. [1]
In Dan Fishback's Thirtynothing, a 2011 play focused on gay artists who died and the AIDS crisis, [48] Fishback discusses watching the cartoon in his childhood. The show's opening credits are shown, followed by footage of a 1989 demonstration organized by the AIDS advocacy group ACT UP. [49] Jayson A. Morrison discusses how in doing so, Fishback connects Prince Adam's transformation into the powerful He-Man by holding up a sword and reciting a phrase to LGBT individuals "who [gain] extraordinary powers as activists". [49]
In April 2011, David Mason, Brian Moylan, and Bradford Shellhammer held the "Skeletor Saves" charity art-auction event, [46] the proceeds of which went to the Ali Forney Center, an LGBT community center helping homeless LGBT youth. [50] Inspired by Mason's childhood love for the He-Man franchise and Skeletor, the auction included the work of fashion designers Helmut Lang and Marc Jacobs. [50] [46] Writing for Canadian LGBT-focused Xtra Magazine , Helen Whithead stated the art show allowed artists to "explore the sexy, camp side of the homoerotic He-Man muscle fest". [51] Many of the works submitted to the event included portrayals of He-Man in gay and not safe for work (NSFW) situations, including him being seduced by Skeletor [50] and the two characters having sex. [46]
In 2017, British company Moneysupermarket.com created an advertisement that showed He-Man and Skeletor embracing and dancing, which Joe Glass of Bleeding Cool described as "on the homoerotic side". [47]
Following the 2005 release of Brokeback Mountain , which focuses on the emotional and sexual relationship between two cowboys, multiple parodies of the film's trailer were created and uploaded on YouTube. [34] According to Jennifer Malkowski, these fake trailers "amplif[y] queer subtext" found within works, with one such video titled "Brokeback Snake Mountain" referencing a subtextual romance between He-Man and Man-at-Arms. [34]
He-Man is a superhero and the protagonist of the sword and planet Masters of the Universe franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books, and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by his superhuman strength and in most variations, is the alter ego of Prince Adam. He-Man and his friends attempt to defend the secrets of Castle Grayskull, the planet Eternia, and the rest of the universe from the evil forces of his archenemy Skeletor. He-Man is the twin brother of She-Ra.
Adora, known by her alter ego She-Ra, is a fictional superheroine in the Masters of the Universe franchise. She is introduced as the protagonist of the 1985 Filmation series She-Ra: Princess of Power, which reveals her to be the long lost twin sister of He-Man. She-Ra again appears in the 2018 reboot She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. A series of toys under her name was produced by Mattel in 1984. She has also appeared in a number of Masters of the Universe comic books, most notably in DC Comics' 2012–2018 MOTU comic series, a roughly 1,000 page single story arc, collected in the 2019 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Omnibus hardcover release. In these comics and in the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline, she also has an evil persona called Despara. As Despara, she makes an appearance at the end of Rob David and Kevin Smith's 2024 Netflix release Masters of the Universe: Revolution, the third installment of the 2021 Masters of the Universe: Revelation animated series. She's also featured in multiple story books, mainly Golden Books and Ladybird books, and in some MOTU games.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line Masters of the Universe. The show was one of the most popular animated shows of the 1980s.
She-Ra: Princess of Power is an American animated series produced in 1985 by Filmation. A spin-off of Filmation's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, She-Ra was aimed primarily at a young female audience to complement He-Man's popularity with young males. Unlike He-Man, which was based on the Masters of the Universe toy line by Mattel, the creation of She-Ra was a collaboration between Filmation and Mattel. The initial group of characters and premise were created by uncredited writers Larry DiTillio and J. Michael Straczynski for Filmation, while the characters introduced later were designed by Mattel. Mattel provided financial backing for the series, as well as an accompanying toy line. The series premiered in 1985 and was ended in 1987, after 2 seasons and 93 episodes.
Masters of the Universe is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man and Skeletor on the planet Eternia, with a vast lineup of supporting characters in a hybrid setting of medieval sword and sorcery, and sci-fi technology. A follow-up series, She-Ra: Princess of Power revolves around He-Man's sister She-Ra and her rebellion against The Horde on the planet Etheria. Since its initial launch, the franchise has spawned a variety of products, including multiple lines of action figures, six animated television series, several comic series, video games, books and magazines, a daily newspaper comic strip, and two feature films.
Skeletor is a fictional supervillain and the main antagonist of the Masters of the Universe franchise created by Mattel, serving as the archenemy of He-Man and usually depicted as a skull-faced, blue-skinned sorcerer. In the franchise's storyline, Skeletor seeks to discover the secrets of Castle Grayskull, which he believes will allow him to conquer the planet of Eternia and the universe, and become the titular Master of the Universe.
The New Adventures of He-Man is an animated series which ran in syndication in the second half of 1990 while Mattel released the toy line He-Man, an update of their Masters of the Universe line. The cartoon series was intended to be a continuation of Filmation's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, but Filmation's parent Westinghouse Broadcasting had shut down the studio a year earlier. Instead, while existing in the same continuity, a new central story was created for this series. It's also the first He-Man series to feature a Canadian voice cast.
Evil-Lyn is a supervillainess in the Masters of the Universe toy line and the accompanying cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Masters of the Universe is a 1987 American superhero film based on the Masters of the Universe franchise by Mattel. The film was directed by Gary Goddard, produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan, and written by David Odell. It stars Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Jon Cypher, Chelsea Field, Billy Barty, Courteney Cox, Robert Duncan McNeill, and Meg Foster. The film follows two teenagers who meet He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, who travels to Earth with his friends to stop their archenemy, the evil Skeletor from obtaining a cosmic key that will enable him to take over their home planet of Eternia and the entire universe.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an animated television series. Developed for television by Michael Halperin, who created the original series, it was animated by Mike Young Productions. It served as an update of the 1980s Filmation series, produced to coincide with Mattel's revival of the Masters of the Universe franchise eleven years after its previous attempt. The series ran on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block between August 16, 2002, and January 10, 2004.
The Secret of the Sword, also known as He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword, is a 1985 American animated superhero film produced by Filmation. Although released before the series She-Ra: Princess of Power began, the film was a compilation of the first five episodes with minor edits made. The film was part of a trend of theatrically released animated films created by producers of TV shows and toys during the 1980s. It is part of the same continuity as the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon series, and was created by the same Filmation production team and cast. It was the first He-Man theatrical film, and the first theatrical release to feature She-Ra or any Masters of The Universe/Princess of Power characters.
The Power Sword, also referred to as the Sword of Power or the Sword of Grayskull, is a fictional sword from Mattel's Masters of the Universe toy line. In the original mini-comics produced with the toyline in 1981, the Power Sword was a mystical object split into two parts, which Skeletor tries to obtain and put together in order to gain control over Castle Grayskull. In these early stories, He-Man uses an axe and a shield, rather than the magical sword.
Princess of Power is a toyline created by Mattel. Among others, it features the characters of She-Ra and Catra on planet Etheria. With its launch in 1984, the toyline spawned a variety of products, including three lines of fashion action figures. The Princess of Power logo and characters are currently used by Mattel as part of the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline.
The Masters of the Universe media franchise has appeared in several comic book series. Most were small publications, which were included as bonuses with action figures. Standalone comic-book series were also published by DC, Marvel Comics, London Edition Magazines and Image Comics.
The Fountain of Life is a 2012 fantasy-adventure fan film based on Mattel's Masters of the Universe franchise and Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. The film was directed by John F. Carroll and Russell Minton during the winter and spring of 2012 around Austin, Texas and the Hesse, Germany.
The Trials of Darksmoke is a 2013 fantasy-adventure fan film based upon Mattel's Masters of the Universe franchise. It is the third and final film in a trilogy that includes The Wizard of Stone Mountain and The Fountain of Life. The film was directed by John F. Carroll during the Winter and Spring of 2012 around Austin, Texas and the Texas Hill Country.
Masters of the Universe is an American animated superhero fantasy television series produced by Kevin Smith and Powerhouse Animation Studios. A sequel to the 1983–1985 series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe by Filmation, while ignoring the events of The New Adventures of He-Man (1990), the plot of Revelation explores unresolved storylines from the original 1980s series. It stars the voices of Chris Wood, Mark Hamill, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Liam Cunningham, Lena Headey, Melissa Benoist, William Shatner, Meg Foster and Keith David, and follows after a terrible battle between He-Man and Skeletor that left Eternia divided, and the Guardians of Grayskull split up. Now, many decades later, Teela needs to reunite this group of heroes and decipher the mysterious disappearance of the Sword of Power.
Turtles of Grayskull is an American comic book limited series written by Tim Seeley, drawn by Freddie Williams II and colored by Andrew Dalhouse. The series features a storyline that crosses-over Mattel's Masters of the Universe with Paramount/Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was first published as a minicomic series accompanying an offshoot of the Masters of the Universe action figure franchise, and then as an expanded series by Dark Horse Comics on September 25, 2024. It's the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Crossover Comic to have no involvement with IDW Publishing.