“Masters of the Universe” And The IP Drought (With Mattie Lubchansky)

By the power of Grayskull, we have cartoonist and co-host of the No Gods No Mayors podcast, Mattie Lubchansky, in studio to discuss Masters of the Universe! 

The movie is a test for Mattel, who are going all-in on IP management in the post-Barbie era but Masters has underperformed at the box office and with critics. Has the He-Man IP run out of gas? Did it ever have gas? What would a coherent He-Man movie even look like? Where’s Orko? 

On this episode, we try and figure it out. We discuss the movie’s patchwork approach to plot and character, its history in development hell, its mostly-winning cast including Nicholas Galitzine, Jared Leto, and do a sidebar on Idris Elba’s history on the big screen. Finally, we wonder if this movie signals an approaching end to the toyetic IP boom of the last couple of decades, or if this is just a blip, with movies like Spider-Man and Doomsday on the horizon. 

Next week, we’ll be staring at the camera wistfully, eyes aglow with childlike wonder, to discuss Disclosure Day!

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