Grayskull: Masters of the Universe - Part 2

[Thundarr]

35-40 is acceptable. My personal choice is Charlize Theron.

Charlize Theron as Evil-Lynn? Never thought of that casting before. After seeing the trailers to Snow White & The Huntsman, I gotta say I don't disagree with it. Nicely done.

 

[Airwings]

Since he's a friendly character, he should have human-like eyes (but still fairly alien). Not scary at all.

The classic design as it would look in live action?

Or the new look.

First devian pic by Killersha, second from Homelet.

What will work best in the movie?
And another question: should Cringer talk?

 

[Pink Ranger]

And another question: should Cringer talk?

Cringer and Battlecat? No.

Dragons? Yes.

 

[Thundarr]

The classic design as it would look in live action?

Or the new look.

First devian pic by Killersha, second from Homelet.

What will work best in the movie?
And another question: should Cringer talk?

I vote for the new look for Orko (a gold amulet around his neck rather than a great big "O" on his chest). It's more mature, and pretty much cooler looking, IMO, which is perfect for a live action movie.

As for Cringer/Battlecat talking? My vote is for no. That was one of the changes I liked from the 2002 reboot.

 

[Jordacar]

The old look is pretty much a big shirt with an O on it, so I vote for the new.

Watching the old show, I often feel that Battlecat (moreso than Cringer) never has anything interesting to say. And Cringer has plenty of personality without having to talk, so I vote no on the talking.

 

[Airwings]

Mer-Man. How menacing should he be in the film? He's the king of the seas, and should have a high rank among Skeletor's henchmen. He's a bloody king, for heaven's sake!
I guess the actor must have royal feel to him, to be able to portray the character convincingly.

Drawn by DavidRapozaArt

 

[Panthro]

Mer-Man. How menacing should he be in the film? He's the king of the seas, and should have a high rank among Skeletor's henchmen. He's a bloody king, for heaven's sake!
I guess the actor must have royal feel to him, to be able to portray the character convincingly.

Drawn by DavidRapozaArt

He should be very menacing - he needs to be a believable threat to He-Man and the other heroes.

And that art is a damn fine rendering of him.

 

[TheVileOne]

Gary Goddard made a good point at Power-Con when they were making the original movie. He said during the making of the movie, Mattel had strict approval over everything and Mattel wanted EVERY character in the movie. And Goddard pointed out that if they had everyone in the movie than they'd just have two lines and basically no character to speak of.

Then he compared it to one of the newer scripts that Justin Marks wrote and said how it had a lot of the MOTU characters in it but they all had two lines and none of them left an impression on you.

He also said he and Frank Langella re-wrote significant portions of the movie as well. So I think you can really credit a lot of the good material that is in the movie like Langella and his dialogue to Langella.

 

[KangConquers]

Gary Goddard made a good point at Power-Con when they were making the original movie. He said during the making of the movie, Mattel had strict approval over everything and Mattel wanted EVERY character in the movie. And Goddard pointed out that if they had everyone in the movie than they'd just have two lines and basically no character to speak of.

Then he compared it to one of the newer scripts that Justin Marks wrote and said how it had a lot of the MOTU characters in it but they all had two lines and none of them left an impression on you.

He also said he and Frank Langella re-wrote significant portions of the movie as well. So I think you can really credit a lot of the good material that is in the movie like Langella and his dialogue to Langella.

I think the first Masters of the Universe film needs to boil down to the basic elements. Skeletor needs Evil-Lynn, and He-Man needs Battlecat, Man-At-Arms, and Teela. The Eternian Royal family and the Sorceress also need to be in the film.

Beyond that, Heroic Warriors and Evil Warriors should only be added to the film if they add to the story. Obviously there need to be a few on each side, but as a whole, I'd keep the film based on the core arc of Randor vs. Keldor, a realm divided by two brothers at war, and how Prince Adam factors into this / changes the tide of said war.

 

[Airwings]

Gary Goddard made a good point at Power-Con when they were making the original movie. He said during the making of the movie, Mattel had strict approval over everything and Mattel wanted EVERY character in the movie. And Goddard pointed out that if they had everyone in the movie than they'd just have two lines and basically no character to speak of.

Then he compared it to one of the newer scripts that Justin Marks wrote and said how it had a lot of the MOTU characters in it but they all had two lines and none of them left an impression on you.

But look at LOTR for heavens sake. More than a dozen characters already in the first film, and they all had something to do. and the actors(-eses) had screen time enough to show their characters.

 

[TheVileOne]

Airwings, each Lord of the Rings movie was THREE HOURS or more. Think about that.

A movie like this would maybe get about 2 hours-ish at most. Chances are if Sony Pictures makes the movie they won't want it to be closer to two and a half hours.

We aren't talking about Lord of the Rings here.

 

[Airwings]

But isn't this thread about what we WISH the film to be?
Or are we movie producers talking business stuff?

Masters of the universe require a guy in the veins of Peter Jackson to do the project justice.

 

[Pink Ranger]

But isn't this thread about what we WISH the film to be?
Or are we movie producers talking business stuff?

Masters of the universe require a guy in the veins of Peter Jackson to do the project justice.

True, true, but for me, part of the wish is for the movie to be doable, and also to respect the spirit of the source material.

A LOTR treatment of He-Man would be overdone and pretentious, IMO. I always envisioned He-Man to be a more PG-rated version of Taarna's world from Heavy Metal. I definitely want a more 1970s feel (with 2012 production values!) in any He-man movie I see.

 

[Airwings]

Why is the LOTR treatment wrong for Masters?
I would enjoy seeing a lot of the characters on-screen, and each of them to have its shine in the spotlight and grow as a character.

It doesn't need to have the same extent of pompous drama and seriousness as LOTR, but the epic scale should very much be the same.

Here's a picture from the Master of the Masters drawers, nebezial.
http://nebezial.deviantart.com/art/he-man-115761586?q=gallery%3Anebezial%2F9888339&qo=205
And this is pretty much how the characters should be re-done to suit the live action format. Except for a few minor things (Skeletor's hair etc).
Overall, there's a more metallic element to the action figures here. Not too bright or colorful, but rather muted colors.
And these henchmen are the ones who should be there alongside Skeletor in the first film. They are the most known, and I think it would be just ridiculous to save most of them for another film. A big problem with the 1987s version was the lack of known warriors. Remember?
And if there's a Masters sequel, Skeletor can return with a few others, like Clawful, Whiplash, Kobra Khan etc - but it should mostly focus on King Hiss and the Snakemen anyway.

 

[TheVileOne]

It's nice thought Airwing, but we have to be realistic here. Obviously no matter how big this movie ends up being chances are it won't be of the scale or length of something like the Lord off the Rings franchise.

The ultimate goal here is yes we want a franchise. But I think for a first movie you have to limit the cast because you are basically reintroducing He-Man to a whole new audience.

For the Masters you basically need Adam/He-Man, Man at Arms, Teela, and maybe 1 or 2 other masters. I think you could use Ram Man because of the visual look and toy appeal he could have would be a good choice. Maybe Stratos. But it should be more than 4 or 5 masters for the good guys. You really could just keep it to He-Man, Teela, Man at Arms, and Orko and Cringer/Battle Cat really.

For Skeletor and the Evil Warriors, you need the iconic big 3 which are Skeletor, Beast Man, and Evil-Lyn. Now if you add one more for Skeletor, you should give him Tri-Klops so that way Skeletor has like a mad scientist and inventor. Maybe give him a couple other monsters or minions. Maybe Mer-man so like Skeletor controls the monsters on the land through Beast Man and then the monsters of the sea through Mer-man.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Why is the LOTR treatment wrong for Masters?
I would enjoy seeing a lot of the characters on-screen, and each of them to have its shine in the spotlight and grow as a character.

Cause I don't want He-Man stopping every five minutes to sing an medieval ode to the trees.

 

[Airwings]

On the good side, it's not enough with just He-Man, Teela and Man-At-Arms out there in the battlefield (Orko is not a "real" warrior). Ram Man has been mentioned, and he's a must. Not just for the toy merchandise, but also because I can see Ram giving the good side an edge.
Maybe they ask Andy Serkis to play him?

TheVilleOne: What???!!! No Trap-Jaw?

 

[terry78]

I think Orko should be there for the final battle or whatever, not any more experienced, but he's able to direct his unpredictable magic at the bad guys. The thing that's been a constant is that he's insanely powerful, but outside of Trolla his abilities don't work how he wants them.

 

[TheVileOne]

On the good side, it's not enough with just He-Man, Teela and Man-At-Arms out there in the battlefield (Orko is not a "real" warrior). Ram Man has been mentioned, and he's a must. Not just for the toy merchandise, but also because I can see Ram giving the good side an edge.
Maybe they ask Andy Serkis to play him?

TheVilleOne: What???!!! No Trap-Jaw?

Airwings, no. As much as I like Trapjaw, I don't think he fulfills any specific purpose for the Evil Warriors. I think for a first movie that's purpose is to reintroduce and rebuild this whole world for moviegoers you need to keep it smaller. Evil-Lyn is Skeletor's right hand and mage. Beast Man is like his general and beast master. Tri-Klops is his scientist and builder. Trapjaw is cool but I'm thinking to keep things smaller so you can get the maximum out of everyone and no one gets short-changed in a 2 hour running time.

 

[GoblinScrier]

I met Meg Foster this weekend at Lexington's Scarefest horror convention. She was SO awesome...so sweet...she signed my Evil-Lyn figure from 2002 in the package. She wrote "To Chris, Grayskull is OURS!" Love, Evil-Lyn...Meg Foster.

She knew about the reboot and I asked her if she was given the opportunity, would she love to play Evil-Lyn again and she said she would LOVE to...one of her favorite characters! I thought her and Langella were the stars of that movie...

 

[TheVileOne]

I also got to meet her at the Power-Con, she was very nice.

That being said there's no way she'd be brought back to play Evil-Lyn again. Maybe a cameo or something but that's about it.

 

[Thundarr]

About number of characters on each side, I agree it should be kept to a managably small number. Maybe more than Adam/He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Teela, Orko, and the Sorceress on the good side, but not much more. Stratos is a good choice for one of the Masters. Then maybe Ram Man or Mekaneck. On the evil side, Skeletor, Evil-Lynn, and Beast Man are a must. I would highly recomend Mer-Man and Triclops as well. Then maybe add Clawful or Trap Jaw.

As for having enough time for all the characters to get enough time to develop, being closer to LOTR is the best way to go. But I'm willing to concede that studio execs probably will push for a 90 minute running time, because somehow they figured that to be the magic number for maximum profits. I'd split the diff at 2.5 hours. Most of the movies in the Star Wars saga were around 2.5 hours long (the longest being Revenge Of The S#!t, which was 2 hours 45 minutes). And if the studios need a reason to make the He-Man movies 2.5 hours each, just show them the profits Star Wars has consistently made since 1977 with movies that long. And with Star Wars also being a movie which combines science fiction with high fantasy, that arguement speaks for itself.

 

[knowsbleed]

I never realized there was so much He-Man love. Now the song is stuck in my head.

 

[terry78]

I think Skeletor may have some additional cannon fodder undead creature army on his side as well, because frankly it just gives the heroes someone to beat the **** out of in a faceless mass way that looks cool.

 

[knowsbleed]

I have to admit, I'd love to see this but the way Bay handled Transformers really killed my passion to see childhood cartoons in live action. I know this has been compared to John Carter, but if this property were handled the same way, I'd be pleasantly surprised.