With the release of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, more people have seen the film (to the point of making it the No. 1 movie on streaming) and have lamented that its post-credits scene probably won’t lead to a sequel, unless someone at MGM wants to put out a teeny-tiny, miniature version of the sequel with a minuscule budget. However, the character introduced there has been part of pop culture for years, has lived through hundreds of adventures and, in fact… there is a film that could very well count as the sequel we’ll almost certainly never get to see.
Warning: Spoilers for the post-credits scene of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. No complaining afterward.
Some love her, some Adora her
Like most Masters of the Universe characters, She-Ra was originally created as a doll for the 1984 line, in a collection that traditionally mostly left out female characters. However, at Mattel they thought they could broaden their audience and, while they were at it, reach another female audience beyond Barbie’s, but one a bit rowdier and more into adventure. That’s how the mini-comic The Story of She-Ra was published, which basically had all the ideas about the character that we would see later divided up over just a few pages. The doll was a hit, so only the hardest part remained: making the toxic male audience of the time want to watch a girl’s adventures.
That’s how, in 1985, He-Man and She-Ra, siblings separated at birth, met in a film that could very well serve as the basis for a sequel to the current film: The Secret of the Sword. Although this film was really the first five episodes of the series with barely any editing so it wouldn’t be obvious, it was how most of the audience got to know Princess Adora. And although the animation was basic, He-Man fever was at its height and it was the perfect moment to release it in theaters, where it easily made back its budget and, while they were at it, prepared the audience for the launch of her own series: She-Ra: Princess of Power.
It told the story of Adora, the Captain of the Horde from another dimension who captures Adam and Cringer before we find out that—surprise, surprise—she is his sister. A simple story, which repeats itself several times, but which was a huge hit at the time. Obviously, after that came the next masterstroke: the television series, which lasted 93 episodes between 1985 and 1987, when He-Man-mania was already on the wane. In between they also managed to make another Christmas special where she teamed up with her twin brother. The character disappeared completely, and didn’t even appear in the first live-action Masters of the Universe film, erasing her name from history. However, ironically, she ended up being the most popular one.
It took many years, of course, until society changed completely, but 30 years after it ended, Netflix released the first episodes of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, one of the streamer’s best animated series (now removed and impossible to find anywhere legally), which delved into the character, her friends and her relationship with Catra and culminated in a fantastic ending. If you listen to the opening (I’ve put it above) and don’t start dancing, something’s wrong with you. No one knows what She-Ra’s future is, but who knows, maybe in 2047 she’ll come back with yet another series, proving that, deep down, she is an immortal character.
