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Will Kevin Smith Master He-Man?

Actual image of the author learning about the new Netflix series.
Hi! We're bringing you an extra post this week because He-Man can't wait. Enjoy!

 His Take:

 You remember that cartoon you watched as a kid? Well, it’s back. And it’s not for your kids, it for you. You right now, not you as a kid, This past weekend at the annual Masters of the Universe-centric Power Con (yes, there’s a convention for everything) Netflix announced via the guy the media goes to for everything comic book/geek related, Kevin Smith, that it will produce a new Masters of the Universe cartoon that picks up right where the 80’s cartoon left off.

 As a huge Masters of the Universe fan, I was thrilled at this announcement. After I stopped clapping (I was gonna write “doing cartwheels” but I’m 46 years old and weigh 250. I’m not kidding anybody) I took a step back and took a closer look at this news. Unfortunately, I found some things that I was less than thrilled with.
First, the announced series wasn’t called a cartoon or an animated series, it was called an Anime, specifically. The difference between a “regular” cartoon and and an anime? A regular cartoon can vary in it’s design-think Casper the Friendly Ghost or GI Joe or Bob’s Burgers, while an Anime is very specifically designed. Like Dragonball, Sailor Moon or Pokemon. The original He-Man cartoon was about as far removed from an anime as you could get. 

 Second, the writer. While Kevin Smith loves and talks about comics, movies, cartoons, ect., you never hear him talk about Masters of the Universe. Ever. So, why the heck would you hire him to write a Masters of the Universe series? Because he’s a household name? I can see where that would appeal to Netflix, but they also have to realise that they’re playing the short game. The show comes out. It’s terrible because the writer doesn’t know the source material, no merchandising, no second season, you loose the subscribers you picked up that were specifically interested in watching that show.

 BUT, what if those two major complaints that I had turned to good instead of evil? As I sat and thank I remember something similar happened with another of my childhood favorites, GI Joe. In 2009 a new GI Joe cartoon debuted called GI Joe: Resolute. It was also an anime, and it was written by an author whose work I never cared for, who had never even known of the property before he got the writing assignment. Due to the writers indifference for GI Joe he was able to write a great story without trying to cram everything that fans wanted to see into an hour, After that, I realized how great this new series could be. Sometimes the best stories are written by authors who are unfamiliar with their subject material. 

 So, I sit back and await this new series with great anticipation. Hey, even if by some chance it stinks, doesn’t take away my enjoyment of the original series. 
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