Written by Many fans of the 1987 live-action movie “Masters of the Universe” starring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella were disappointed to learn years later that He-man’s twin sister She-Ra was once planned to co-star with He-Man in the film (but was cut from the final script.)
Although never ultimately appearing in the classic 1987 film, She-Ra’s costume design illustrated by Production Designer William Stout still became quite a cult hit among the Masters of the Universe fandom, inspiring 1987 Movie She-Ra custom art, figures and cosplay.
Other than She-Ra’s costume design though, details regarding He-Man’s twin sister’s potential role in the film have been sparse to say the least. Even the earlier draft of the “Masters of the Universe” script that featured She-Ra was reportedly lost.
But now, thanks to the director of 1987’s “Masters of the Universe” Gary Goddard, the earlier script has been found!
That’s right, director Gary Goddard has located the lost She-Ra discarded draft and shared a few pages of the script. This is what Gary had to say about it:
“MOTU FANS: AT LAST THE SHE-RA DRAFT! LOST AND FOUND:
I think I found something you will all like, god knows I have been asked about it for decades now. Yes, there was a brief moment when SHE-RA was to be part of the movie, however, in addition to the added cost of another star, more costumes, and a major character that would need near equal time to He-Man, (the screen time would have been split between He-Man and She-Ra), I argued that as a “first” movie of the MOTU world, not unlike the animated series, I thought we should keep the focus on He-Man.“That being said, when pushed by Mattel, I suggested a way where she would appear initially, as Grayskull falls, and then is carried off as a prisoner to Snake Mountain, allowing her to escape from there at some point later in the movie, allowing us to meet up with He-Man and others on Earth, and then reunite them all when they return to Eternia to battle Skeletor and his forces once and for all.
“But the ultimate villain reared its head (budget and schedule) and it was decided to stay the course and focus on He-Man in this initial movie. Since you all know the movie, you will see that she briefly replaced the Sorceress in the opening. You will also see a more lethal Skeletor, even if only for a moment, establishing him as a capable and powerful foe, not one to be trifled with. So here you go MOTU fans, the SHE-RA Draft, first 4 pages. Lost and found once more.”
– Garry Goddard via Facebook
And here are those early script pages (1 – 4) featuring He-Man’s sister She-Ra in a battle versus Evil-Lyn, Blade and Beastman!
We would like to thank Director Gary Goddard for sharing this cool glimpse at She-Ra’s 1987 potential appearance. While fun to read, let’s hope one day we will see She-Ra realized in a live-action film finally, versus always wondering what could have been.
We’ll see you next time!
—
You can discuss this in our new COMMUNITY FORUMS, or just leave a comment below and it will cross-post!
You can keep stay up-to-date with all the For Eternia news and content by following our various social media accounts. Please support by subscribing to:
- For Eternia on YOUTUBE
- For Eternia on TWITTER
- For Eternia on FACEBOOK
- For Eternia on INSTAGRAM
- For Eternia – FACEBOOK GROUP
was going to ask how those clothes could ever fit a real actress but the cosplayer did it so nuff said 🤣
Interesting design. Too bad the sequel (which would have had She-Ra) never got made.
I wonder who they would have gotten to play her.
@he-dad good question.
It probably would have been no one famous. Perhaps an up and comer like Courtney Cox was. With what almost happened in the sequel with He-Man being a football player, She-Ra might have been a cheerleader or something similar had she appeared in a sequel.
@firefly Seeing She-Ra as a cheerleader might be fun. They would have picked someone really pretty too like Dolph and we would be her biggest fans even if she never became big and famous.
Oh, nice. And great take on the costume too. First time I read about it. 🙂
@firefly A sequel to the ’87 movie with Dolphs He-Man as football player? What on Eternia would had happened between the ending of the movie and it sequel for that starting situation? 😀
Marleena visiting home now that there is a travel method; she introducing her kids to their earth grandparents; they find out their graddad is upset because his favourite football team is loosing and they descide to help?
… Oh sh… my mind is running wild with nonsense again 😛
Acccording to some articles, Cannon planned to make a Masters of the Universe 2 with surfer Laird John Hamilton as He-Man. He-Man would be back on earth, disguised as a pro quarterback, while Skeletor would also be on earth, masquerading as an evil CEO named Aaron Dark.
@firefly Why would Mattel allow something ridiculous like that? That is why fans do not trust Mattel.
They did not, that is why it did not get made, and Cannon repurposed the pre-production materials for Cyborg. The proposed title for the sequel was Masters of the Universe II: The Cyborg, so Cannon just dropped “Masters of the Universe II" from the title, but it occasionally shows up in television listings this way.
This article says it might be bounced checks too. https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/how-masters-of-the-universe-2-and-a-spider-man-movie-became-cyborg/
Plans for a Masters Of The Universe 2 – and its long-in-gestation Spider-Man – were reluctantly abandoned after a couple of bounced checks led to the loss of the Spider-Man and He-Man licenses from Marvel and Mattel. According to Gary Goddard, He-Man toy manufacturer Mattel may even have withdrawn the rights to make Masters Of The Universe 2 after seeing the low-budget follow-up Cannon was planning to make. “Mattel saw the script, or perhaps the storyboards,” Goddard said, “and pulled the license.”
All told, Cannon had spent approximately $2 million on both Masters Of The Universe 2 and Spider-Man, and had little more to show for it than a collection of sets and costumes. Determined to give this latest black cloud a silver lining, Cannon turned to Pyun, and within the space of a single weekend, a project called Slinger – and later retitled Cyborg – was born
I knew that about the refurbished costumes for Cyborg but that Storyboard for MotU2… ooof, that sounds really, really bad.
Should we all suffer through the agony and watch Cyborg to see all the sets and costumes? It sounds like something “real" fans must do.
Rewatching it is on my to-do list; last time is about 3 decades ago and I did not knew or looked out for its MotU movie connection 😉
If you expect an action packed 80ys VanDamme in his prime B-Movie you should be fine.
@lurker-man I just watched the trailer for my first time bro and it looks like fun low budget cheese. The last 10 seconds is funny because it’s just dudes yelling AHHHHHHH 🤣
I think Cynthia Rothrock would have been a good casting choice for She-Ra. Not having her in the film in my honest opinion was a mistake. Kids who were hooked on He-Man and She-Ra would have went nuts if she was in the film, then seen setting herself free to help He-Man, Man-At-Arms and Teela turn the tide against Skeletor.
@masterofthemoon2274 I had to look Cynthia Rothrock up. She’s all right. I would of liked Sandahl Bergman.
RDT_20241008_1313264354269056600146757.jpg
@mighty-thanos
Sandahl Bergman would have been good but I was thinking of age wise, cause Sandahl was much older than Dolph. I was thinking about which female action star at the time was closer to his age at that time.
@masterofthemoon2274 Sandahl wasn’t too much older than Dolph. I think it still could have worked. Tanya Roberts, Heather Thomas, or Kim Basinger would have been a nice choice too.
@mighty-thanos She’s older than him by 6 years.
6 years is not a lot to me. Dolph looked older for his age. I think they could of sold them as twins.
In 1985, Mattel would have been more likely to cast Brigitte Nielsen as She-Ra. She is tall, blonde, and Dutch; and she played opposite Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV, which is the film that inspired Mattel to cast Lundren as He-Man. Nielsen went on to play Red Sonja opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was intended to play Conan in the film, but the character was renamed Lord Kalidor due to rights issues. So she was definitely poised to play a female lead in a barbarian fantasy film.
@adam_prince-of-eternia I was thinking about someone who was not a huge name and closer to Dolph’s age being that He-Man & She-Ra are twins. Who knows if Brigitte would have accepted the role. I’m not saying that she would have been a bad casting choice or not, just was thinking of if something like MOTU would have been any interest to her or not. As most people in Hollywood tend to want more money or find a film based on a toy line beneath them.
She accepted the role of a barbarian warrior based on a comic book character adapted from a pulp novel. I do not think another barbarian warrior based on a toy is a huge leap.