Written by Recently “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” (2018) Showrunner and Executive Producer N.D. Stevenson joined voice talent Aimee Carrero (She-Ra), AJ Michalka (Catra) and Karen Fukuhara (Glimmer) to celebrate the 4 year anniversary of the series finale on the Not-So-Average-Fangirl show… and brought up the possibility of doing a movie.
The idea of continuing the story of the She-Ra reboot animated series (that aired on Netflix from 2018-2020) in the form of a film has been rumored for a while now, and when it came up during this Q&A, N.D. Stevenson and cast had plenty to say about it. Check it out:
KAREN: I want to see where they are now. I'm still pitching this like uh She-Ra Movie.
AIMEE: We're all still pitching it. We're all still pitching it.
AJ: Yeah, it's the longest active pitch in history.
KAREN: Yeah. Where are they now, you know?
AIMEE: I mean it writes itself ND, like, let's get it together. It really does.
ND: Already working on it. Already working on it.
AIMEE: Before we're too old.
AJ: I know, right? It's a must.
So will a movie finally go into production that continues the story of “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power”? N.D. Stevenson saying “Already working on it” is certainly a sign towards the positive.
You can check out that Not-So-Average-Fangirl show by clicking here and stay tuned to ForEternia.com as we keep you updated as news develops.
We’ll see you next time!
Why does it need a movie? The ending of the show was pretty solid.
@smitty-81 I think there’s a crucial thing about the ending of Dreamworks She-Ra that allows for a very interesting sequel premise that can also REALLY help the Masters of the Universe brand going into the future that no other show has allowed.
A Dreamworks She-Ra sequel would most likely be about the aftermath of a war ending and facing a new threat that isn’t the Horde or Snake Mountain.
As I said in another thread, an issue I have with a lot of sequels or reboots is that even after getting a story where the main struggle supposedly ends, the progress the heroes made is reset and we go back to square one. This problem is common in Star Wars where, in both Legends and Canon, we always go back to heroic rebellion vs evil empire after the Battle of Endor, and in Transformers, it always has to be Autobots vs Decepticons. Even though I have my issues with Legend of Korra, one of the things I loved about the sequel series that I think allowed for creative and fresh stories to be told is that Mike and Bryan STUCK with the new world Team Avatar made after the defeat of Ozai. Republic City, expanding upon the class issues of the Earth Kingdom, the merging with the spirit world, clusters of fascism springing up, etc. etc. They made new stories that didn’t always go back to the idea of the Avatar battling the leader of a nation, and it allowed for new elements and corners of the world of Avatar to be explored rather than retelling Team Avatar’s story. And even when we got something close to that like with Book 4, Kuvira and how they intertwined the rise of her army with the spirit vine technological aspect and how different she was as a villain still felt new enough. I think that should be the mentality for how these stories continue than doing fan-service based retellings of what we already saw.
This is why I have a complicated relationship with New He-Man Adventures. By all means, it should have been my favorite adaptation because it had the most potential to be something new and take the franchise to newer heights in compariso to everything else where te story is always “vs the Horde" or “vs Snake Mountain". Far into the future, Adam with new characters, new planet, new factions, etc. But my issue is that despite interesting premises, the execution is still way too similar to the other adaptations so the changes feel like we were seeing the same stuff again with new coats of paint. However, I feel vindicated in my belief that NHA did have some great ideas that deserved a second chance when Mara in the Dreamworks She-Ra reboot wound up being one of the best MotU characters ever, and the idea of a more technlogically based Skeletor lead to arguably the best Skeletor/Keldor character development ever in Revolution.
However, Dreamworks She-Ra is at a huge advantage moreso than any other MotU cartoon because not only is the show great, but since the Horde is no more and they can’t use Skeletor/Keldor, the creators would have to either create something new, or pull out relatively obscure villains of from the MotU/PoP brand to the point we can easily end up with new stories and fresh interpretations. Imagine the possibilities. A new state of the galaxy where an empire that has controlled the galaxy for thousands of years has just been toppled. Power vacuums, humanitarian efforts to get communities and civilizations back on their feet, different factions struggling over what the new societies for the future should be. All of it can help evolve the storytelling of the franchise and give us new stuff we can work with well past this Dreamworks continuity.
Not to get everybody here reading fanfic, but I always imagined a type of MotU story where, if the rights weren’t an issue, I’d have a Dreamworks continuity that crosses over with the Kevin Smith reboot and we have Adora and Adam and all their friends combined fighting with the Gar to stop a newly resurrected Shokoti from ceasing power in the wake of Prime and Keldor’s deaths. With the ultimate message being that when the forces of fascism are done away with, they can easily spring up again and take shape. So it’s best to snip those things and get rid of them before they have a chance to arise once more.
Best friends squad road trip! Best friends squad road trip!
Please let this happen! oh please!!
There’s just no good reason to go back other than to introduce the MOTU aspect. The ending was comprehensive!
🙀 OMG PUH-LEEZE DOOOOOOO THIS and make sure it is a really good story!
I would LOVE this and keeping my fingers crossed!
Yes the ending was excellent. BUT, the development of the characters, such as She-Ra and Catra professing their love, came at the very very end. (Again, an excellent ending).
BUT it is such a profoundly new facet, ground-breaking and rare, so important for the LGBTQ+ and all SPoPs fans– in this very instance, YES I would love to see more of it.
We have not seen much of them as an actual couple at all. We have not seen how the other budding romances could go… And they just teased an epic journey. The best friends squad are such lovely characters. It would be a blast!
@cosmic I really liked the ending of the series. Nevertheless, it did offer the chance for more adventures that I think a 2 hour movie could covet. That would be cool!
I’m kinda torn on that. On one hand I appreciate and support the ground breaking and representation, but at the same time I just don’t really like the idea of Adora and Catra as a couple. Again, I’m speaking specifically about this one pairing. I support and want more LGBQT couples in media, but that doesn’t mean I have to like every shipping.
I’ll admit my main reason is as a long time fan of the original, it’s hard to wrap my head around them not being bitter enemies who hate each other. But even ignoring that I still didn’t like Catra’s character in the Netflix version. At least not in the way they intended us to. She was a decent villain, but one that I couldn’t see getting redeemed. Really for the first three seasons it felt, to me at least, that the show was building toward Adora having to accept that her former friend was beyond redemption and would never change. Their relationship seemed very toxic honestly. I actually was expecting Adora to finally realize this and give up on Catra. (and also to then hook up with Glimmer) Catra didn’t help her case any when she almost destroyed the whole world out of sheer pettiness. She had a tragic backstory yes, but that doesn’t justify her actions. She had plenty of chances to do the right thing but deliberately chose evil instead. By the time she finally decided to reform I was like, “Nope! Too late, you crossed the moral event horizon. Best you can hope for now is redemption through death."
If you want an example of a character starting out as a mean rival, then properly changing, redeeming herself, and becoming a good girlfriend to the main also female character go watch The Owl House. Amity and Luz are an adorable couple. Love that pairing. That’s a show I want to see a continuation of.
@lordofdestruction I’ve seen this argument online, but I disagree 🤷 In many cases, i find it sort of a deflecting argument, saying We don’t mind having LGBTQ+ introduction, but we want it to be done *right*. Which in many cases online is code for, We want it less. We don’t want it in this case.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. It simply has to exist, to counter the overwhelming cases where it doesn’t exist.
As for the Catra / Adora pairing, it may not work as well in other interpretations of the canon, but in this one, it was incredibly surprising and ground breaking, and it absolutely worked IMHO in *this* iteration of these characters. I was surprised, I was touched, I cheered.
I respectfully disagree with your disagreement. I concede you are correct that in many cases people online really mean they want less of it. I do however feel people have every right to be of the opinion that “This one doesn’t work" I wish there was more I could give you than my word that I am only in objection to this one particular example and not asking for less representation overall. I tried providing an example I loved, even specifically choosing one where the characters started off as rivals then turned lovers in an attempt to make it as similar as possible. I also mentioned I thought for the first few seasons that Adora was going to end up with Glimmer. I felt they had better chemistry.
Maybe that’s it. Perhaps I should have been more specific that I supported Adora and Glimmer as a couple over Adora and Catra.
I disagree that it’s enough to simply exist. It’s a good start, but quality is important. Yes it has to exist and we need more of it to exist, but simply existing isn’t enough. It needs to be normalized. It needs to be where people treat it the same as heterosexual relationships, and the reality of that is not everyone is going to think every pairing works well. We should be able to discuss whether a pairing of two girls works or not the same as discussing if a pairing of a boy and girl works or not. No suspicion of underlying bigotry, just talking about a relationship period. Yeah we have a ways to go yet before we get there, but shouldn’t we try? I wish I could put that in better words. I can see where I may not be presenting my case in a convincing way.
You say you thought Adora and Catra worked well as a couple. I say I thought they did not. We should be able to agree to disagree on that. Simply a difference of opinions. If we were talking about a guy and girl instead of two girls we likely would (or maybe not this is the internet) It should be that way for any and all.
@lordofdestruction Thank you for your further explanation, I do understand your points about this and respect you are coming from a good place.
It just makes me sad that when it comes to gay PoP, and for example black King Grayskull, the comment threads (and the overall reactions online) are usually quite long / plenty.
I would just say that some people do tend to be more critical about these sort of relationships / developments, than when it’s the old standard hetero etc etc Not you, but when I look at the quantities of criticism, particularly about this show… It’s totally over the top.
It is absolutely fair and important to look for quality, in representation and in everything, and criticism can make things better (how about they address this very thing in a new movie?), but only accept representation when it is perfectly written, then we will never get very far, in normalizing. Such high bar, while the others don’t have that bar, in order to be allowed to exist. I’m not expressing myself very well here, I’m sorry.
It’s not a level playing field, there is SO much catching up in normalizing to do. Saying we only allow the very most perfect shows when it comes to representation, you can see this is an additional hurdle, which slows down the flow of such groundbreaking content. Quality absolutely matters for LGBTQ+ versions of beloved franchises and for any new versions, but for representation, quantity does matter, too, and wether a show exists or not.
It is absolutely better to have a non-perfect show with totally groundbreaking representation, than not having it. Having an even better show, yes that would be even better! But for now, I am celebrating the show for being so courageous, so outrageous, so unlike any other MOTU/ PoP before.
I always think, on any era of our beloved franchise, “More MOTU, more better!”
In that regard, again, I respect your opinion but hope that if we ever get a SPoPs movie, you’ll check it out and be happy for the fans who love it so dearly.
The only time a large element of any fanbase has an issue with diversity or representation is when box-ticking is paramount and plot is a distant second with dialogue a wheezing third. She-Ra is a fantastic example – ‘woke’ AF but super high quality. Same with House of the Dragon. The most stringest Youtubers have never called those out and indeed actively celebrated them. And those Youtubers have millions of views each. They’re the kingmakers now, that’s just the reality. Substandard to enable representation is over. Star Wars couldn’t get arrested. Marvel is now and will be a cameo-fest (the old guard have signed multi-picture contracts and they’re gonna multiverse it to hell). Those two should have existed in perpetuity but here we are.
Activisim (or even just the perception now) without talent is beyond toxic. You eventually have to kill the host and revive the corpse once the toxicity has died down years later!
@sketchyskeletor
Hordes of trolls online descended upon SPoPs and anything that dares to have some substantial new representation, in MOTU, Star Wars, etc Skewing the perception of how this stuff was really received
Of course all in the name of “quality”. Also evident in the length of certain threads on here.
Somehow the standard for stuff with representation seems higher than for stuff without.
Me thinks if there is so much protesting about this particular “problem”, it’s never a good look.
@lordofdestruction I’m gonna go out on a bit of something here, and I don’t mean to say one’s opinion on Catra is less than another’s, but I will say this:
I think a lot of the arguments against Catra’s redemption are kind of not just missing the point on what her character represents, but a general understanding or what redemption is. The thing I love about Catra’s character and the fact she didn’t have to die is that it displays a message that abuse victims don’t have to display their trauma in a flattering way if they want to get better. I think in society there’s this image that every abuse victim is passive, meak, or defenseless like a stray puppy on the street, but plenty of people who work in departments relating to mental health will tell you a lot of children who are victims of abuse start showing traits of their abusers themselves. This is usually called the intergenerational cycle of violence. Ie when a person is abused they become more likely to become an abuser themselves when they grow up. Which means when that victim is growing up their starts to be a period in their life when the child is becoming an adult and will exhibit those same behaviors. This matches up with Catra’s character quite well, and I think a clear fact of life a lot of people either ignore or don’t want to admit is that there’s a lot of older kids and young adults like Catra. And we should recognize those people who are also abuse victims deserve a chance to get better if they can help themselves and also accept the help from others around them. A lot of child abuse victims can be angry, violent, and toxic, but it still should be good for society that if they can find a way to break that chain and get better. And they can do it without having to suffer further.
My next part is more about narrative in general, but I want to get this out there. Redemption is not something one deserves. If you ask me, if people are asking or debating on whether or not a character deserves redemption, they have completely missed the very basis of what redemption is about. Deserving redemption just means forgiveness. Redemption is a long and strenous period of mental healing with no defining flipping of the switch moment when one goes from bad to good. Redemption is earned. One of the things I love about She-Ra is how it uses its narrative to explain what redemption and mental healing means. Horde Prime is a cult leader and his belief in eugenics extends into a belief that runs counter to what Catra needs to do. He tells his disciples that those destined for greatness while others just deserve destruction, and we can tell in Corridors that she knows this belief means she would be destined for death too. But she got Glimmer out of there and did an action in the face of consequences instead of accepting an easy and empty promise of baptizing to become “perfect".
Perhaps one can argue that Catra didn’t do enough to earn redemption but…idk why we have such suddenly have such a long list that needs to be checked all of a sudden. I mean, I don’t see a whole lot of heads turning if one says Yondu wound up being a great father to Peter in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 despite the fact he was, by all means, a trafficker and treated Quill horribly a lot of his life. I don’t see a lot of outrage over the idea Vegeta was able to have a happy family with Bulma despite the fact his war crimes in his galactic conquest are higher than one can count (he eats natives then blows up their planet the first time we see him). Or hell, Anakin Skywalker? An OG redemption story in nerd culture? The dude who was by all means an enforcer of a genocidal imperialist force, cut off his own son’s hand, threatened to turn his own daughter evil, and assisted in blowing up Alderaan? And keep in mind, this is just limited to the original trilogy. Not including the stuff he does in RotS. People will say him throwing the Emperor down the shaft was good enough for him to get good and be in what is basically Jedi heaven forever. And people most would tell you you’d be silly if you told them Little Annie’s redemption was poorly written because of that. And to put the cherry ontop another big thing regarding nerd culture that came out at the end of 2018…Red Dead Redemption 2. Arthur Morgan spent a good chunk of his life robbing and killing folks in an outlaw gang, and at one point you have to control him beating and brutalizing a struggling family in order to force them to repay a debt to Strauss. And Morgan is considered by countless people to have one of the best redemption stories in al of fiction because of how he changed and got John, Abigail, Jack, and Uncle out of Dutch’s gang. People would argue Morgan dying was not his redemption. It was good ol’ Arthur adopting a new mentality and outlook on life and acting upon it that changed him as a man. And perhaps for the last bit of sprinkles on this sundae, did nobody ever ask whether or not Iroh got a customer at the Jasmine Dragon who pointed out he killed one of their family members during his Siege on Ba Sing Se?
To be perfectly clear, I’m not saying I don’t like any of these redemption arcs and hate these characters. It’s actually the opposite. I will say Anakin probably isn’t in my top five redemption stories, but I will say, my favorite redemption stories are Zuko, Catra, Yondu, Heisei Godzilla (yes, I think Godzilla had a gradual redemption arc in his second series, but that’s another story), Arthur Morgan, an Vegeta is probably there too. I’m just pointing out this sudden shift in standards when it comes to Catra. I would also argue there’s also a big underlying element about Catra’s character from all those other characters I bring up that did arguably as much horrible stuff and yet are still accepted as great redemption stories that leads to inherent bias against her. But I think when one gets past all that it’s hard to argue the only way Catra had to get good would to be to die or suffer more or that this version of the story would be good or hopeful with what they had. She saved the universe with her kiss to Adora, via saving her life to make sure the failsafe, which allowed She-Ra to destroy Horde Prime and end the war after thousands of years. There’s one comment I like to rememeber. Really, it’s Catra who saved the day.
I’m beyond happy the creators had Catra be the way she was AND have her find a way out and get a happy ending. Instead of saying she had to either die or be banished to get good. It teaches its viewers that victims of abuse don’t have to dipslay their trauma in a flattering way if they want a future where they get better. It can also be useful to young abuse victims themselves who can understand that even if what the went through makes them cruel, that doesn’t mean they deserve misery and misery only.
I’m putting below me an image I made discussing what I view as the three main redemption arcs with examples.
The-Three-Redemption-Arcs.jpg
This surprised me. I assumed this version of She-Ra had run its course.
I think the five seasons of the series are better self-contained, and would not benefit from a continuation of any kind. I would much rather finally receive seasons four and five on DVD than a new film. So long as this particular iteration of She-Ra is active at DreamWorks, we are not likely to receive other iterations, particularly a return to the vintage She-Ra. I wish they would let this version be, instead of continuing to pick at it.
It does not make much sense financially and it was never a big hit, but maybe because Stevenson had some success with Nimona and Mattel doesn’t really have a say, it might have an outside chance at a TV movie. I’d rather they go back to classic She-Ra, though.
My She-Ra will always be Melendy Britt.
1 more fun adventure!
Melendy Britt FOREVER!!! Show is not cannon or remotely accurate to anything with the Filmation She Ra , Classics figure line , Masterverse line .
He cannot unless DreamWorks allows it so I am gonna place my bets on NOT GONNA HAPPEN, especially if any of the rumors about Mattel sabotaging the launch of toys… Now that being said a person working for Mattel said Target cancelled the orders for super hero dolls since Marvel Rising failed so hard, there might actually be hope that the relations are not to bad? Small hope but still a tiny hope…
Masters of the Multiverse is Mattel, not NBCUniversal. And, if anything, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is set in a distant or alternate future. In that series, Mara precedes Adora as She-Ra, and Mara is a character from the New Adventures of He-Man, which is set in the distant future. Both iterations of She-Ra are official, the question is whether they are canon with one another, or from alternate universes.
Despara/Adora will be the antagonist of a third season of the Netflix series. If it is greenlit, then it is happening. Moreover, Mattel did not throw good money after bad, and damage its reputation with Target, to “sabotage" the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power toyline. If anything, Mattel pushed NBCUniversal to make the character designs to be more appealing as toys. The initial designs, before the involvement of Mattel, were masculine, plain, and frankly, ugly.
Also the DreamWorks designs would been much better as action figures especially season 4 Catra and season 5 She-Ra, when they realized Marvel Rising failing they should have changed strategy! However that change came WAY TO LATE and the Masterverse products released only had addons to make them more like the 2018 versions…
NBCUniversal developed She-Ra and the Princesses of Power specifically for girls, so Mattel made dolls. The fans of the series did not buy them, so Target put them on clearance before season four aired. The timeline to get products on shelves takes over a year, so there was no way to get a different toyline out before the series was over. And there was no way to get retailers to carry it, when the previous toyline is sitting on clearance shelves. Not to mention, that girls do not typically buy action figures, and there is no reason to believe they would support them, when they did not support the dolls or the roleplay items.
The toyline was a Target exclusive, and there are no Target stores outside the U.S., so it was never going to be available at retail overseas. The toyline did not perform well, languishing on shelves, before being moved to clearance. My siblings, who enjoyed the show, were able to get every item easily without resorting to the second-hand market. And again, the series was targeting girls, and market data shows that girls do not buy action figures, so an action figure line was never in the cards. I do not know why you think that would perform better with the audience that historically does not buy action figures. Especially, when they did not even buy the line that was for them. The show was well-received by its intended audience, but it was a Netflix exclusive, and did not have the broad audience or appeal of most toys are retail.
If the line performed well, then it would have continued. There are prototypes for unproduced dolls, because the line was cancelled before they could go into production.
If they were selling well, Target would have ordered more, not cancelled it.
Also Mattel added stuff from the 2018 show to the Masterverse versions so why do that if they think it sucked?
she-ra.jpg
Marvel Rising was produced by Hasbro, which is a completely different company. Target is not making decisions about what Mattel products to carry based on Hasbro sales.
Moreover, FILMation She-Ra has a red jewel in her tiara, and the vintage She-Ra toy has the same pattern engraved in her boots and gauntlets. The pauldron armor is the only thing that could reasonably be attributed to DreamWorks She-Ra.
No, it is not the mask of Catra. It is the same mask that is on the vintage and the Classics figures. The stun baton was introduced in the FILMation series, and was used by multiple people. It is obvious that you are a new fan, and are not familiar with the previous versions of the toys and shows.
Moreover, if I designed a toyline that underperformed, I would propose alternate explanations too. It does not mean it is true. What did Target have to say?
That is what the Mattel employee told people, Target stated: they cancelled all super hero dolls because of Marvel Rising
Also I have seen the 80s toy only the sides matches the old head piece for She-Ra, the Masterverse figure has the 3 upgrades from the season 5 outfit of She-Ra 100% placed there on purpose.
The stun baton was in the 80s Filmation show yes but did Catra ever use it?
An anonymous person on Twitter who claims to be a Mattel employee Tweeted it so it must be true. 🙄
The so-called “upgrades" are not unique to DreamWorks She-Ra. You are not familiar enough with the other sources to recognize the references.
Yes, Catra did use a stun baton in the FILMation series, along with numerous others. That you do not know that supports what I stated above.
You should probably watch them. The stun baton was a common weapon throughout the series. There are occasions even members of the Rebellion used them.
Meh. I’ll watch it but my man Kevin Smith better give me the She-Ra we have all been waiting for.
I’d have no issue with a movie (they still need to rescue Angela, if nothing else). As long as they came up with a good plot for it.