Written by To report or not report.
Back in May we reported on an interesting rumor alleging that actor Sacha Baron Cohen had been cast as Skeletor in the new live-action “Masters of the Universe” movie from Amazon MGM and Mattel Films.
Well now, we have another Skeletor casting rumor to report on. According to Comic Book Resources (cbr.com), actor Jared Leto (Suicide Squad, Morbius) was offered the role of the Lord of Destruction, Skeletor!
Here is their report:
“Masters of the Universe may have found its Skeletor. The cast for the upcoming reboot of the beloved Mattel franchise continues to come together, with an Oscar winner now being eyed for the main villain role.
“According to The InSneider, Amazon has offered Jared Leto the role of Skeletor in Masters of the Universe. The main antagonist of the Masters of the Universe franchise, Skeletor is usually depicted as a skull-faced, blue-skinned sorcerer who is determined to discover the secrets of Castle Grayskull, as he believes this will allow him to conquer not only Eternia but the entire universe. Skeletor was previously portrayed by Academy Award-nominated actor Frank Langella in the 1987 Masters of the Universe film.”
-CBR.com
We will (of course) keep an eye on this development, but for now, please only treat this as an interesting rumor and take it with a grain of salt.
The new Amazon MGM and Mattel Films ”Masters of the Universe” movie is slated for a June 5th 2026 theatrical release date. We’ll see you next time.
Oh hell no! He was a terrible Joker, don’t let him ruin another iconic villain!
Everyone shits on this guy but I see Leto as a damn good actor who has been in too many horrible movies. I would like to see his Skeletor. Come at me.
I agree that Leto was probably the worst Joker ever and that’s only partially the script his off camera behavior at the time that he wrote off as “method acting" did not help matters. Morbius- that was the script.
However, check him out as the Hatbox Ghost in last year’s Haunted Mansion movie. That was a good performance of a creepy villain. If he were to portray Skeletor along those lines, yeah that could work.
@lordofdestruction worst joker ever is an understatement. He was so bad it made me want to quit acting and I’m not an actor
@brasco I feel Leto has been unfairly blamed for that emo style Joker. Remember it was the director’s vision to fill his mouth full of metal and place a damaged tattoo on his forehead.
My first reaction wasn’t so good but maybe he would be okay as a walking skull face bad guy.
NOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo! He’s hot but a terrible actor!
Please mark me down as a no thank you in regards to this rumor simply because Jared is in the next Tron movie. Tron is another favourite franchise of mine which would mean too many things I love would have Jared over the title.
Hell no.
Meh. Skeletor requires an actor with gravitas.
I have held off on posting on this to align my thoughts with reality they may be going for. And I humbly and proudly say, no.
What happened to Borat? Or was everyone guessing he was gonna be Skeletor, but will be another character?
@banthafett it was just a rumor, who knows. Honestly, it’s rather him than Leto
Might be a hot take, but I think he has the potential to excel in the role. I thought he did a brilliant job with his role in Bladerunner 2049. He was cold, ruthless and owned the screen when he was on it. Regardless, I still fail to see how they can do Skeletor without a muscle suit or without making him a full CGI character. They really should’ve went the route of the new animated Transformers movie (still upset that they did Cullen dirty with it though). MOTU is NOT a property that can be translated well into live action. Its not like Conan or Game of Thrones. The world and characters are all very fantastic. The world is too high-fantasy to come across well in live action.