WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Season 1 of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, now streaming on Netflix.
Netflix's rebooted He-Man and the Masters of the Universe feels like a fresh take on the mythos, focusing on Prince Adam and a pack of teens saving Eternia and unlock their destinies thanks to the Sword of Power. Apart from a totally new narrative, the animation is different, evoking The Incredibles and the CGI Star Wars era. Reconciling all this, as Season 1 progresses, it becomes clear this new series is the perfect template for a fighting game.
This game wouldn't be gory like Mortal Kombat or brutal as Street Fighter or Tekken, but as much as this show is for kids, its fight sequences really feel like something straight out of a video game. Plus, in this day and age, it would easily be able to reach its young audience on consoles and mobile.
First, when Adam gets the Power of Grayskull, he shares it with his friends, turning Krass into Ram Ma'am, Cringer into Battle Cat, Teela into Sorceress and Duncan into Man-at-Arms. Skeletor does the same to his minions, using Havoc to level up Kronis into Trap Jaw, Evelyn into Evil Lyn and Beast Man into a more feral form.
The characters' transformations and special moves look like something out of a video game cutscene or a super-attack. With their insignia in the backgrounds, they also have special names for their moves. He-Man channels lighting and quakes like Thor in "Lightning Strike," with Skeletor using his staff for energy blasts and to make himself into a torpedo via "Havoc Strike." He's also got mystical chains and tons of tricks with his weapon, enslaving people and such.
Ram Ma'am pings around like a rampaging ball, using mystical ropes to slingshot herself into opponents while Battle Cat can shoot wheels of energy out. Duncan can alter terrain with his scepter, create prisons or shields via "Speed Build," while Trap Jaw can consume these obstacles with "Mecha Maw" and alter his handgun to become a bigger blaster. Beast Man uses his fire whips and "Necro Echo" to summon dead creatures he's killed as well -- the fight aesthetic is all there. The heroes and villains also team up for combo moves, which means a game can explore team-mode à la Marvel vs. Capcom or Naruto.
Teela has her wand to generate energy blasts via "Wings of Zoar." She can also teleport, something Evil-Lyn can do too with her "Wings of Horakoth" from the dark dimension. This opens up the possibility of other characters joining this hypothetical game. Teela summons a falcon and Evil-Lyn a bat, which is fodder for other dimensions, timelines and warriors such as Hordak, He-Ro and even Grayskull himself to enter the fray, making the game a true extension of the show.
There's potential for treasure hunts too, which the show sets up with its relics, and a story mode that organically interlocks into the battles, similar to what MKX and MK11 have done. Side-missions could play an integral part, as there are poacher drones hunting mystical creatures for gladiator pits and Randor's Red Legion going after insurrectionists. This allows journeys to be told between seasons or episodes, with of course, downloadable content, season passes, expansion packs and other subscription-based elements available as the show progresses.
There are just so many rich stories to detail, diving into characters' pasts and whatnot, which would complement and help craft more compelling journeys for the heroes and villains. What's even more intriguing are the stages -- Snake Mountain with its green evil lava pits, Sorceress' derelict castle, Eternos' courtyard and other areas of the kingdom -- Tiger Tribe's forest and such can evoke what MK did with Outworld, the Pit and the Living Forest, turning the locations into characters of sorts.
The show already paints cities as a tech-magical blend with a neo-Steampunk aesthetic, so seeing characters using their specials or combining for new power moves (as the finale showed when He-Man's sword went from a cutter to a shield to a bat to slap Krass around like a pinball), really would match the story. After all, it's just as much about the power within the heroes as it is their badass ever-evolving weapons. There's immense potential in integrating one-on-one fights with adventures homaging old side-scrollers that fit perfectly into the modern fighting game model.
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