Teela has been confirmed to be a featured character in the live-action cinematic reboot of ‘Masters of the Universe’. This should come as no surprise, as Teela was one of the most prominent characters in the original toy line and cartoon series. Chelsea Field played the part in the 1987 live action film.
In an Instagram post that has since been deleted, Phantom Four, David S.Goyer‘s production company, posted a piece of concept art labeled “Teela’s Battle Suit.” Luckily, someone had the foresight to take a screen cap.
The suit looks more like something out of ‘HALO’ or another science fiction movie or video game. This may disappoint some, as ‘Masters of the Universe’ was always a fusion of sci-fi and fantasy, with a heavy emphasis on fantasy, that that found in the art of Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. The battle suit shown is very high-tech and futuristic. There are no barbarian-type influences.
The ‘Masters of the Universe’ concept changed and evolved over time, though. In the earliest comic books that came packaged with the action figures, Teela was a warrior goddess (originally colored all green) who gave the neanderthal-like He-Man his mystic weaponry. The Teela action figure included a cobra-shaped breast-plate and a cobra-headed staff– which were more in keeping with her depictions as a mystical figure. But the more familiar version of the character, as depicted in the animated series, was that of the captain of the royal guard. She did not wear the cobra breastplate or use the staff or any mystic or ancient weaponry, preferring either hand-held ray guns or beams fired from her wrist gauntlets.
Eventually, it was revealed that Teela was the daughter of the Sorceress of Castle Greyskull, who was raised by Man-At-Arms, the captain of the royal guard before turning the position over to his daughter when she came of age. Teela was tasked with training the King’s lackadaisical and cowardly son, Prince Adam, never realizing that he was secretly the hero He-Man.
Since the Teela most are familiar with did tend to favor high-tech over magic, the battle suit shown could be seen as more in keeping with that depiction. Or it may be a disturbing indication that the movie is going more heavily in the science fiction direction and negating the fantasy. It remains to be seen.
David S. Goyer is writing and directing this reboot, which is due to hit theaters on December 18, 2019. Upon last report, production was due to begin in April.
What are your thoughts so far?
