In superhero shows, there's such a thing as the Status Quo writing vs. Non-Status Quo writing. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was meant to be that in 1982. The sister show She-Ra: Princess of Power also followed that format. Sure, She-Ra had a prequel movie called Secret of the Sword. However, each show also ended with the Status Quo. I could miss an episode and didn't have to say, "Huh? What happened here?" The two shows had the standard formula where the recurring villains Skeletor and Hordak are usually defeated at the end of the day.
The same couldn't be said when Mike Young Productions created He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002). I remember watching the show on Cartoon Network. It had a three-part introduction unlike the original He-Man TV series. It had promising start but ultimately crashed.
He-Man's secret identity becomes a problem when you move out of Status Quo for a more serious show
The show may have failed to shuffle one thing -- the secret identity problem. He-Man (2002) had much higher stakes because it got out of the Status Quo formula that defined a lot of 1980s superhero shows. Back then, He-Man could have the running gag of being Prince Adam's secret identity, say, "I have to find He-Man!" then transforms into He-Man. There was no real consequence for Adam to hide his He-Man identity from other people. It's because it was a RUNNING GAG. It's just like Superman never gets to defeat Lex Luthor and vice versa.
The more I remember the show, the more I felt that He-Man's secret identity was already a huge failure. The reason had to be that if only the Sorceress, Man-at-Arms, and Orko KNEW his secret -- the burden continues to hurt Prince Adam. It's not like in the Super Friends or the Justice League where the superheroes know each other's secret. He-Man could've benefited from that plot. What if there were more people who knew the secret. The public doesn't know it (to avoid Skeletor from exploiting it) while people like Adam's parents, Teela, Stratos, etc. knew Adam was He-Man all along. This would help in the efficiency level.
For instance, the 2002 series could've worked with Adam becoming He-Man. Adam is allowed to tell the Masters of the Universe but NOT the public. After all, a team of superheroes usually operates with the, "We will keep each others' secret identities." Instead, the whole concept wanted to stick to the 1983 running gag WHILE putting it into the new stakes show. The alternative could've been that He-Man's friends slowly know he's actually Adam. However, I prefer to use the Super Friends formula of secret identities.
The problem of villain escalation and villain decay
Anybody who grew up watching He-Man and She-Ra would know how the running gag goes. Skeletor was the overachieving student at the Horde Academy of Evil. The prequel movie Secret of the Sword showed that Skeletor was once a member of the Horde, stole away the secrets, and became his own villain at Eternia. Skeletor even seized Snake Mountain -- a place that the Horde took over at some point. Hordak was potentially better than Skeletor but becomes a running gag of the teacher who was outsmarted by his student. The two were known for their constant rivalry. Hordak was also revealed to be the subordinate of his rather lazy big brother (literally) in Horde Prime. Horde Prime barely does anything yet demands Hordak to DO SOMETHING.
The 2002 series created a Skeletor that was at first, quite dangerous. Perhaps too dangerous. I still feel that Skeletor was based on Comics Thulsa Doom. The guy had some stake victories early on such as the Council of Evil. Skeletor's only defeat was usually because he got overconfident when he's about to win. You can't deny that Skeletor in 2002 was a potential greater nihilist than the 1983 version. However, he got nerfed down not once BUT TWICE in his entire career in the show.
He-Man (2002) also presented another villain known as King Hiss. King Hiss might remind some who watched Conan the Adventurer of Wrath-Amon or Thoth-Amon form the Conan the Barbarian franchise. The show created King Hiss to "increase the stakes". King Hiss was a post-animation villain comic book character. It was already stupid enough when Evil Lyn freed him. That was a very OOC move even if Evil Lyn had a stressful relationship with Skeletor. Skeletor got nerfed and the next season became focused on He-Man defeating the Snakemen. King Hiss was smart but perhaps TOO SMART. King Hiss became a Gary Stu. An ancient evil, no matter how powerful, would probably still suffer from cognitive dissonance in a newer, modern world. this villain became too powerful if you ask me.
What didn't help was when Hordak was slowly introduced. Hordak had a flashback cameo in an episode where He-Man had to stop the Spell of Separation. Hordak was turned into a powerful, Kulan Gath-style type of sorcerer. Hordak was locked away in Despondos. Hordak was also the one who turned Keldor into Skeletor. However, the momentum was ruined. First, Skeletor decided to destroy Hordak's sanctuary. Another episode had it where Evil Lyn and Count Marzo attempted to free him. The plot where Evil Lyn tried to free him makes poor character development. Why would Evil Lyn wnat to free someone even more dangerous than King Hiss, after her experience with King Hiss? He was just another sealed evil in a can -- one that sadly never got out as intended for the series.
IMHO, I felt that turning King Hiss and Hordak into Sealed Evil in a Can type villains was narrative rot. I would've probably still kept Hordak stuck in Despondos. However, Skeletor should also be beefed up to meet the threat. Hordak doesn't ask Skeletor to free him or require Evil Lyn. Instead, Hordak manages to escape Despondos on his own OR because King Hiss' awakening broke his seal. Hordak enters Eternia by Season 3. However, since Etheria never existed, then I guess She-Ra never existed or was never meant to exist in the 2002 series either.
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Either way, I feel like the 2002 series wasn't worth my rewatch. However, it can be a lesson on what NOT TO DO with a reboot.
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