James Purefoy And Charlotte Riley Ascend To Throne Of Eternia For 'Masters Of The Universe'
Glory to the new cast king and queen
The power is officially on at Castle Grayskull. English actors James Purefoy and Charlotte Riley have been cast as Eternia’s King Randor and Queen Marlena in Amazon MGM’s live-action Masters of the Universe movie. They are the parents of Prince Adam, who takes on the hero form of He-Man, and in the long-running franchise’s original continuity, Adora, Adam’s twin sister better known as She-Ra, thus her being Princess of Power.
In the original toys and Filmation series, Marlena is more aware that her son is He-Man than Randor is, letting him believe that their son is lazy and shirking responsibilities. Randor only learning the truth after Adam/He-Man sacrifices himself is one of the revelations the 2021 continuation Masters of the Universe: Revelation is about, though the focus does become on Teela’s coping with such. She-Ra isn’t even the only lost relative of the royal family, as He-Man’s arch-nemesis Skeletor is Randor’s (usually-)half-brother named Keldor. They’re usually on their royal duties but the original series did have an episode exploring their younger days and falling in love. They were voiced in the original series by Linda Gary and Lou Scheimer, and in Revelation by Alicia Silverstone and Diedrich Bader. Nicholas Galitzine takes on the roles of Prince Adam and He-Man for the new movie, while Jared Leto will be Skeletor. The film’s new plot details continue to be kept private.
Purefoy is a veteran English actor best known for his roles as Mark Antony in HBO’s Rome, as college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in Fox’s The Following opposite Kevin Bacon, as well as Captain Gulliver "Gully" Troy/Captain Blighty on the latter two seasons of Pennyworth. His recent roles include recurring as Oliver Bonner-Jones on the just-released second season of Netflix’s The Recruit, starring Noah Centineo, who had been cast as He-Man in an earlier stage of this film’s development, and starring as Rick Eden in Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie. Riley has appeared in London Has Fallen, Edge of Tomorrow, and Peaky Blinders and will next be seen starring in Stefan Golaszewski’s BBC drama series Babies. She’s also Tom Hardy’s wife, having met filming ITV’s 2009 adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
Masters of the Universe also stars Camila Mendes as Teela, Morena Baccarin as her mother the Sorceress, guardian of the castle, Alison Brie as Skeletor’s top underling Evil-Lyn, Idris Elba as Duncan, the royal family’s Man-At-Arms, Sam C. Wilson, Hafthor Bjornsson, and Kojo Attah as Trap Jaw, Goat Man and Tri-Klops, Skeletor’s henchmen, and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as the metal-armed ally Fisto. Laika founder and Kubo and the Two Strings director Travis Knight directs from a screenplay by Chris Butler, following initial drafts written by David Callaham, and brothers Aaron and Adam Nee. Escape Artists and Mattel Films are producing. It is set to be released in theaters globally on June 5, 2026.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter