I’ve always had a great affinity for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Now, I dunno what liking a musclebound strong-man in a loincloth says about me (I don’t really care), but I’m a He-raver through and through.  I’ve enjoyed watching that pink-shirt-wearing-prince, with that fabulous secret, transform into “the most powerful man in the universe” since I was a kid.

Homoerotic undertones be damned, He-Man was a great sword and sandals type fantasy! What kid doesn’t fantasy about being hit with some puberty lighting and morph into one bad-ass barbarian dude?  I loved the shit out of the original 80′s cartoon, and the revived, but failed relaunch in 2002. I even have all the toys from the original line including the new collector series offered by Mattel’s subscription service. I’ll tell you this, to establish and qualify myself as a He-Man aficionado. I’m someone that can confidently and competently discuss the new comic series offered by DC, and the ridiculous new re-design.

Admittedly, the classic look of He-Man made him look like a gay-bondage wet-dream. At-least, that’s what I assume the male BDSM community fantasies about; I’m not speaking from experience, clearly. Still, the loin cloth, fur boots, cross armor and bulging muscles did play to the idealistic view of ones self. Again, who doesn’t dream of looking like bad-ass barbarian? Anyway, this look has stayed with He-Man since his inception. A few tweaks here and there through out each iteration (minus the “New Adventure” series, which we won’t talk about), but he has remained identifiable the same.  Unfortunately, DC Comics has redesigned the character…drastically.

DC Comics has released the cover for issue #4 of Keith Giffen and Pop Mhan’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and it features a very different looking He-Man. See below:

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Many of us have some fond memories we carry with us regarding He-Man and the Master of the Universe.  Back in the 80s, we were bombarded by cartoons and toys and if you were like me at all you had an extensive collection of He-Man action figures (including the Castle Greyskull playset, bitches!).  But there hasn’t been a decent movie of the childhood franchise since way back in 1987.  Oh wait… Correction – there was never a decent He-Man movie.  But it does look like Jon Chu, director of the latest G.I. Joe flick will be trying to change all that by going on to direct a new incarnation of this property.

While chatting about his involvement with the new Masters of the Universe undertaking, Chu had a few things to say:

We’re still early but we’re deep in experimenting. This is the most fun phase for me because we get to try everything we’ve ever wanted to try in [Masters of the Universe] and then we get to throw out all the things that don’t work, which is most of it. [This allows us to know] what our tone is, where we’re going to head with it and it’s a very important phase because it shows [us] the direction we’re going to go in the future. So we’re very early, we don’t know a lot yet other than that we’re playing around and having a lot of fun.

So it looks like there’s no real news to speak of as of yet.  They’re just playing with concepts, but it does seem as if the movie is being taken seriously as far as putting it into development goes.

The new project will feature a script by Alex Litvak and Mike Finch (Predators), which doesn’t exactly scream quality.  Furthermore, Chu’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation is not getting the best reviews currently, despite the fact that it is raking in some cash.  All-in-all, I’m not too optimistic.

What do our lovely and barely-clothed Nerd Readers have to say about all this?  Do you think that this crew is worthy to tackle our childhood memories?  Or should Chu and company just retire and save everyone a whole mess of grief?

Thanks to ComicBookMovie for the heads-up.

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With G.I. Joe: Retaliation finally about to make it’s big screen bow, director Jon M. Chu can focus on bringing other 80s properties to a theater near you. Like He-Man. Chu’s name has long been attached to a Masters of the Universe remake, but could there be room for an appearance or cameo from the star of the first Masters movie, Dolph Lundgren? Chu seems to think so.

“I don’t know if Dolph Lundgren is around or what he’s doing but, yeah, I think that could be some fun if we could find a way. I hope he still has the loin cloth and the long hair and everything,” said Chu.

We’ll chalk up Chu’s busy schedule as the reason why he might have not seen either The Expendables 1 or The Expendables 2, or the episode of Chuck Lundgren guest starred in, or any one of the half dozen flicks the actor has made in the last couple of years… Not an auspicious start if you want a Lundgren appearance in your film.

In the meantime, we know that Chu is very enthusiastic project. “I had no idea what to expect but it was such a fresh, UNEXPECTED approach I was immediately intrigued,” Chu said in another interview. “I never expected to connect on a human level to a MOTU movie but I really plugged in emotionally.”

That’s a lofty claim for a movie about He-Man. I guess we’ll find out if the film ever gets off the ground.

More news as it develops.

Source: Geek Tyrant

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Each and every week we scour the Internet for nothing but the best in nerdy art. We leave no digital stone unturned, we poke and prod every nook and cranny of the Interwebz. Why? Because we love you, and we love to bring you weekly feed of nerd art.

On with the dump!

ABOVE: Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning -and he’s taking it out on everyone. Just one of many “Hulk smash everybody!” pieces from Darren Rawlings has the gamma powered beast taking his rage out on everyone he can get his hands on. Guess this is what happens when you’re “always angry”. [Lado Inverso]

Hit the jump for Flash Gordon, the saints of pop culture and more!
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Nerd action figure enthusiasts, like myself, are privileged to buy just about every pop culture character that ever was/is. Seriously, pretty much every iconic character from film, TV, video games and more have spawned little plastic figures honoring their image. I’m not complaining. No, I’m thrilled! I am, though, running out of shelf space. That, and my wallet and fiancee are not so understanding.

Money, storage and g/f problems be damned, because, thanks to the New York International Toy Fair (which happened this weekend), 2013  is looking like another killer year for plastics.

Toy Fair 2013 showcased all types of toys to choose from, classic toys from yesteryear, new movie tie-in toys, and toys for all ages, brought forth from the wacky minds of the toy masters at Mattel, Lego, Hasbro and many, many more. These are the products that will be hitting store shelves everywhere all year long that may flop, or become the hottest must have toy for Christmas.

Thanks to internet leaks, and work from other bloggers, we’ve rounded up the biggest and the best.

Take a stroll through the New York Toy Fair courtesy of NerdBastards “Gallery of Toys” and get your second hand look at NECA‘s Kick-Ass 2, and Lone Ranger line. Hasbro’s Star Wars, G.I. Joe:  Retaliation and Transformers, Marvel Legends/Avengers figures. Mattel‘s Masters of the Universe, DC Unlimited, Classics TV Batman, and Watchmen collections. DC Collectibles Man of Steel and, much, much more!

Check out the massive (90) picture gallery below and let your fellow NerdBastards know which are keepers and which will clutter store shelves until their thrown into the 50% off bin in the comments section below.

Note: Release dates and other deets are not provided. Please see our sources (ToyArk, ToyNewsi, ComingSoon) for more information.

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Each and every week we scour the Internet for nothing but the best in nerdy art. We leave no digital stone unturned, we poke and prod every nook and cranny of the Interwebz. Why? Because we love you, and we love to bring you weekly feed of nerd art.

On with the dump!

ABOVE: Even though J.J. Abrams is now working on both the Star Wars and Star Trek it was the genius of Robert Shane to combine the two into one cool mash-up piece. Han really knows how to get the girl, even if can’t speak Klingon at least he knows how to speak blaster. Check out the link for the alternate Captain Kirk/Princess Leia design. [Geek Tyrant]

Hit the jump for Barbarella, Pikachus and a Mouse Guard.
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So, uh, who’s excited about a Masters of the Universe movie? And I don’t mean the 1987, Dolph Lundgren-starring version by Gary Goddard.

Well let me introduce you to Jon Chu, director of a couple of Step Up movies, the Justin Bieber doc, and the stalled G.I. Joe sequel Retaliation. He’s the one who’s been put in charge of crafting a He-Man movie that isn’t going to suck and accumulate kitsch points over the next couple of decades. While talking to Celebuzz, Chu discussed his reasons for signing on to make a He-Man movie, and the surprising reaction he had to the pitch:

I was approached about doing a Masters of the Universe movie and while at first I was skeptical, I read the script and I was blown away. I had no idea what to expect but it was such a fresh, UNEXPECTED approach I was immediately intrigued. I never expected to connect on a human level to a MOTU movie but I really plugged in emotionally. That alone, got me excited to see what we could do with the property.

I take it that Chu meant a deeper emotional reaction than, “The is awesome!” Or maybe that is what he meant, except that he added, “I think the characters are so grounded and layered.”  Wait, is he talking about He-Man?

I feel like there’s a lot of room to crack open the Masters of the Universe story. We are still in our process and I think we have some great seeds planted but making one of these types of movies RIGHT takes a lot of TONAL tightroping so we’re just going to play for the next several months. Play with designs, play with the characters, try new things, maybe go too far on some things and pull back. The process is really important to find where the right line is so we can land right on it. I think that’s what can dig out the properties full potential for a cinematic rebirth.

Of course, the last time somebody played with the characters and tried new things, we had a He-Man movie set on Earth, a couple of teenage sidekicks and Billy Barty as Orco sub Gwildor. Your move, Chu.

Source: /Film

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Every day the internet produces an astounding amount of goodies and gems. Most hilarious, some amusing, but all worth at least a few seconds of your time. We here at Nerd Bastards try to bring you the best bits of news and nerdery the webz has to offer, with a bit of snark thrown in. But sometimes not everything makes the cut. Monday through Friday we’ll be bringing you our inbox leftovers, our forgotten bookmarks, the nerdy bits that simply slipped through the cracks. You can submit items to Nerdy Bits by emailing us at nerdybits@nerdbastards.com.

ABOVE:  Where is the line between being cute/playful and official creeper status? In the case of interacting with sexy female Cosplays, that can difficult to determine. Regardless, there should always be a level of common sense and decency. NYC-based freelance fashion and costume designer and illustrator Mandy Caruso tells us when too far is too far and when guys need to “stop talking”. She attended New York Comic Con last weekend as Black Cat and had, well,  a rather uncomfortable experience with a insensitive interviewer. Read her comments via the link. [GeeksAreSexy]

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Our New York Comic Con coverage isn’t nearly at an end — we’ve still got Jason Tabrys’ con diary, our exclusive interviews with Mad editor John Ficarra, Angel & Faith artist Rebekah Isaacs, our roundtable interviews with Kevin Smith, Walt Flanagan, and Stan Lee, our look at Epic Mickey 2, and more — but the con itself has come to a close. The Jacob Javitz Center in Manhattan catered to an estimated 115,000 cosplayers and fans, Nathan Fillion teleported from a conference call, Norman Reedus allegedly shouted at people from on top of an RV, and a grand time was had by all.

Right now, all of those fans are at home or on their way. Their spandex is hung in their closets, and our reporters are drinking copious amounts of vodka to stave off an attack of the con-flu. For you, though, we have the final round of pics from the floor of NYCC. Want more toys? How about most of the toys displayed at the Mattel booth? Want more cosplay? Fine! Here! As the con comes to an end, we hope you’ve enjoyed our coverage as much as we’ve enjoyed providing it and we hope you’re psyched about the rest of the cool stuff we’ll be delivering to you in the next couple of days.

Pics by: Shelly V.

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Sony Pictures has brought screen writer Richard Wenk (16 Blocks, The Mechanic) on board to take a crack at reworking the initial He-Man script entitled Greyskull (Written by Alex Litvak and Mike Finch).

Based on the popular Mattel toy line, Greyskull story line was reported to follow a young prince named Adam, who becomes a warrior and sets out to defeat the evil Skeletor and fulfill his destiny as He-Man.

Let’s all hope that this isn’t another Conan like reboot. I don’t know if my inner child can take another one of those kinds of disappointment.

It’s usually a long way from getting the script ready to actual casting, but we can speculate to our hearts content. Who do you want to see in the title roles of He-Man and Skeletor? Cast the movie in the comments section below.

Via: Varity

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