Nicholas Galitzine is about to enter his muscle era as He-Man in Amazon’s Masters of the Universe.
The upcoming film adaptation will be directed by Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings, Bumblebee) and is due for release on 5 June 2026.
He-Man is the protagonist of Masters of the Universe franchise, which follows the muscled Mattel superhero, the alter-ego of Prince Adam of Eternia and most powerful man in the universe, as he defends his home planet and the secrets of Castle Grayskull from his nemesis Skeletor.
The character has appeared in animated form in several series and films, namely the 80s series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and 1985 film He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword.
A live-action film starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man, released in 1987, was a critical and commercial failure, but has since developed a passionate cult following.
Although He-Man isn’t canonically gay, his homoerotic uniform, relationship with Man-at-Arms and lack of interest in women has resulted in the character being hailed as a gay icon.
Additionally, his double life as both He-Man and Prince Adam has been noted as an allegory for coming out, with the former representing someone who’s out-and-proud and the latter as closeted.
The new live-action adaptation will mark the fourth collaboration between Galitzine and Amazon following Cinderella (2020), Red, White & Royal Blue (2023) and The Idea of You (2024).
The British actor has become one of the most notable faces in queer storytelling over the past decade, boasting five gay/bisexual roles to date.
Galitzine’s first-ever queer performance was in TNT’s short-lived crime drama Legends (2015), which was later followed by his semi-breakout role as Connor Masters, a closeted rugby player, in Handsome Devil (2016), and as a bisexual bully in The Craft: Legacy (2020).
He found further mainstream success as Prince Henry in Red, White & Royal Blue, and as a queer king-fucker in Sky Atlantic’s raunchy period miniseries Mary & George.
Galitzine, who is straight, recently expressed “guilt” over taking on queer roles.
In an interview with British GQ, the star was asked if he’s had to combat “people conflating him with his characters”, to which he responded “I think I have” and “I am Nick, and I’m not my role”.
“I identify as a straight man, but I have been a part of some incredible queer stories,” he went on to say.
“I felt a sense of uncertainty sometimes about whether I’m taking up someone’s space, and perhaps guilt. At the same time, I see those characters as not solely their sexuality.”
It’s not the first time Galitzine has commented on his affinity for queer roles. Speaking with HuffPost UK earlier this year, he explained that his attraction to queer characters stems from his intrigue in “that underbelly of vulnerability and having to hide oneself”.
“I’m very interested in identity,” he said. “I think they’ve all just been really rich characters in of themselves.”
We recently did some extremely important, hard-hitting journalism and ranked all five of Galitzine’s queer roles form worst to best – visit here to see whether we placed Angelo, Connor, Timmy, Henry or George in the pole position.
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