MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ADJACENT
A Dark Comedy Series
Based on original concepts inspired by He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
COLD OPEN
FADE IN:
EXT. CASTLE GRAYSKULL â DAWN
A fortress shaped like a giant skull looms against a bruised purple sky. Lightning crackles. It is objectively, aggressively phallic in about seventeen different ways that nobody has ever officially acknowledged.
A TITLE CARD appears:
“ETERNIA. A MAGICAL REALM OF SWORDS, SORCERY, AND CATASTROPHICALLY UNRESOLVED PERSONAL ISSUES.”
INT. CASTLE GRAYSKULL â THRONE ROOM â CONTINUOUS
Torches. Bones. Mystical tapestries depicting battles that look surprisingly homoerotic. THE SORCERESS, 40s, a woman in an elaborate falcon headdress, sits on a throne eating what appears to be a breakfast burrito. She’s reading a scroll. She looks tired in the way that only someone who has been guarding ancient secrets for twenty years can look tired.
SORCERESS (to herself, reading) “…and the champion shall rise when darkness threatens the realm, and he shall hold aloft his magic sword andâ”
She stops. Looks at the scroll. Looks away. Looks back.
SORCERESS (CONT’D) I wrote this. I literally wrote this. Why does it still make me uncomfortable?
A BIRD â her familiar, a large falcon named ZOAR â lands on her shoulder.
SORCERESS (CONT’D) Don’t look at me like that.
The bird looks at her like that.
SORCERESS (CONT’D) He’s the chosen one. The prophecy is the prophecy. I don’t make the rules.
Beat.
SORCERESS (CONT’D) I make some of the rules. I made that rule. That’s not the point.
A MAGICAL ALARM â a glowing crystal ball â begins flashing red. The Sorceress sighs with the bone-deep weariness of someone whose alarm has gone off on a Monday.
SORCERESS (CONT’D) (answering it like a phone) Castle Grayskull, this is the Sorceress, please holdâ
EXT. ETERNIA â THE ROYAL PALACE â SIMULTANEOUSLY
A gleaming white palace. Banners. Marble. A GUARD in ornate armor stands at the gate, sweating in the early morning heat.
PRINCE ADAM, 24, emerges from the palace wearing â and this is important â a pink vest, lavender tights, and white boots. He has the physique of someone who has been going to the gym since he was twelve but pretends he hasn’t. He is almost aggressively, suspiciously beautiful. He is eating an apple.
PRINCE ADAM (to the guard, cheerfully) Morning, Gerald.
GERALD THE GUARD (staring straight ahead) Your Highness.
PRINCE ADAM Beautiful day.
GERALD THE GUARD Yes, Your Highness.
PRINCE ADAM (gesturing at his outfit) New vest. Mother picked it out.
GERALD THE GUARD (a flicker of something) Very… vibrant, Your Highness.
Adam beams and strolls past. Gerald watches him go. Gerald’s face is a masterclass in an emotion he cannot name.
A TIGER â CRINGER, a large green-and-yellow tiger â trots up next to Adam, looking neurotic.
CRINGER (in a small, anxious voice) Adam, your father’s been asking where you were last night again.
PRINCE ADAM I was at the Sorceress’s.
CRINGER He doesn’t know about the Sorceress.
PRINCE ADAM He doesn’t know about a lot of things.
CRINGER Adamâ
PRINCE ADAM Cringer. Buddy. Relax.
CRINGER I am a tiger who can talk and I am telling you: I am never relaxed.
Adam laughs. It’s a good laugh. Warm. He ruffles Cringer’s ears.
Then his eyes go to the horizon. A DARK CLOUD â unnatural, wrong, purple-black â is rolling across the sky from the direction of Snake Mountain.
Adam’s face changes. Something else lives behind those eyes.
PRINCE ADAM (quietly) There it is.
SMASH CUT TO:
TITLE CARD:
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ADJACENT
The title card is immediately struck by a bolt of lightning and replaced with a slightly more tasteful version.
ACT ONE
INT. SNAKE MOUNTAIN â SKELETOR’S THRONE ROOM â MORNING
Snake Mountain is exactly what it sounds like. Inside, it’s all volcanic rock, purple fire, and the kind of interior decorating that says “I made some choices in my twenties and I’m committed to them.”
SKELETOR, 45, sits on a throne. He has a blue body, a skull for a face, and the energy of a middle manager who has read too many leadership books. He is wearing a purple hood and holding a ram’s head staff. He is also, currently, on what appears to be a magical equivalent of a conference call â several glowing orbs float around him, each containing a henchman’s face.
SKELETOR Okay, so just to recap the action items from last week: Evil-Lyn, you were supposed to acquire the Mystic Comet Fragmentâ
EVIL-LYN (in orb) I acquired half of it.
SKELETOR Half.
EVIL-LYN The other half fell into a volcano.
SKELETOR Evil-Lyn.
EVIL-LYN It was a very sudden volcano.
SKELETOR (to another orb) Beast Man. The patrol of the Vine Jungle?
BEAST MAN (in orb) I patrolled it.
SKELETOR And?
BEAST MAN It’s still there.
SKELETOR Did anything HAPPEN?
BEAST MAN I saw a really big snake.
SKELETOR (long pause) We live in Snake Mountain.
BEAST MAN This one was bigger.
Skeletor closes his eyes. When he opens them, there is a very specific kind of pain in them. The pain of a man who knows he is surrounded by idiots and has only himself to blame.
SKELETOR Fine. New plan. Today we’re going toâ
EVIL-LYN bursts through the physical door, not the orb. The orb version of her winks out.
EVIL-LYN (breathless, actual Evil-Lyn, 38, sharp cheekbones, pointed hat, the energy of someone who is absolutely the most competent person in any room and has been overlooked for promotion her entire career) The Dark Cloud Generator is ready.
SKELETOR (genuinely brightening) It worked?
EVIL-LYN It worked. Sort of.
SKELETOR Sort of.
EVIL-LYN It generates dark clouds. Very effectively. The dark clouds then… hang there.
SKELETOR And?
EVIL-LYN That’s it. They hang there. Menacingly.
Beat.
SKELETOR That’s notâthat’s not a weapon, Evil-Lyn. That’s weather.
EVIL-LYN It’s OMINOUS weather.
SKELETOR (standing, sweeping dramatically to the window) I want Castle Grayskull. I want its secrets. I want the power of the universe in my hands. I have been trying to achieve this for FIFTEEN YEARS and you’re bringing me CLOUDS?
EVIL-LYN (under her breath) To be fair, the clouds were YOUR idea.
SKELETOR WHAT?
EVIL-LYN (louder, brightly) The clouds look great! Very on-brand!
Skeletor turns back to the window. He stares at his dark clouds. They do look pretty good, actually.
SKELETOR (quietly, almost to himself) I just want one thing to go right. One. Single. Thing.
A long beat. Evil-Lyn watches him. Something complicated moves across her face â not sympathy, exactly. More like the recognition of a shared wound.
EVIL-LYN (carefully) The clouds did scare three goats.
SKELETOR (a tiny, involuntary sound that might be a laugh) …Goats.
EVIL-LYN Very frightened goats.
Another beat. The skull face makes expression hard to read, but something softens.
SKELETOR Get me the capture drones. We’re going to Grayskull.
EVIL-LYN We’ve tried that fourteen times.
SKELETOR Fifteen’s the charm.
EVIL-LYN That’s not a saying.
SKELETOR (already sweeping out) It is now.
INT. ROYAL PALACE â KING RANDOR’S STUDY â MORNING
KING RANDOR, 55, sits behind an enormous desk buried under scrolls and maps. He has a mustache that has its own gravitational field. He radiates the exhausted authority of a man who has been in charge for too long and knows it.
Adam stands before him. Cringer sits in the corner, pretending to be a normal, non-talking tiger.
KING RANDOR Where were you last night?
PRINCE ADAM I wasâout. Riding.
KING RANDOR Riding.
PRINCE ADAM I like to ride at night. The stars. The fresh air. It’s veryâ
KING RANDOR Adam.
PRINCE ADAM Father.
KING RANDOR You are twenty-four years old. You are the Crown Prince of Eternia. You have the physical gifts of a god and the work ethic of aâ
He gestures at Cringer.
KING RANDOR (CONT’D) …of a large decorative cat.
Cringer makes a small, wounded sound.
KING RANDOR (CONT’D) The kingdom needs you. I need you. Your mother is hosting the Annual Summit of Allied Realms next WEEK and you can’t even be present for morning councilâ
PRINCE ADAM I was there for morning council.
KING RANDOR You were asleep in your chair with your eyes open. Gerald told me. He was concerned.
PRINCE ADAM Gerald talks too much.
KING RANDOR (standing, coming around the desk) Adam. Son. I am not going to be here forever. And when I’m goneâ
PRINCE ADAM (something flashing across his face â genuine pain) Don’t say that.
KING RANDOR It’s true. And you need to be ready. You need to beâ
A GUARD bursts in.
GUARD #2 Your Majesty! Dark clouds over the Eastern Territories! Reports of Skeletor’s forces moving towardâ
Adam is already moving.
KING RANDOR Adamâ
PRINCE ADAM (over his shoulder, already at the door) I’ll go check it out! Probably nothing! Back for dinner!
He’s gone. Cringer scrambles after him.
KING RANDOR (to the empty doorway) You see? This is what I’m talking about.
The guard nods sympathetically.
KING RANDOR (CONT’D) He runs away from everything.
A beat. Randor looks out the window at the darkening sky.
KING RANDOR (CONT’D) (quietly, to himself) Everything except the things that would explain it.
EXT. PALACE COURTYARD â CONTINUOUS
Adam rounds a corner, checks that no one is watching. Cringer is right behind him, already sweating.
CRINGER Adam, maybe we should get Man-At-Arms? Or the Royal Guard? Or literally anyone elseâ
PRINCE ADAM (drawing a golden sword from… somewhere on his person that shouldn’t be able to conceal a sword) By the Power of Grayskullâ
CRINGER Oh noâ
PRINCE ADAM I HAVE THE POWER!
Lightning. Thunder. A transformation that is genuinely spectacular â Adam grows three inches, his muscles double, his pink vest is replaced by a fur loincloth and cross-harness. He becomes HE-MAN.
Cringer, caught in the transformation’s backwash, becomes BATTLE CAT â enormous, armored, magnificent, and absolutely furious about it.
BATTLE CAT (in a much deeper, angrier voice than Cringer) I HATE this. Every single time, I HATE this.
HE-MAN (with a grin that could power a small city) You look great.
BATTLE CAT I look like a TANK. I AM a tank. I have FEELINGS, Adamâ
HE-MAN (already mounting him) To Grayskull!
BATTLE CAT (galloping, furious) We are going to have a CONVERSATION about CONSENTâ
They vault over the palace wall. Gone.
ACT ONE END BEAT:
Gerald the Guard rounds the corner. He looks at the empty courtyard. He looks at the scorch marks where the transformation happened. He looks at the direction He-Man just went.
He looks back at the palace.
He has worked here for eleven years.
GERALD (to himself) …Huh.
ACT TWO
EXT. EASTERN TERRITORIES â GRAYSKULL APPROACH â DAY
The dark clouds are impressive, actually. Evil-Lyn’s best work. They churn and crackle over the ancient bridge leading to Castle Grayskull’s entrance.
Skeletor’s forces are assembled: a dozen WARRIORS in various states of menacing armor, Beast Man looking enthusiastic and unfocused, Evil-Lyn looking like she’s already writing the incident report in her head.
Skeletor stands before the skull-gate of Castle Grayskull, staff raised.
SKELETOR (to the castle) Open! OPEN, I say! The power within is MINE by right of conquest and also I’ve been trying to get in here for fifteen years and it’s become a THING for meâ
The castle does not open.
SKELETOR (CONT’D) (to Evil-Lyn) Try the ram.
EVIL-LYN We don’t have a ram.
SKELETOR We have Beast Man.
Beast Man perks up.
EVIL-LYN (pained) We’re not using Beast Man as a batteringâ
Beast Man is already running at the gate.
He hits it. The gate does not move. Beast Man bounces off and sits down hard.
BEAST MAN (dazed) Pretty solid gate.
EVIL-LYN (to Skeletor) I have a plan, if you’d like to hear it.
SKELETOR Does it involve clouds?
EVIL-LYN It involves a localized disruption of the castle’s mystical frequency using the half of the Mystic Comet Fragment I actually keptâ
SKELETOR (turning to her, genuinely surprised) You KEPT half of it?
EVIL-LYN (carefully) I said the other half fell in a volcano.
SKELETOR You didn’t say YOU KEPT HALF.
EVIL-LYN You didn’t ask.
A very long pause.
SKELETOR Evil-Lyn.
EVIL-LYN Skeletor.
SKELETOR Why do you alwaysâwhy is there always a thing you’re not telling me?
EVIL-LYN (a flash of something real) Because if I told you everything, you wouldn’t need me.
Silence. That landed somewhere neither of them expected.
SKELETOR (quietly) …Use the fragment.
Evil-Lyn produces a glowing shard from her robes. She begins a complex incantation. The gate shudders. Cracks appear in the mystical seal.
EVIL-LYN (chanting, then, between lines, conversationally) Mystic forces, ancient powerâ (to Skeletor) âyou should know this will only work onceâ (chanting) âgrant us passage through this hourâ (to Skeletor) âafter this the fragment’s burned outâ
SKELETOR That’s fine, that’sâ
THE CRACK OF HOOVES.
He-Man on Battle Cat, cresting the hill at speed. Magnificent. Infuriating.
SKELETOR (turning) Oh, for the love ofâ
HE-MAN (with the easy confidence of someone who has done this many times) Skeletor! Stand down!
SKELETOR I WILL NOT stand down! I am MOMENTS away fromâ
HE-MAN (already off Battle Cat, sword drawn) You say that every time.
SKELETOR Because every time I AM moments away! You keep INTERRUPTINGâ
BATTLE CAT (to Evil-Lyn, as He-Man and Skeletor begin their usual circling) Does he do this every time?
EVIL-LYN (watching the two of them with an expression of profound exhaustion) Every. Single. Time.
BATTLE CAT It’s almost like they need each other.
Evil-Lyn looks at Battle Cat sharply.
EVIL-LYN …Don’t.
Meanwhile, He-Man and Skeletor are fighting. It’s genuinely impressive. Also genuinely theatrical. They move around each other with the ease of people who have done this dance before.
SKELETOR (throwing a bolt of mystic energy) You can’t protect Grayskull forever, He-Man! Eventually you’ll tire! Eventually you’ll fail!
HE-MAN (deflecting with his sword) Not today.
SKELETOR You know what your problem is?
HE-MAN I’m sure you’ll tell me.
SKELETOR You have NO IDEA what’s actually inside that castle. You’re protecting a secret you don’t even fully understand!
He-Man hesitates. Just a fraction of a second.
Skeletor notices.
SKELETOR (CONT’D) (softer, more dangerous) Oh. Oh, that landed, didn’t it.
HE-MAN (recovered) Whatever’s in there, it’s not yours.
SKELETOR How do you KNOW? How do you know it isn’t? Did the Sorceress tell you? Did she explain everything? Did she give you the FULL picture, or did she just hand you a sword and point you at me?
He-Man doesn’t answer. Which is its own answer.
SKELETOR (CONT’D) (pressing) What are you, really? You show up, you hit things, you leave. You don’t rule. You don’t govern. You don’t evenâ
HE-MAN (cutting him off, harder now) Enough.
SKELETOR You’re not a hero. You’re a reflex.
That hits. He-Man’s jaw tightens.
He raises his sword. Brings it down.
BOOM â Skeletor is blasted backward, crashes into his own warriors, sends them scattering.
Evil-Lyn grabs Skeletor’s arm.
EVIL-LYN (urgent, low) The fragment’s destroyed. The gate is sealed again. We need to go.
SKELETOR (not looking away from He-Man) This isn’t over.
HE-MAN It never is.
A beat. Something passes between them. It’s not hatred, exactly. It’s something more complicated and more honest than hatred.
Then Skeletor turns and sweeps away, his cloak billowing, his warriors scrambling after him.
He-Man watches them go.
BATTLE CAT (pulling up next to him) You okay?
HE-MAN (a beat too long) Fine.
BATTLE CAT He got under your skin.
HE-MAN He always gets under my skin.
BATTLE CAT Adamâ
HE-MAN (turning, and there’s something raw there for just a moment) He’s not wrong, is he? About any of it.
Battle Cat doesn’t answer.
HE-MAN (CONT’D) (looking at the castle) What IS in there? She keeps saying “the power of the universe” and I keep showing up and swinging a sword and I don’tâI don’t actually know what I’m protecting. I just know I’m supposed to.
A long beat.
BATTLE CAT (gently) That’s kind of the definition of faith.
HE-MAN (looking at his tiger) When did you get wise?
BATTLE CAT I’ve always been wise. I’m just usually too terrified to say anything.
INT. CASTLE GRAYSKULL â THRONE ROOM â MINUTES LATER
He-Man stands before the Sorceress. He’s still in transformation. The castle hums around them.
HE-MAN He almost got in.
SORCERESS I know.
HE-MAN The fragment disrupted the seal. You should know that.
SORCERESS I know that too.
HE-MAN (and here it comes) What’s inside, Sorceress? What am I actually protecting?
The Sorceress sets down her burrito. She looks at him for a long moment.
SORCERESS The power of the universe.
HE-MAN That’s not an answer.
SORCERESS It’s the only answer I’m authorized to give.
HE-MAN Authorized by who?
The Sorceress opens her mouth. Closes it.
HE-MAN (CONT’D) (stepping closer) You chose me. You gave me this sword. You gave me this â (he gestures at himself) â all of this. And I have never once asked you why. I just… did it. Because it felt right. Because the prophecy saidâ
SORCERESS The prophecy is real.
HE-MAN I know. But prophecies are written by people. You wrote this one.
A very long silence.
SORCERESS (carefully) Yes.
HE-MAN So why me?
The Sorceress stands. She walks to the window â the skull’s eye-socket, looking out over Eternia.
SORCERESS Because you are both things at once. The prince and the champion. The secret and the revelation. Becauseâ
She stops.
HE-MAN Because?
SORCERESS (turning) Because you understand, better than anyone, what it costs to be one thing in public and another in private. And the power inside this castle requires that understanding. It requires someone who knows what it means to carry something true that the world isn’t ready to see.
A long, charged beat.
He-Man looks at her. She looks at him.
Neither of them says the thing they’re both thinking.
HE-MAN (finally, quietly) That’s still not a full answer.
SORCERESS (with a small, sad smile) No. But it’s the most honest one I have.
He-Man turns to go. Stops.
HE-MAN He said I’m not a hero. That I’m a reflex.
SORCERESS What do you think?
HE-MAN (a beat) I think I’ve been He-Man for two years and I’ve never once told anyone who He-Man is.
He walks out.
The Sorceress watches him go. She picks up her burrito. She looks at Zoar.
SORCERESS (to the bird) He’s going to figure it out.
Zoar tilts her head.
SORCERESS (CONT’D) The thing in the castle. And the other thing. He’s going to figure out both.
She takes a bite of her burrito.
SORCERESS (CONT’D) (mouth full) I gave him a year, tops.
THE TWIST ARRIVES:
The Sorceress reaches under her throne and pulls out a second glowing crystal orb. She activates it. On the other end â Skeletor.
Not a fight. Not a threat.
A conversation.
SKELETOR (in the orb, quietly) He almost broke today.
SORCERESS I noticed.
SKELETOR He’s asking questions.
SORCERESS Good. That’s what we need.
SKELETOR (a long beat) You’re sure about this plan?
SORCERESS (looking out at Eternia) I’ve been sure about very little for twenty years. But yes. I’m sure about this.
SKELETOR (something underneath the skull voice â something that might be weariness, or grief, or both) He looks like her, you know. Around the eyes.
SORCERESS (gently) I know.
The orb goes dark.
The Sorceress sits alone in her castle.
END OF ACT TWO.
TAG
INT. ROYAL PALACE â ADAM’S CHAMBERS â EVENING
Adam â back to Adam, pink vest and all â sits at his window looking out at the now-clear sky. The dark clouds are gone. Cringer is curled at his feet, back to his small, anxious self.
A knock at the door.
PRINCE ADAM Come in.
TEELA, 24, enters. She’s in armor that she’s clearly been wearing all day â she’s the Captain of the Guard, and she carries herself like someone who was raised to protect things. She has red hair and the directness of someone who has run out of patience for nonsense.
TEELA Your father wants you at dinner.
PRINCE ADAM Tell him I’ll be there in a minute.
TEELA (staying) There were reports of He-Man near Grayskull today.
Adam doesn’t react. He’s very good at not reacting.
PRINCE ADAM Oh?
TEELA Skeletor’s forces. He pushed them back.
PRINCE ADAM Good. Good for him.
TEELA (studying him) You don’t find it strange? That every time there’s a threat, He-Man just… appears?
PRINCE ADAM (carefully) He’s a hero. That’s what heroes do.
TEELA Where does he come from? Where does he go? Who is he, really?
Beat.
PRINCE ADAM Does it matter?
TEELA (something real breaking through) It matters to me. I’m Captain of the Guard. I’m supposed to protect this kingdom. And there’s thisâthis person, this incredibleâ
She stops herself.
TEELA (CONT’D) (recovered, professional) It’s a security concern. That’s all.
PRINCE ADAM (looking at her) Right. Of course.
A beat. They look at each other. There’s something complicated there â warmth and history and something they’re both carefully not examining.
TEELA Dinner. Five minutes.
She goes.
Adam looks back out the window. His hand goes to the sword, hidden under his mattress. He holds it without drawing it.
CRINGER (quietly) She almost knows.
PRINCE ADAM She doesn’t know.
CRINGER She’s smart, Adam. She’s the smartest person in the palace and she’s LOOKINGâ
PRINCE ADAM (standing, tucking the sword away) I know.
CRINGER What are you going to do?
Adam looks at himself in the mirror. Pink vest. Lavender tights. A face that belongs to a prince who everyone thinks is lazy and harmless and slightly ridiculous.
For just a moment, something else looks back.
PRINCE ADAM (quietly) What I always do.
He heads to dinner.
CRINGER watches him go.
CRINGER (to himself) That’s what I’m afraid of.
HOLD ON: The mirror. Adam’s reflection.
In the reflection, just for a moment â He-Man stares back.
Then it’s gone.
SMASH CUT TO BLACK.
END CARD:
“MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ADJACENT”
“Next week: The Annual Summit of Allied Realms goes poorly. Evil-Lyn makes a career decision. Gerald the Guard starts keeping a journal.”
FADE OUT.
END OF PILOT
SERIES BIBLE NOTE:
The central mystery of the series: The Sorceress and Skeletor are not enemies â they are co-architects of a plan that requires He-Man to exist, to grow, and ultimately to learn what is truly inside Castle Grayskull. The power within is not a weapon or a magical artifact. It is a truth about Eternia’s history â and about Adam’s family â that both the kingdom’s greatest villain and its greatest protector have been, in their different ways, trying to protect him from. Or prepare him for. The line between those two things is the show.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ADJACENT Created as original work Pilot Episode: “By The Power” © All rights reserved
Sources & Attribution
Content type: pilot
Topic: Dark Comedy|he_man
Generated: 2026-06-02
Model: OpenRouter (via Nova Journal pipeline)
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