THE NEW GODS
- Serge Leterrier
- Jun 5
- 4 min read
THE NEW GODS
Why Cinema Keeps Creating Mythologies
By Serge Leterrier
From Christopher Nolan's Odyssey to the heroes of Masters of the Universe, the summer of 2026 seems to reconnect with a tradition as old as humanity itself. Faces change, settings evolve, technology transforms images — yet the great stories endure. They continue to speak of the search for meaning, of transmission, and of the path that leads each generation toward its own destiny.
Among the most notable releases of summer 2026, Masters of the Universe holds a singular place. Travis Knight, a director who built his craft in animation, makes his first major live-action film here, entrusting the role of Prince Adam to Nicholas Galitzine, while Jared Leto disappears behind the skull and bones of Skeletor with a conviction that, according to early audiences, makes you forget the actor entirely and see only the character. Forty years after the 1987 adaptation, in which a certain Dolph Lundgren first played He-Man, he returns in this new version as a living nod to the continuity of myths. Because that is precisely what this is about. Beneath the film's spectacular surface, something far older is quietly at work.
Human societies have always told stories larger than themselves. Long before books, screens and darkened theatres, stories were already circulating around the fire. They spoke of gods, extraordinary creatures, warriors, sages and kingdoms suspended between earth and sky. Every era shaped its heroic figures to express its fears, its aspirations and its vision of the world.
Centuries passed. Empires rose and fell. Beliefs evolved. Yet the need remained intact.
The gods of yesterday bore the names of Zeus, Odin, Horus or Quetzalcóatl. They embodied forces that transcended the human. They gave visible form to the invisible. They allowed each person to understand their place within an immense and often mysterious universe.
Today, the names have changed.
Superman crosses the skies. Luke Skywalker confronts his destiny among the stars. Harry Potter discovers his true nature in a hidden world. He-Man protects Eternia against the forces threatening its balance.
The mythological figures live on. They simply wear different faces.
What makes Masters of the Universe compelling goes well beyond spectacle. The story of Prince Adam, separated from his planet for fifteen years, who rediscovers the Sword of Power and must return to Eternia to save it, is not simply the premise of a fantasy film. It is a story we recognise immediately, because it has run through civilisations for millennia. A man receives an inheritance. He discovers a responsibility greater than himself. He leaves behind what he knows, crosses trials, finds allies, faces the shadow, and returns transformed. This architecture is as old as the first human stories. And it continues to work because it speaks to something each of us lives through, in our own way.
The enduring success of these stories likely finds its source in this closeness to our own experience. Behind the armour, the extraordinary powers and the fantastical worlds, audiences recognise familiar emotions. Doubt. Courage. Responsibility. Faithfulness to one's own values. The search for a meaning greater than oneself.
Modern cinema has become one of the great spaces where these stories continue to live. Temples gave way to darkened theatres. Frescoes yielded to giant screens. The legends, however, continue their journey through new means of expression.
Each generation creates the heroes it needs.
Some eras celebrate conquerors. Others value explorers, rebels or builders. The characters that find lasting success often reveal the deeper concerns of their time. They form a kind of collective mirror through which a society observes its own questions.
The arrival of Masters of the Universe comes at a moment when themes of transmission, identity and responsibility occupy a growing place in popular storytelling. This resonance likely explains the renewed interest in universes rooted in heroic imagination.
The film also reminds us of a truth we often forget. Technology transforms the tools. It transforms the images. It transforms the ways stories reach us. Yet the need for story itself remains one of the foundations of human experience.
From cave walls to digital screens, the same quest runs through the ages. The one that drives human beings to recount their origins, their struggles, their hopes and their future.
Myths endure because they answer questions that cross the centuries. They seek to understand what elevates the human being above its fears. They explore the relationship between power and wisdom. They ask where each of us stands within a reality larger than ourselves.
Through Masters of the Universe, myths once again demonstrate their extraordinary capacity for renewal. Eras succeed one another, universes reinvent themselves, heroes change their faces. The search for meaning that drives them remains intact.
Because at its heart, every age continues to create its gods in order to tell its own story.
Coming Soon on Prime Video2h 12min | Action • Fantasy
