Having rejuvenated the G.I. Joe franchise earlier this year with the sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation, director Jon M. Chu is currently prepping the third instalment in the Hasbro franchise, along with another cult 80s kid’s property in Masters of the Universe. During Comic-Con, we heard from Chu about the possibility of Scarlett (played by Rachel Nichols in 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) returning for G.I. Joe 3, and now Chu has offered an update on both projects, suggesting that G.I. Joe 3 is likely to move ahead before the Masters of the Universe reboot due to the schedule of Retaliation star Dwayne Johnson.
“I think that what helps us is knowing what we do in Joe and knowing that Masters has to be very different and has to feel very different, but the script for Masters of the Universe is what really hooked me,” Chu tells SuperHeroHype. “I love Masters of the Universe, but I didn’t know necessarily how to make it into a movie until I read the script and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I totally see it. I get how this is going to shake it up, I get how this is different from any other thing,’ and it got me really really excited. We’re still working on that one and Joe has momentum right now. The audience has been great and they want another one, so we’re rushing to get that done and Dwayne [Johnson] has a certain time period so it may end up that Joe goes first in all those things and I don’t know if Masters of the Universe will wait for me or where that’s going to end up. But right now it’s been great. We’ve been designing a ton of stuff for Masters of the Universe as a really beautiful, grounded, honest world – that’s the best way I can describe it. It’s everything you want Masters of the Universe to be in terms of the fantasy but not in a way theatrical crazy way. It is actually a gorgeous world that we’re doing in the initial visual concepts that we’ve been making.”
So assuming Sony are prepared to wait for Chu to finish up his duties on G.I. Joe 3, it looks like He-Man fans could face a lengthy wait before Masters of the Universe arrives on the big screen.
Originally published July 29, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
