While you can’t build all of Eternia on a sound stage, “Masters of the Universe” director Travis Knight was determined to create as much of He-Man’s world as possible with practical builds. Special effects makeup artist Barrie Gower (who created Vecna’s makeup for “Stranger Things” and the fungal zombies in “The Last of Us”) rose to the challenge, using prosthetics to transform a collection of actors into Skeletor’s Evil Warriors.
“Masters of the Universe” obviously has some CGI characters (like Prince Adam’s feline friend Cringer), but for the characters with practical makeup, the goal was to create their whole look in-camera, without the need for digital enhancements. During /Film’s visit to the “Masters of the Universe” set last year, producer Jason Blumenthal explained that creating the practical makeup and costumes involved a lot of trial and error because “once you build all this, the actor’s got to put it on and … they’ve got to actually be able to perform in it.”
One of the most time-consuming processes — possibly because of the sheer amount of ground the makeup team had to cover — was Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson’s transformation into Goat Man. Björnsson, a professional strongman known for playing Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane in “Game of Thrones,” is 6’8″ and clocked in at over 450lbs during the 2025 World Deadlift Championships (where he also beat his own incumbent world record). Playing Goat Man in “Masters of the Universe,” though, required a different kind of endurance.
“Goat Man, from the minute he got into the costume chair to the second he got on set, takes eight hours,” Blumenthal revealed. “We can only shoot for 10, so think about how much time he’s doing that to just go out … I mean, it’s a crazy commitment.”
Goat Man originally had a much smaller role in Masters of the Universe
The few “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” fans who are familiar with Goat Man will probably be surprised to see him playing such a prominent role in this movie. He’s only appeared on screen once before, in the 2021 Netflix series “Masters of the Universe: Revelation,” and made just a couple of brief appearances in the comics.
Indeed, according to “Masters of the Universe” production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas, Goat Man was “a very, very minor character in the original drafts” and only appeared once in the script. Once he put together some concept art for what the character could look like, though, director Travis Knight and screenwriter Chris Butler said, “Okay, we need to write some more scenes for you.”
As Goat Man’s role expanded, so too did his arsenal. He originally wasn’t going to carry a weapon at all, and when an axe was requested, props master Steven Morris and his team initially crafted one that was around three feet tall. That would be adequate for most people, but then, as Morris recalls, “Hafþór rocked up, and he’s like a giant.” They were going to need a bigger axe.
“Masters of the Universe” lands in theaters on June 5, 2026.
