#Kevin Smith on ‘Masters of the Universe’ and fan backlash

He has the power. 

Kevin Smith said he was not expecting the outraged fan response to his new Netflix series, “Masters of the Universe: Revelation.” 

“We used the mythology that Mattel created,” Smith, 50, told The Post on the phone from New Jersey, where he’s currently preparing to film “Clerks III.”

“It was kind of an homage to every version of ‘Masters of the Universe.’ So I was like, ‘When this comes out, fans are going to lose their s–t!’ And I was half-right. I’ve watched fandoms get mad at creators before like Rian Johnson on ‘The Last Jedi.’ And heading into this I was like, ‘I’m not going to do that!’ And yet, here we stand. So, you never know.”

The first five episodes of Season 1 (the second half will be released at a later date) is a continuation of the classic “He-Man” cartoon that ran in syndication from 1983-85 (and of the Mattel toy line, launched in 1982). It follows Prince Adam of the planet Eternia (voiced by Chris Wood), who has a secret identity as He-Man, and fights the evil Skeletor (Mark Hamill) while allying with the Captain of the Royal Guard, Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar). 

However, in a twist, Adam is out of commission for most of the first stretch of episodes while the show focuses on Teela as she tries to save the kingdom. The series premiered on Friday and, over the weekend, fans expressed their anger on social media with sentiments such as, “Terribly disappointing. He-Man completely removed from his own show…” And “Why make a ‘He-Man Show without He-Man? Shame!”

“I did not get into this business to upset anybody,” said Smith. “Periodically throughout my career, I’ve done things that have made people unhappy, [the 1999 film] ‘Dogma’ being the perfect example. This time, I think they’re superfans who have their idea of what they were going to see and I guess we didn’t match it, or they don’t seem to process that the story is not over. I’m not a disruptor, I’m not a provocateur. So, it’s a little disconcerting.”

He’s also baffled by some of the accusations that he tried to make the franchise “woke” by focusing on Teela.

“Teela was one of the first figures launched [and] she’s in every episode of the cartoon fighting right beside [He-Man],” he said. “So I didn’t bring anything to this where I’m like, ‘Man, watch this woke sh-t!’ Some of the takes on it feel like the people haven’t seen a movie or a TV show like, ever, in their lives. They seem to think that we have done irreversible things to some of their favorite characters…We’re halfway through a story. There is so much He-Man in the next five episodes. Ours is one long story cut up into chapters.

“Most audiences are too savvy to pull one over on. I assumed most people would be so far ahead of us.”

Smith cited the Superman comic, “World Without a Superman” as an inspiration, along with “Suicide Squad” creator Jon Ostrander’s “Grimjack” comic, in which the main character earns the afterlife but later gives it up. 

When Mattel initially approached Smith about helming this show, he was surprised. 

“Look back at my career, what gives you any indication that I should be working on something like a kid’s show?,” he said. But while there’s no immediate connection between the “He-Man” franchise and Smith’s irreverent films such as “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy,” he’s also written for comic franchises such as “Daredevil” and “Green Arrow.”

“I had done those years ago, but I guess [Mattel] had re-read them recently. Once we started talking, I was like, ‘This could be fun!’ I know so much about ‘Masters of the Universe.’ Skeletor, who looks so badass in the [toy] commercials, runs around and never stabs anybody…. So as a sardonic 12-year-old, I would watch every episode and rewrite it, like, ‘They should do this!’ “

High stakes such as the potential for real danger, “Never happened in the ‘He-Man’ cartoon. But let’s be honest, happened in the backyard of every child who had He-Man action figures,” he said. “They didn’t play their game going, ‘Well, we can’t stab each other because of network rules, this is a children’s show!’ 

“So, our show exists somewhere between people’s memory of the TV show they grew up watching, and the reality of the imagination that they put into all the toys they ever played with.”