Live-Action Masters of the Universe Casts Riverdale’s Camila Mendes

Amazon Studios and Mattel’s Masters of the Universe is taking shape with another crucial casting update. Set to be directed by Bumblebee‘s Travis Knight, the live-action film stars The Idea of You‘s Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam/He-Man. The studio has just cast another beloved star as Teela, one of He-Man’s most trusted allies, Captain of Eternia’s Royal Guard, and a significant love interest.

Camila Mendes has been cast as Teela, according to Deadline. Mendes is best known for playing the role of Veronica Lodge on the hit CW series Riverdale. Her other credits include the critically acclaimed Hulu original Palm Springs, and the dark comedy Do Revenge from Netflix. She has two significant credits in 2024 so far, having starred in and produced the romantic comedies Upgraded and Música. Her next role will be in the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot.

Amazon MGM Is Investing in Rising Talent to Make Masters of the Universe a Hit

Masters of the Universe has had a rough road to the big screen. The property was previously adapted in 1987 as Masters of the Universe with Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Chelsea Field as Teela. That movie was a critical and box office bomb that put a major cloud over the property. Following the success of 2007’s Transformers, and as a wave of 1980s television series and toylines were being adapted to the big screen, various studios from Warner Bros. to Columbia Pictures and Netflix had trouble getting a new Masters of the Universe film off the ground. Directors attached to the movie over the years include John M. Chu (Wicked), McG (Terminator: Salvation), and Aaron and Adam Nee (The Lost City).

Yet the franchise has found new life in the 2010s, thanks to Netflix series like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe: Revelations and Masters of the Universe: Revolution. Both of Smith’s projects put a greater emphasis on the character of Teela and dig into her backstory, and that might play a factor both in how the upcoming Masters of the Universe film will characterize Teela and why Mendes signed onto the role. Sarah Michelle Gellar voiced Teela in Masters of the Universe: Revelations, and Melissa Benoist, a fellow CW alumni of Mendes from her time as Supergirl, took over the role of Teela for Masters of the Universe: Revolution.

Amazon MGM is investing in some big talent for Masters of the Universe. Director Travis Knight has proved he can do epic fantasy with Kubo and the Two Strings and he’s already made a critically acclaimed adaptation of an ’80s toy line with Bumblebee. Meanwhile, rising stars like Nicholas Galitzine and Camila Mendes certainly help market the film to a younger audience, one that might not be familiar with the Masters of the Universe property but is interested in the actors themselves. Casting trendy stars like Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, and Florence Pugh worked incredibly well to help the Dune franchise reach a wider audience. While Mendes is not serving as a producer on Masters of the Universe, her role as a producer on other projects shows that she is becoming more involved in shaping her career, so there must be something truly appealing in Masters of the Universe to bring her on board.