39 Years Ago, 'Masters of the Universe' Invented the Post-Credits Scene

When you go see the new 2026 Masters of the Universe-which you should totally do-it's smart to expect a post-credits scene. This is a bit of a reboot, bringing back a beloved franchise to the big screen for the first time in nearly 40 years. It's also a rebrand and a kind of return to the quirky, silly vibe of the 1983 cartoon that made He-Man and Skeletor into household names. So, when Masters of the Universe does a post-credits scene in 2026, it's just trying to keep up with the Marvel cool kids, right?

Actually, a post-credits scene in a Masters of the Universe is very much a tradition that comes from this franchise. Yes, there were a few post-credits scenes in movies before the 1987 Masters of the Universe, but none that were all that serious, nor any that truly teased a hypothetical sequel. And, although there never was a sequel to the 1987 Masters of the Universe, the director of the film did blaze the trail of setting up possible comebacks in bonus scenes that play after the entire credits have finished rolling. As multiple sources have confirmed over the years, after the 1979 Muppet movie and the comedy film Airplane!, Masters of the Universe broke new ground as its post-credits scene wasn't intended as an extra joke, but as a way for Cannon Films to set up a possible sequel.

Masters of the Universe (1987) Post-Credits Scene

In the post-credits scene of the original 1987 Masters of the Universe, Skeletor (Frank Langella) emerges from a pit and says, directly to the audience: "I'm back!"

Essentially, this was a straightforward post-credits scene simply teasing the audience that although we assumed He-Man had defeated Skeletor by pushing him to his doom, what this post-credits scene presupposes is that...maybe he didn't?

Because the first Masters didn't fare well at the box office, the sequel that would have featured Skeletor's return never happened. This gives the groundbreaking nature of the Masters post-credits scene an ironic twist. Franchise films weren't really doing this kind of thing before Masters of the Universe, but because it failed to become a film franchise, its post-credits scene feels like the ghost of a sequel that never was.

Hopefully, with strong buzz and fun, nostalgic vibes, the post-credits scenes from the new Masters of the Universe won't suffer the same fate as 1987 Skeletor.

Masters of the Universe (1987) streams on Tubi. The new Masters of the Universe is in theaters on June 5, 2026.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 1:41 PM.