He-Man fans hate the new series because it has too much Teela in it

Kevin Smith devised the new He-Man animated series as a direct sequel to Filmation's 1980s original. Unlike the She-Ra reboot, he knew He-Man fans were die-hards who never lost interest in their boyhood fave, and he set out to please them. It has a stellar cast led by Chris Wood and Mark Hamill and got great reviews from critcs.

But the fans hate it anyway, because the opening "Search for He-Man" plot arc features too much Teela and is too "woke". The show's been review-bombed online. Smith is reduced to denouncing He Man's angry fans in Variety magazine.

"I see people online go, 'Hey man, they're getting rid of He-Man!'" he said. "Like, you really fucking think Mattel Television, who hired me and paid me money, wants to do a fucking 'Masters of the Universe' show without He-Man? Grow the fuck up, man. Like, that blew my mind, bunch of people being like, 'Oh, I smell it. This is a bait and switch.'"

The creators hope that the noise is a social media illusion not reflected in the real ratings figures, which Netflix is unlikely to disclose.

In speaking with Variety about these choices, it's clear that the creators and cast of "Revelation" only ever wanted to please fans of the show by getting to do the things the original never could: real stakes and real consequences, with nuanced characters imbued with genuine pathos and psychological maturity.

Quoting Smith:

"But when you go back and compare it to your childhood, it's way better. And that's what we did here."

This was the misapprehension that doomed the rebooted Thundercats in 2011. They don't want something better than their childhood. They want their childhood.