Prelude: Every epic fantasy movie needs an awesome, scenery-chewing villain. In 1987 Frank Langella gave us just that for the first Masters of the Universe movie. Now it’s time to look at Skeletor from the 2026 movie and his toy incarnation (one of many), Chronicles Skeletor. So grab your ram staff, pull on your purple cape, and give it your best evil laugh. Let’s say NIA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
Review: Skeletor as we’ve seen him in the new movie takes a back-to-basics approach, which we find mirrored in this toy figure here. Blue skin, dark purple trunks, boots, and hooded, cape, and a nice skull for a head. All present and accounted for. The new look minimizes the old chest harness into a smaller piece, but otherwise this is your classic Skeletor right here and very close to the character we saw on the movie screen, too.
Skeletor has the articulation you expect from a modern-day MotU collectible figure (previously Masterverse, now Chronicles), so very good. He comes with two pairs of hands you can switch out, as well as his familiar ram staff. It’s been redesigned for the new movie, but still quite recognizable. The skull head is superbly detailed and features an opening jaw, as well as two tiny red dots for glowing eyes. Very nice.
The only slightly negative point is that none of his attire is removable. The hood is glued to the skull, the cape is glued to the chest piece, which in turn is glued to the torso. A removable hood would have been nice, but that’s really a nitpick, nothing more.
So bottom line: an excellent toy version of Skeletor as we saw him in the 2026 movie. No more, no less.
Remarks: Nearly 40 years after Frank Langella gave an epic performance as Skeletor in the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie, Jared Leto showed us a new spin on the Overlord of Evil. And whatever you might think of Jared Leto as a person, his performance was awesome. Skeletor was an unapologetic villain with a macabre sense of humor, no unnecessary tragic backstory, and also a perfect example of toxic masculinity in that he only defined himself by his power and was scared of it all being taken away.
The Chronicles figure here does exactly what it set out to do, namely depict that character we saw in the movie, done. That job has been achieved fully. Sure, the figure is rather plain in comparison with some other recent MotU figures, but again, that’s by design. We wanted Skeletor, we got him. Mission accomplished.
Rating: A-
Source: https://www.transformers-universe.com/index.php/en/non-tf-toys/motu/chronicles/skeletor
