Camila Mendes showed up at the world premiere of HBO's IT: Welcome to Derry last night (she's dating star Rudy Mancuso), and Variety took the opportunity to ask about her role as Teela in the upcoming Masters of the Universe reboot.
Mendes didn't reveal very much (she declined to confirm or deny if she'd signed on for more than one movie), but did discuss the strenuous training she put in to prepare for what sounds like a very physical role.
"That’s a wrap on MOTU," Mendes writes. "Getting to play Teela has been one of the most exciting and challenging experiences of my career. The week of suspense between my final audition and getting the part was excruciating to say the least. but here I am almost a year later, a full-blown gym bro and converted redhead, wrapping up 7 incredible months of living like a London girl, eating like an athlete, and running around as a warrior woman!! Grateful is an understatement. Can’t share much at this stage, so I’ll be counting down the days until we get to show you more ✨ this will have to do for now."
Teela has been a permanent fixture of the MOTU franchise ever since those first mini-comics, and is usually depicted as Prince Adam's protector and He-Man's right-hand woman/love-interest.
The character was played by Chelsea Field in the previous live-action movie, and was voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar in Netflix's Masters of the Universe: Revelation animated series before being replaced by Melissa Benoist.
Teela has donned a number of different costumes over the years, but they usually stick with the while and gold color scheme. Mendes' movie look is seemingly inspired by the original animated show, with a few modern updates.
Masters of the Universe also stars Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, Jared Leto as Skeletor and Idris Elba as Man-At-Arms, with Morena Baccarin as The Sorceress and James Purefoy and Charlotte Riley as Adam's parents, King Randor and Queen Marlena. Alison Brie will also feature as Skeletor's second-in-command, Evil-Lyn.
Meanwhile, Sam C. Wilson (House of the Dragon) will play Trap Jaw, with Kojo Attah (The Beekeeper) as Tri-Klops, and Jon Xue Zhang (Eternals) as Ram-Man. More recently, Kristin Wiig (Wonder Woman 1984) joined the cast as the voice of Roboto.
After numerous false starts, Netflix was all set to develop a feature take on the beloved animated series back in 2022, but we got word earlier this year that the latest attempt to get the project off the ground had also fallen by the wayside.
However, we'd later learn that Amazon/MGM Studios had acquired the movie, with Bumblebee director Travis Knight in talks to helm. Chris Butler rewrote the script from an initial draft by David Callaham (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings). Previously, the Nee Brothers (The Lost City) were attached to direct.
Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch will produce, along with DeVon Franklin.
The story follows “10-year-old Prince Adam who crashed to Earth in a spaceship and was separated from his magical Power Sword—the only link to his home on Eternia. After tracking it down almost two decades later, Prince Adam is whisked back across space to defend his home planet against the evil forces of Skeletor. But to defeat such a powerful villain, Prince Adam will first need to uncover the mysteries of his past and become He-Man: the most powerful man in the Universe!”
Masters of the Universe is set to hit theaters on June 5, 2026.