Idris Elba reveals he expected Skeletor's role in Masters of the Universe, talks about his iconic movie characters

Emmy Award-winning star Idris Elba portrayed Duncan in Travis Knight's live-action motion picture Masters of the Universe. However, recently on an interview with GQ he revealed that he expected a call for the villainous role of Skeletor despite being a fan of He-Man since childhood.

The new version of He-Man is about the escape story of Prince Adam from Skeletor's attack on Eternos, but he loses the Sword of Power on Earth. He reclaims his sword 15 years later and returns to Eternia to transform into He-Man. Adam fights Skeletor by taking Teela and Duncan in his team to restore Sword and save Eternia from destruction.

This Amazon MGM Studios movie premiered in theaters on June 5 this year. Duncan is King Randor's trusted general and an expert combat instructor. Elba's character has more depth than earlier versions and is built on emotion and experienced personal doubts instead of being only stoic.

This made him feel more human and relatable while still carrying the authority and strength expected from the Royal Guard chief.

Continue reading more about the story of Idris Elba.

Idris Elba shares his casting story in Masters of the Universe

Duncan in action mode (Image via YouTube/@Amazon MGM Studios)

According to Idris Elba's statement to GQ, the star was asked to play the role of "a white guy with ginger hair and a ginger mustache". He further mentioned that he admires Travis as an amazing director and that he gave him the sense of the scale while sharing how he wanted to approach the role.

Elba continued,

"It was fun. It was definitely great cast, great team, you know, really big movie."

Recalling the casting, Elba revealed that when he got a call from the production team his initial wish was to see himself in Skeletor's costume because the character got a mask and his voice fits in perfectly with it. However, the team had different plans already - they had decided on his role as Man-at-Arms.

Idris Elba as Duncan: Film vs Minicomics

Duncan was an advisor to the king and the Royal Guard. He guided them on military and police matters. In the early minicomics, he looked more like the toy figure.

Since there was no royal family, his relationship with Teela was not mentioned. Instead, Teela was portrayed as a warrior goddess and his only background in He-Man and the Power Sword was that his people were 'masters of all weapons.'

Some of his iconic dialogues from the movie are buzzing around the internet. One of them being:

"I know how it feels to feel."

Another one goes:

"Somebody wants to brawl."

In Masters of the Universe, Elba's character trained young Adam to become a brave fighter before Adam was sent to Earth. Years later, they reunited and fought together to defeat Skeletor and free Eternia.

His armor resembled the cartoon design with a big shoulder pad, a round helmet, a jetpack for air battles, and grenades on his belt. He used his pistol and large blaster rifle to make himself stronger than ever in combat.