Concept artist Constantin Sekeris has shared some of his early designs for Orko in the version of Masters of the Universe that Adam and Aaron Nee were attached to direct before Travis Knight came aboard, and this would have been a very different take on the character.
MOTU ends with Skeletor's defeat, and He-Man, Teela and the rest of the Heroic Warriors returning to the Royal Palace. After hearing about some trouble in the Bird People's Avion City, He-Man and the now fully armoured Battle Cat race into the sunset as the theme from the classic '80s cartoon plays.
The pre-credits sequence follows, and we are introduced to Orko for a brief nod to the "life lessons" PSA that usually closed out the episodes. The floating Trollan wizard speaks directly to the audience:
"In today's story, we saw muscles don't necessarily make a man... and that having a skull for a face pretty much guarantees that you're the bad guy!"
Orko looked very much like his animated counterpart in the movie, but Sekeris initially conceived a more "realistic" interpretation.
"You can see here, with Orko, Adam and Aaron saw him closer to a lemur monkey as a realistic base to bring Orko to life. We went in detail to make sense of every aspect of his iconic design, down to giving a reason for his circle graphic on his chest and textures and materials of his clothes. Will be posting more from my time on MOTU…..loved the move Travis Knight and his team executed, everyone involved did really great work…..more to come soon enough."
If MOTU gets a sequel - which is a possibility despite the movie's underperformance at the box office - Orko will no doubt return, along with She-Ra, who was also introduced in one of the film's post-credits scenes.
"In MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, Director Travis Knight brings the legendary franchise back to the big screen in this epic live-action adventure. After being separated for 15 years, the Sword of Power leads Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) back to Eternia where he discovers his home shattered under the fiendish rule of Skeletor (Jared Leto). To save his family and his world, Adam must join forces with his closest allies, Teela (Camila Mendes) and Duncan/Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba), and embrace his true destiny as He-Man — the most powerful man in the universe."
Masters of the Universe stars Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam/He-Man, Camila Mendes as Teela, Jared Leto as Skeletor, Idris Elba as Man-At-Arms, 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.
Sam C. Wilson will play Trap Jaw, with Kojo Attah as Tri-Klops, and Kristin Wiig recently joined the cast as the voice of Roboto.
Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch will produce, along with DeVon Franklin.