Kevin Smith Says Netflix’s Algorithm Dictated Masters of the Universe: Revolution’s Small Episode Count

Masters of the Universe: Revolution has been a revelation to those who caught the first season of Kevin Smith’s He-Man “requel” back in 2021. While Masters of the Universe: Revelation pleased critics, audiences trashed the series with a lowly 38% Rotten Tomatoes approval rating, based mostly on the simple fact that Smith chose to mostly sideline the muscleman of Eternia for much of the 10-part series. Revolution, on the other hand, has come back strong with a mighty 85% approval score, albeit for a series that is only five episodes long.

While Revelation was released in two parts, with five episodes arriving in July 2021 and the concluding five dropping in November of that year, Revolution’s five episodes are all there is for now, despite the series setting up a cliffhanger. According to Smith, the reason for the drastic reduction in length was all dictated by the algorithms of Netflix. During his most recent Fatman Beyond podcast, Smith explained:

“What they learned from the algorithm, was like — and this is what they said to us, they break all the information down — they’re like, ‘overall, you had too many episodes. Your show needs to be five episodes.’ And so, they’re like, ‘you can go again, but it’s gotta be five episodes.’ And we’re like ‘alright, we can do that.’ And honestly, having five episodes forces every choice to be like this is gotta be f-cking epic worthy. Because we don’t have that many minutes to play with, there’s not that much real estate. So, you’re you know, moving the story along at perhaps a more brisk pace than you would like, maybe it’d be nice to have one or two more episodes to let it breathe, but we’re playing the ball where it laid and sh-t.

And honestly, because of that, I think that helped it. Like that made people be like, here, you always want to leave people wanting more. And, overwhelmingly, people are like ‘I want more, when is the next round, when is the next season.’ So in that way, us being forced to like tell your story in five episodes instead of the luxurious ten that we had last time. And it wasn’t even like a budget thing, it was just like — I’m not supposed to share information like this, I get in trouble when I share information like this — but it really came down to like ‘this is what the algorithm says.’ Like everything would have worked out better if you only got five episodes and that was it.”

Masters of the Universe: Revolution Also Listened to Fans

While the algorithm of Netflix may have been responsible for deciding how many episodes Smith had to play with in the new season of his Masters of the Universe revival, the content certainly took some guidance from audiences.

Having faced the wrath of many fans for “sidelining” He-Man the first time around, this time executive producer Ted Biaselli made sure to point out that He-Man is the driving focus of Revolution, just as the audience requested. He said to SFX Magazine:

“This is a story that’s going to explore what it means to be He-Man when a new responsibility falls on Adam. I think it’s really interesting to explore what it’s like when, as an adult, you know what you want to do, and your parents also have expectations for you. How do you reconcile with that? We do it with an eye towards making sure fans know that He-Man is in three-and-a-half or four out of the five episodes. He is He-Man in the show!”

Masters of the Universe: Revolution has been a hit with both critics and audiences, and if it has also posted a strong viewership, then there is little doubt that another season will follow in good time.