In Masters of the Universe's first round of social media reactions from critics, Skeletor was singled out as a highlight. It's a much-needed win for Oscar-winner Jared Leto, whose leading man status has been called into question after his starring role in flops like Morbius and TRON: Ares.
However, the actor hasn't been featured in promotional material for the movie and was absent from the premiere and all subsequent press events. Short of seeing his name in the end credits, many people probably won't even realise he's in the movie.
That might be the point, of course. Masters of the Universe is a family-friendly summer blockbuster, and the Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman faced accusations from nine women of sexual impropriety last summer. That didn't stop him from promoting the TRON threequel, of course, but the movie also bombed.
In a weird twist of fate, He-Mania.com (via SFFGazette.com) actually encountered Leto at a Los Angeles airport while travelling home from the premiere and got him to break his silence on playing Skeletor. Unfortunately, the actor didn't have much to say, and was either unwilling or unable to comment on the time he spent in Eternia...
AJ: Excuse me, are you Jared Leto?
LETO: (long pause) Yeah
AJ: So nice to meet you! I was at the Masters of the Universe premiere!
Pointed to my Masters of the Universe shirt under my blazer
AJ: You were awesome! You killed it as Skeletor. You stole the show. I wish you were there!
Jared starts walking to his Escalade.
JARED: Thanks
Jared gets into the vehicle and as he closes the door…
JARED: Thanks, man.
Door closes. That was it. His luggage arrived a few minutes afterwards, was loaded into the back of the truck, and then off they drove.
This may be little more than an awkward celebrity encounter, as we can say firsthand that Leto is not someone it's particularly easy to speak to (you can watch our interview with the actor for Morbius here).
It was recently reported that the actor was paid $5 million for his Masters of the Universe role, with that sum covering the expected promotional duties. However, it's also been said that Leto "wasn't thrilled" with how the movie turned out, perhaps explaining why he isn't getting involved with any marketing efforts.
In a recent interview with CBR, filmmaker Travis Knight shared new insights into how Leto approached playing Skeletor. "Now, the origin of the Alan Oppenheimer voice was that they made this cartoon for kids, and he looked scary, and so they needed to find a voice that was not scary."
"And so they purposely came up with this silly, comical, nasal voice that took the edge off of a skull face character. When I was speaking with Jared, we recognized that. We want to honor all those aspects, including a distinctive voice and an interesting laugh, but we did not want to engage in mimicry."
"We did not want it to be him doing an impression of Alan Oppenheimer," the Masters of the Universe continued. "And it was important for him to get the voice right. So there was a lot of exploration to figure out, 'Okay, what does Skeletor sound like?' Ultimately, we arrived at this, which I love, because I think it has menace [and] theatricality, which is always a part of Skeletor."
Despite Leto's lack of promotion, Skeletor is currently being put front and centre in promos...
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.
The supporting cast includes Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, Morena Baccarin as The Sorceress, James Purefoy as King Randor, Charlotte Riley as Queen Marlena, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Fisto, Kojo Attah as Tri-Klops, Sam C. Wilson as Trap Jaw, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Goat Man, Jon Xue Zhang as Ram-Man, Stephen Adentan as Moss Man, James Wilkinson as Mekaneck, and Kristen Wiig as Roboto.
Masters of the Universe opens in theaters on June 5.