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The upcoming Masters of the Universe is very much an attempt by Mattel to repeat the colossal success of 2023’s Barbie, turning He-Man into the hero boys have been holding out for. However, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe aren’t to your liking, there is another slightly-less-iconic Mattel property that is getting their own movie – Tony the Tattooed Man.

If that isn’t a name that immediately springs to mind, let’s give you a quick refresher. Tony the Tattooed Man was, like He-Man, a muscle-bound action figure released by Mattel. First introduced in 1992, kids were able to decorate Tony’s body with temporary tattoos before removing them and doing it all over again. The allure was the endless customization, but that wasn’t enough to keep it on the market for long, and Tony the Tattooed Man was eventually relegated to vintage toy markets as a rare collector’s item.

Apparently, Mattel believes that now is the right time to resurrect this relatively obscure action figure and they’ve enlisted Tracie Laymon, the filmmaker behind SXSW prize-winner Bob Trevino Likes It, to make it happen. The idea seems to be that Tony the Tattooed Man will serve as a foil to the special effects-laden action blockbuster that Masters of the Universe is looking to be. This film will reimagine the action figure as the star of a character-driven drama with surreal fantasy and emotional depth.

“After seeing Bob Trevino Likes it and the specificity and emotional depth that Tracy [Laymon] brings to her characters,” Robbie Brenner, Mattel Studios’ President and Chief Content Officer, said in a statement alongside the announcement. “I knew that she was the perfect person to develop Tony the Tattooed Man. It’s a story that feels especially relevant today, one that explores looking beyond first impressions and leading with empathy.”

So once you’ve watched He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and the upcoming Matchbox movie in 2026, you can look forward to seeing Tony the Tattooed Man get his long-awaited time in the spotlight.

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