He-Man Vs. Conan: The Wildest Barbarian Crossover Actually Happened... In Court
Even as He-Man enters a new era through the live-action Masters of the Universe (2026) reboot, he’ll probably never escape the Conan the Barbarian comparisons. Mattel debuted the original He-Man toy line in 1982, the same year Conan the Barbarian (1982) premiered with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the iconic titular role. As the toy company churned out a buff, loincloth-clad, sword-wielding barbarian, it certainly looked like Conan, albeit with a blond bob.
As Mattel began producing comic books and eventually commissioned the cartoon He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983) to establish He-Man’s distinct lore, some fans still couldn’t help but wonder if it was truly an original universe or perhaps just a kid-friendly version of Conan the Barbarian. Similarities between the franchises weren’t the only things that raised suspicion. Mattel had a closer connection to Conan the Barbarian than you may have realized, leading to a legal crossover of He-Man and Conan in the courtroom.
The Conan The Barbarian And He-Man Legal Dispute, Explained
Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2017), which is streaming free on JustWatch, touches on the complicated history between Mattel and Conan the Barbarian, including Conan Properties’ 1984 lawsuit against Mattel. The main conflict arose because Mattel was once actually going to produce toys for Conan the Barbarian. On July 31, 1981, Mattel signed a licensing agreement with Conan Properties, granting it the right to make and sell action figures based on the Conan the Barbarian characters.
By January 1982, though, Mattel requested to terminate the agreement. The company, known for its family-friendly entertainment, decided that the R-rated Conan the Barbarian didn’t align well with its brand and chose not to proceed with producing a toy line for the movie. Conan Properties approved the termination and requested that any materials Mattel produced related to Conan the Barbarian be returned to Conan Properties.
However, shortly after requesting to terminate its agreement with Conan Properties, Mattel debuted its Masters of the Universe line. While Masters of the Universe was Mattel’s original creation, not based on an existing IP, Conan Properties argued that the figures were actually copies of Conan developed under its licensing agreement for the movie. As a result, Conan Properties declared He-Man a copy of Conan and argued that, under the licensing and termination agreement, He-Man was Conan Properties’ property
How The Conan And He-Man Dispute Played Out
A Conan and He-Man crossover took place in a 1989 courtroom before a judge, who heard both sides of the case from Conan Properties and Mattel. Mattel maintained that He-Man was an original creation developed independently before the company even secured the rights to Conan the Barbarian. Indeed, Mattel began designing He-Man in the late 1970s, as it was trying to recover from passing on the Star Wars merchandising rights. The conceptual springboard for He-Man came from Mark Taylor, who kept returning to a childhood character design called Torak. A 1979 Torak sketch became the precursor to He-Man, which Mattel tasked Taylor and Roger Sweet with developing.
While developing He-Man, Mattel began working on the ill-fated Conan line. However, its vision for Conan varied from He-Man. The lawsuit found that Mattel planned to reuse its more average-sized “Big Jim” figures for the line, and merely put Conan heads on them. The result would’ve been entirely different from the buff He-Man, who was meant to make Arnold Schwarzenegger look like a wimp compared to him. It was also a far cry from Conan Properties’ famous claim that He-Man was just “Conan disguised with a blonde wig.”
The Court Had The Final Say On Those He-Man/Conan Rip-off Theories
In the end, Conan Properties lost the copyright lawsuit, with a judge ruling that He-Man and Conan were distinct enough that the average person wouldn’t confuse the two. It ruled that characteristics such as muscular builds and scant clothing didn’t constitute legitimate copyright infringement. After all, other muscular, barbaric-esque figures like Tor the Caveman and Tarzan didn’t constitute copyright infringement, so neither did He-Man. As per the court, there’s no evidence that Mattel copied Conan the Barbarian for He-Man, given that the two characters are substantially different. Fans may still debate whether He-Man is a rip-off of Conan the Barbarian, but the official court ruling puts the theory to rest.
