Jared Leto's Absence From Masters Of The Universe Marketing Raises Questions

The new live-action "Masters of the Universe" movie is nearly upon it. Once scrapped by Netflix, "Masters of the Universe" was saved by Amazon after spending years in development hell. Hailing from director Travis Knight ("Bumblebee"), the film's got an A-list cast led by Nicholas Galitzine ("The Idea of You") as Prince Adam/He-Man. But the biggest name in the cast is Jared Leto, who has an Oscar to his name for "Dallas Buyers Club." Yet, folks would be forgiven for not even noticing he's involved.

A new report from Puck dives into the Leto of it all (or lack thereof). Why hasn't Amazon leaned harder into having him in this movie? One of the trailers for "Masters of the Universe" revealed Leto's Skeletor voice, but he's unrecognizable under all of that CGI. The report also notes that the actor wasn't at the film's premiere recently, nor did he attend CinemaCon to promote the movie. He's not even posted about it on Instagram at all. It's very curious.

The movie carries a reported $175 million budget — a massive sum. Amazon therefore wants/needs it to succeed on a certain level. As Puck's article goes on to note, since Leto seemingly isn't recognizable as Skeletor, his real value is his ability to promote the film, given his large social media following. He was even paid a reported $5 million, a sum that contractually includes promotion. So, where the hell is Leto? The report states Leto isn't a fan of the movie, but there's apparently more to it than that.

Of course, it's worth remembering that Leto was accused by multiple women of impropriety in an Air Mail post published in June 2025. This isn't the first time he's faced such accusations, either, although they renewed the spotlight on Leto's alleged behavior.

But that is truly just the tip of the iceberg. The fact of the matter is, depressing as it is, that Hollywood tends to overlook a lot of bad behavior if there's money to be made. However, the thing with Jared Leto is that "Tron: Ares" proved that he's box office poison, full stop. The latest "Tron" movie was one of the biggest flops of 2025. But more than that, Leto hasn't been a part of an out-and-out box office hit in a full decade.

We have to go back to 2016's "Suicide Squad" ($749 million worldwide), in which he played Joker, to find such a thing. That movie, not for nothing, was a critical disaster, too. The very next year, he was in "Blade Runner 2049," a box office flop so bad it became a cautionary tale for Hollywood. It made just $276 million on a budget as high as $185 million. That's not a commentary on the movie's quality, but it was, commercially, a trainwreck.

That trend continued with subsequent Leto vehicles. Sony claims "Morbius" turned a profit, but if it did, it was small, and the movie itself was another critical disaster. "The Little Things" ($30 million worldwide/$30 million budget) and "House of Gucci" ($153 million worldwide/$75 million worldwide) similarly disappointed, while "Haunted Mansion" ($117 million worldwide/$150 million budget) was another huge misfire for Disney.

Can this all be blamed directly on Leto? No, of course not. But the pattern is clear and, following the money, he seems more like a liability to any movie than a benefit. Why Amazon hired him to portray Skeletor in "Masters of the Universe" in the first place is another question entirely, but this might be a buyer's remorse situation.

What Amazon can't afford is to have anything negatively impact "Masters of the Universe" at this point. There's too much riding on it. Amazon doesn't need the movie purely to profit in theaters; it's a gigantic corporation that ultimately wants to service Prime Video and its streaming subscribers. That said, the numbers, as they exist, aren't looking overly favorable.

"MOTU" is tracking to open in the $25-$35 million range domestically, per Box Office Theory. That's not great for a $175 million movie, to put it lightly. That same weekend, "Scary Movie" is looking to make between $35-$52 million. In other words, a spoof comedy sequel is going to blow this big-budget IP play out of the water. Then, you have folks on X/Twitter writing stuff like, "I hate how cool everything else looks then Jared Leto Skeletor just drags this down."

The good news is that critics have mostly been saying positive things about "Masters of the Universe" in early reactions. Indeed, they've been surprised at how good it is. Amazon has to lean into the good here, so distancing itself from the Leto of it all makes some sense. Maybe don't hire him in the first place, but that's another conversation entirely. 

The synopsis for "MOTU" reads:

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" hits theaters on June 5, 2026.