Nerd Culture and Escapism

I was 5 years old when He-Man / Masters of the Universe became popular in 1984. Having previously enjoyed Mighty Mouse, the Christopher Reeve Superman film, and The Mighty Hercules, I was instantly enthralled by He-Man and his friends (and the baddies). Later in life it was small wonder that I would later enjoy Conan the Barbarian and similar characters.

As an adult who now craves escapism from real life, and who was very disappointed with the He-Man film from 1987 ("Masters of the Universe") which is best described as a low budget "Conan in the USA" that ignored the source material, I have to admit that I will finally be able to see a large budget He-Man film later this summer.

Trailer for the 2026 "Masters of the Universe" film below:

Is it a superhero film or a fantasy film or both? Sword and Sorcery or Sword and Planet? Science Fantasy? All of the above? Does it matter? Not to me.

Is there some nostalgia for me? Absolutely. But it also a dream come true. I have basically been waiting to see this film for 42 years.

But is it only nostalgia? No, it is also escapism.

I crave a villain that we can see, who is unapologetically evil and doesn't lie about his motivations. A villain that our hero can punch, just like Indiana Jones punching nazis.

I don't want to see another film with a nuanced evil politician who says one thing and then does another. That is too much like real life, and I don't want anything to do with real life.

Things like:

Streaming

• The Witcher
• House of the Dragon
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
• The Rings of Power
• Foundation
• The Boys

Films

• Dune: Part One 
• Dune: Part Two
• Dune: Part Three (aka Dune Messiah) 
• Avatar: The Way of Water
• Various Marvel Films... I am not going to list them all.

Games

• Elder Scrolls VI
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Elden Ring
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Starfield
• Hogwarts Legacy

Some of those listed above haven't been released yet, but will definitely be popular when they are.

And, in my opinion, there is also an inverse effect.

The worse our reality becomes, the more popular these escapist examples of nerd culture will be.

I didn't list any books above, but if you are looking for fantasy books then I recommend browsing ArcaneTomes.Org, which is a website that features a wide variety of fantasy books written by indie fantasy authors.