Idris Elba reveals why 'Masters of the Universe' is special for him

Idris Elba has revealed that he would never have rejected the offer to play a key role in Masters of the Universe.

The 53-year-old actor, who is best-known to play Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will now be staring in a Mattel movie, backed by Amazon MGM.

While talking about the upcoming action sci-fi, Elba opened that when he was offered to feature in Masters of the Universe, he was all in for it and didn’t even have a second thought.

Calling it a special project, the Hobbs & Shaw star revealed that He-Man has been a big part of his childhood as it was the only toy his parents could afford at the time.

He told Empire Magazine, "It’s a really big part of my childhood. My parents couldn’t afford the Star Wars toys, and the He-Man toys were cheaper, because it wasn’t as big.”

Idris continued, "So I had He-Man, She-Ra, Battle Cat ... The cartoons were always a little bit more fun, a bit more camp, a bit more out-there."

Directed by Travis Knight, the upcoming He-Man movie features The Idea of You famed Nicholas Galitzine in the titular role along with Elba, who will be playing Man-At-Arms.

Masters of the Universe, which is set to release on June 5, also stars Jared Leto as Skeletor, Camila Mendes as Teela and Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn.