Queen Marlena is He-Man's mother and King Randor's wife. She was born on Earth as astronaut Marlena Glenn and crash-landed on Eternia, which makes He-Man and She-Ra half-Earthling.
Queen Marlena Glenn was originally an Earth astronaut who crashed on Eternia and married King Randor. This makes Adam (He-Man) and Adora (She-Ra) half-Earthlings and gives Marlena a unique perspective on Eternian affairs. The Filmation episode “Visitors from Earth” (S1E64) is the canonical source of her origin.
She is strongly implied across the Filmation run to have worked out that Adam is He-Man (most famously in The Rainbow Warrior, S2E3), though she never confirms this. The 2002 MYP continuity and the Revelation continuation both preserve and develop the implied knowledge.
Catalogue source: heman.fandom.com (CC BY-SA 3.0).
| Production | Voice |
|---|---|
| Filmation, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-1985) | Linda Gary 27 of 130 episodes |
| Filmation, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-1985) | Jay Scheimer uncredited; 4 of 130 episodes |
Charlotte Riley plays Queen Marlena in the 2026 live-action film.
Marlena rules Eternos in the epilogue after the fall of the city, giving the character a considerably larger role than the cartoon did.
More on the 2026 Masters of the Universe film
Is He-Man's mother from Earth?
Yes. Queen Marlena was an Earth astronaut named Marlena Glenn whose ship crashed on Eternia. She stayed, married King Randor and became queen, which makes Prince Adam and Princess Adora half-Earthling by birth.
Does Queen Marlena know Adam is He-Man?
The Filmation series keeps it ambiguous and plays on it repeatedly. She is written as suspecting far more than she says, and several episodes hint she has worked it out and chosen not to press her son about it.
