Is The High Priest Pythonus MOTU Origins Coming to Mattel Creations?

Seeing Gray pop up in the Black Wizard promo video already had my collector radar fully activated, but the quiet inclusion of High Priest Pythonus in that same lineup is what really made me stop, rewind, and start connecting dots, because this absolutely did not feel like a random assortment of figures tossed together for background flavor, and the more I sit with it, the more it feels like a very deliberate choice by Mattel Creations to visually reintroduce characters that still have unfinished business. As we all remember, High Priest Pythonus was positioned as the final tier unlock for the Crowdfund Snake Lair, and when that last stretch goal did not get there, it left this strange narrative gap where a fully realized character was teased, discussed, and then seemingly shelved, which has lingered in the back of my mind ever since. That is why seeing him standing there alongside other Preternia and Powers of Grayskull era figures immediately felt different, more intentional, and honestly a little exciting, because Mattel did not need to include him at all if the plan was to quietly move on. I am not trying to get everyone worked up or overpromise anything here, but from a collector perspective, this feels like Mattel acknowledging that Pythonus still matters and that his story is not finished yet. When you combine that with Gray also appearing in the same promo, a character deeply tied to long-form MOTU lore threads, it starts to feel like we are watching seeds being planted rather than leftovers being reused. I am cautiously optimistic, but if I had to read the tea leaves, this looks less like coincidence and more like Mattel slowly setting the stage to finally bring High Priest Pythonus to life as a proper figure this year.

You can watch the full video here:

Pythonus Illustrations

They already have the some of the art illustrated for the Priest and and with the MOTU Origins Snake Lair crowdfund extended to September 2, 2025, at 11:59pm PST, Roy Juarez posted new artwork of the High Priest Pythonus by the talented Axel Gimenez and said “After resurrecting Lady Slither and rebuilding the Snake Lair. The time has come for Lady Slither to conquer The Powers of Grayskull and all of Preternia with High Priest Pythonus by her side.” So if you haven’t backed the Snake Lair yet, you now have a little extra time. As of the update to this article the backer count stands at 6181, not sure we are going to make it. Again we get to see the Powers of Grayskull branding on this!

Taking a close look at the full image you can see the jail cell and iron maiden torture chamber in the background. You can see that this looks like a cave like setting and a set of stairs leading up to the rest of the lair to the right. It’s cool to see what this artwork looks like, so let’s make his packaging a reality!

Pythonus looks great and includes his headdress and dressed in Snake garb as he was shown in official images for the Snake Lair Crowd Fund.

Priest Pythonis was also shown in the Snake Lair promo video as an unlock at 8,000 backers. He was supposed to debut for the first time in figure form but he never made it. He had a new head sculpt, red eyes, non-removable snake headdress, reptilian skin texture, chest harness with the Snake Men emblem, and back plugs to store his sword and accessories. Both figures come in their own collector-friendly packaging, and their storylines will be further explored in the mini-comic included with the Snake Lair playset.