Film Info
Release date: March 28th, 1941
Studio: Republic Pictures
Written by Ronald Davidson, Norman S. Hall, Arch B. Heath, Joseph Poland, & Sol Shor.
Based on the Fawcett Comics* character Captain Marvel created by Bill Parker & C.C. Beck
Produced by Hiram S. Brown, Jr.
Directed by William Witney & John English
*The rights of which were later obtained by National Comics — or as we know them today, DC Comics — after they sued Fawcett for copyright infringement.
Writer Highlights
Comic Creator Highlights
Director Highlights
Basically, a feature film split up into multiple chapters and released weekly in theaters, the 12-part movie serial Adventures of Captain Marvel is the first-ever filmed adaptation of a comic book.
While the character of Captain Marvel was still owned by Fawcett Comics at the time, his eventual owners, National Comics (which later became DC comics), were still somewhat involved in the development of his first theatrical venture. Republic Pictures had been trying to license National’s very popular comic book hero Superman to star in one of their serials. Unfortunately for them, the rights were all tied up with Paramount Pictures, which was working on animated Superman shorts. (More on that in a bit!) So they decided to go to Fawcett and see if they would let them use their popular comic book character, Captain Marvel. They agreed, and comic book film history was born.
The character of Captain Marvel later appeared in the 1970s television show Shazam!, various animated series and films, and most notably in the 2019 film Shazam! — though he now went by Shazam instead of Captain Marvel to avoid confusion with a certain other Captain Marvel owned by the rival comic book company... well... Marvel. (That's right, the first-ever Captain Marvel is not the Captain Marvel popularized today. So, no Goose to be found here, sorry.)
While his name may have changed over the years and the rights to the character bounced around, a lot of what makes the character great is present even in this first adaptation.
To find out more about that, let’s discuss the individual chapters in a little more detail:
Adventures of Captain Marvel: “Chapter One: Curse of the Scorpion” - 30:09 (Available on Tubi)
In this double-length chapter of the very first comic book adaptation ever, an archaeological expedition goes to Siam to explore the Tomb of the Scorpion, despite being warned not to multiple times by the locals. Joining the expedition and chronicling their adventures is radio presenter Billy Batson.
Actor Highlights
Frank Coghlan, Jr. (1916-2009)
Other memorable credits: Our Gang films, Shirley Temple shorts, and an uncredited role in Gone with the Wind (in which he said “damn” before Clark Gable got a chance to, though the line was later cut)
Other comic book media credits: A cameo in an episode of the 1974 TV show Shazam! (which is also about Captain Marvel, in case you didn’t know)
Billy Watson (Frank Coghlan, Jr.) has been aged up a bit from his 12-year-old comic book counterpart to more of a young adult. Even still, he retains a youthful energy and charm.
The rest of the expedition break into an even more forbidden area of the tomb. So forbidden that Billy Batson opts not to join them. Inside this area, they find a golden Scorpion statue that sets off an explosion, trapping them inside.
Which leads us to our very first origin story! A door opens near Billy and out walks our second comic book character, the ancient wizard Shazam (Nigel De Brulier)!
Because Billy didn’t enter the forbidden area, the wizard gives Billy the following super powers:
When Billy shouts the wizard’s name, he will gain the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. (Though he uses the punchy powers way more than the whole wisdom thing.)
He is told he can only use his powers for good or he will suffer... the Curse of the Scorpion!
This is never brought up again and is never an issue.
Billy shouts “Shazam!” and with a flash of smoke he turns into the first on-screen comic book hero, Captain Marvel!
Known mostly for westerns and setting weightlifting world records, Tom Tyler is well-suited to playing the hero, even if he looks a bit like a lumbering monster when menacingly walking towards bad guys as they ineffectively shoot their guns at him.
His first act as a hero is to lift a slab of stone, freeing the expedition from the tomb.
They take the scorpion with them and discover that if you adjust the lenses in its pincers, the magnified light that shines through it can turn anything into gold. (Though later it seems like it just blows things up.) They decide this is too much power for one man alone, so they split up the lenses, the statue, and the instruction manual scroll that goes with it.
In the night, they are attacked and the scorpion is stolen by our first villain, conveniently also named The Scorpion.
The Scorpion is an original creation for this serial, though he was later featured in a stand-alone comic that acted as a sequel to this serial. Interestingly, the Scorpion is uncredited, as the serial keeps his identity a mystery until the last chapter. To hide his identity even further, he is voiced by an actor different from the man he is eventually revealed to be. The uncredited voice of the Scorpion is Gerald Mohr, who later went on to voice Reed Richards in 1967’s Fantastic Four and Green Lantern in 1967’s Aquaman.
Meanwhile, a nearby volcano erupts, presumably signifying to the natives that they need to kill these darn Americans for disturbing the tomb. A shoot-out ensues and Billy turns into Captain Marvel way later than I would have expected.
He quickly jumps into the fray, stealing an artillery gun and straight-up murdering three men with it.
Wow. Captain Marvel is surprisingly bloodthirsty. I can only imagine this unbridled fury levels him up, because...
NEW SUPERPOWER UNLOCKED!
I can’t help but notice that flight is not one of the listed attributes of those Agents of S.H.A.Z.A.M. fellows.
I mean, maybe it’s covered under the power of Zeus… but you’re on thin ice, Captain Marvel.
The flight effect is accomplished in a couple of different ways. There’s a stuntman who jumps off things and then it either cuts to Tom Tyler hanging from wires in front of a rear-projection screen of clouds, or it cuts to a Captain Marvel dummy sliding down a wire. As cheap as that may sound, both look fairly impressive, especially for the time!
Meanwhile, the natives blow up a bridge, leading a car with some of the expedition members to fall into the river below. CLIFFHANGER!
Should you watch it, though? The first chapter of the first-ever on-screen comic book adaptation holds up surprisingly well. There’s a little bit of casual racism, but otherwise the story is well-written, the action is nicely choreographed, and the special effects are… well, effective! It’s not only interesting to watch it from a historical perspective, but it’s also really fun. Give it a go! You just might like it.
Tune in next time for Adventures of Captain Marvel "Chapter Two: The Guillotine" (Available on Tubi.)
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