A Tale of Two Captain Marvels

Saturday Stories

April 13, 2019

A Tale of Two Captain Marvels

By Jonathan Aquino

I 

I first knew Shazam and Captain Marvel from the Saturday morning cartoons of my childhood. A boy named Billy Batson would say "Shazam!" and he would become Captain Marvel. So they were actually the same person. I think this what inspired the Filipino comic artist Mars Ravelo to create Captain Barbell who also has a younger alter-ego named Enteng. Captain Marvel's superhero name was Captain Marvel, not Shazam, and his costume was red with a bright yellow lightning symbol on his chest.

II

So in the recent DC movie "Shazam", he was wearing his original costume – but he's not Captain Marvel. And in the equally recent Marvel movie "Captain Marvel," the hero was a girl with a different costume who was apparently an alien. So what's going on? Let's start from the beginning. The original Captain Marvel, the Billy Batson Shazam, was created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, and first appeared on February 1940 through Whiz Comics published by Fawcett, and to which I just found a vintage copy.   

III

But, in 1951, National Comics (the forerunner of DC Comics), publisher of Superman, sued Fawcett because Captain Marvel is too similar to Superman. Fawcett won, and DC filed an appeal, and, two years later, in 1953, Fawcett cancelled Captain Marvel and all its superhero as settlement. That meant that nobody owns the copyright to the name "Captain Marvel" anymore. So in December 1967, Marvel Comics published its first Captain Marvel, a Kree alien named Captain Mar-Vell created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan. Apparently, being Captain Marvel is passed down, and it was eventually inherited by Carol Danvers, who is the hero of the new "Captain Marvel" movie and will appear in the upcoming "Avengers: Endgame."

IV

Then, in 1972, DC got the rights to Shazam from Fawcett, and published the "Shazam" comic series on February 1973. But they can't use the name "Captain Marvel" because it's now owned by Marvel Comics. Makes sense. But it seems to be different on TV. There was a live action series in the 40s and the 70s and an animated series in the 80s with the Billy Batson Shazam as Captain Marvel. The cartoon is the one with Mary Marvel and Uncle Marvel. There was also Captain Marvel Junior who is Freddy Freeman who is in the new "Shazam" movie. Freddie can't call him Captain Marvel, so instead he calls him Captain Sparkle Fingers. 

Shazam (1980s)

Adventures Of Captain Marvel (1940s)

Shazam! 

Superman and Shazam vs Black Adam 

Shazam Trailer (2019)

Captain Marvel Trailer (2019)

Shazam/Captain Marvel Evolution in Movies, Cartoons & TV (2019)

Photo courtesy of DC.Fandom.com