With a Shazam movie named Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam rumored "in the works," past portrayers of Captain Marvel are being accosted to get their take on the news. One of the earliest actors to sport the lightning bolt was Jackson Bostwick.
One of the favorite live-action shows back in the 1970s--when the kiddies still got up early on Saturday morning, poured a bowl of fruit loops, and gathered around the TV set for a couple hours of cartoon goodness, was the Shazam and Isis show.
Shazam ran for three fun-filled seasons. Jackson Bostwick played Captain Marvel in the first season, and John Davey took over the cape for the second and third seasons.
Comicbook.com ran into Jackson Bostwick at a Nashville comic convention last year and got some comments from Bostwick about the coming Shazam movie....
Have you heard about the Shazam movie that is in the works?
"Yes. I have been aware that a Shazam movie entitled, 'Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam' is being prepped."
What are your thoughts on the Shazam movie? Should it be a comedy or should they play it serious?
"I hope that it will be done as it was intended by the Golden Age comic creators at Fawcett Publications … seriously fun, but not comedically silly (ala TV’s lame attempt at BATMAN)."
Are you hoping to have some type of role in the Shazam movie? (For example, like how Lou Ferrigno played a guard in the Hulk movie).
"Naturally, I would hope to appear in the film and do my best to contribute what I can towards it being a huge success. But, of course, the extent of my participation, if any, is entirely in the hands of the powers that be."
Why were you only on the first season of (tv) Shazam? Why not the second and third seasons?
"I was unceremoniously dismissed on the pretense that I was holding up production because I was holding out for more money. HAH! I had in fact injured myself doing a take off (I have it all on film) and was at the doctors office getting treatment the next morning for a busted blood vessel under my eye. (I go into detail — with pictures — in my forthcoming book, “Myth, Magic and a Mortal.”) The wind up is: we won an arbitration and Filmation had to pay for all the shows they had me set for plus residuals. Bottom line: they killed the show!"
For the entire interview, including what Bostwick is currently involved with, click on the source link below.