Adventures of Captain Marvel

Adventures of Captain Marvel is a 1941 Republic Pictures serial in twelve chapters, and the first screen adaptation of a superhero from comic books. Tom Tyler plays Captain Marvel, the adult superhero into whom the young radio reporter Billy Batson (Frank Coghlan Jr.) transforms by speaking the magic word "Shazam!" The serial sends Billy on an expedition to Siam, where a golden scorpion idol with the power to turn matter into glass becomes the target of a masked villain called the Scorpion. Directed by William Witney and John English, the serial is widely regarded as one of the finest ever made, with flying effects that were state of the art for the time and muscular, well-staged fight sequences. The serial is in the public domain.