John Davey

Thanks to the recent release of the mid-1970s Shazam! (1974) series on DVD, today John Davey is now being remembered as one of TV's early superheroes, Captain Marvel. He did the role in a total of thirteen TV episodes, eleven times in Shazam! and three times in the spin-off series, The Secrets of Isis (1975). Jackson Bostwick played Captain Marvel in the first seventeen episodes of Shazam!, but was suddenly replaced by Davey mid-series. Many fans agree that Bostwick was the best Marvel, some agree Davey was best, but back then all were confused why the change happened at all. The role of Marvel required some hard action scenes but Davey pulled it off very well. Towards the end of the series in an episode titled Out of Focus (1976), Marvel revealed he had powers never seen before in the series. In another episode, "Double Trouble", Marvel had to deal with an evil double of him making trouble. If Shazam! were made today, I am sure a love interest would have happened between Marvel and Isis, but we got none of that, instead he was too busy saving kids from falling off a cliff or driving in a dangerous way, etc. Davey's Marvel might seem too clean and simple minded to many of today's youth, but to kids of the 1970s Davey played a positive role model in a series that will never be forgotten, Shazam!