Here’s Why Jackson Bostwick Was Replaced as TV’s Captain Marvel
In fall of 1974, Saturday morning television viewers were in for a big surprise: CBS, working with Filmation and a handful of other studios, made the decision to overhaul their cartoon-heavy lineup with live-action programming designed for kids. One of the first shows to debut was Shazam!, starring Michael Gray as Billy Batson, and Jackson Bostwick as the hero he transformed into after saying one magic word. Fans who loved Jackson as the cape-wearing crime fighter would be disappointed, however, when the actor mysteriously disappeared from the show’s second season.
The show would start each week by explaining that Billy Batson had been chosen from among all others by the immortal elders: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury. With his mentor, he traveled the highways and byways of the land “on a never-ending mission to right wrongs and develop understanding and to seek justice for all.”
I ate this stuff up, and didn’t blink twice at the cheesy mix of live action and animation in the intro. When Billy Batson, in times of danger and need, uttered that single word, “Shazam,” I was in seventh heaven. We had live-action superheroes on TV again, something I hadn’t seen since 1968, when Batman was part of ABC’s primetime lineup.
And while the Caped Crusader’s sole purpose, at least back then, was to entertain, this version of Shazam!, as explained in the intro, sought to forge understanding. Yep, in between each spoonful of Lucky Charms cereal, I would actually learn a thing or two about how to interact with others and make good decisions each day.
And as if that weren’t enough, at the end of each episode, Captain Marvel would show up and summarize the lesson that I should have learned. No doubt about it, I am a better person because I watched Shazam! on Saturday morning TV.
Shazam! was such a success that as it moved into Season 2, a companion program, The Secrets of Isis starring Joanna Cameron, debuted alongside it. I watched both shows, one for the heroism and adventure, the other for the same things, plus other things that might interest a young man just about to enter his teenage years.
Truthfully, I thought the actors on both shows were great, especially Jackson Bostwick. You could just tell that Jackson loved playing Captain Marvel, which makes a ton of sense because in 2019, Jackson told Alabama Living magazine: “Captain Marvel was my favorite hero when I was growing up, along with The Lone Ranger, Tarzan, The Phantom, and Sgt. Preston of the Yukon.”
So, you can imagine my surprise when just two episodes into the second season, another feller named John Davey showed up and replaced Jackson as Captain Marvel.
View this post on Instagram
What happened? Apparently, when Jackson was unable to show up for a shoot one day, the producers accused him of holding out for a higher salary and terminated his employment on the spot. Jackson tried to explain that he’d sustained an injury from the previous day’s filming and had gone to seek medical treatment, but they simply were not buying his story.
If that sounds unfair, you’ll be pleased to find out that our judicial system agreed: Jackson did successfully litigate against Filmation Associates, and they were forced to pay him for the remainder of his contract, plus residuals for the entire second season.
Since that time, Jackson has appeared in several minor movie roles, playing a sentry in My Science Project back in the mid-eighties, and as a guard in Tron. He also played a park ranger named Mark O’Brien in the horror film The Prey back in 1984.
At some point, Jackson made the decision to return to Alabama and taught theater at Auburn University, where he directed several plays, including The Ballad of the Sad Cafe.
These days, when invited, Jackson is a frequent comic convention attendee, and he has been talking for quite a while now about finishing up a book about his life and career called Myth, Magic, and a Mortal.
Back in 2016, Jackson reflecting on his time wearing a cape with The World’s Mightiest Mortal blog said this: “I enjoyed being able to portray my childhood hero and tried my best to bring the spirit and fun of the Big Red Cheese to the kids of my generation.”