Commando Cody

Zombies of the Stratosphere

Another 12-chapter Rocket Man movie serial, Zombies of the Stratosphere, was written as the direct sequel to Radar Men from the Moon. But the name of the serial's main character was changed from Commando Cody to the more prosaic "Larry Martin" at the start of shooting. This lead character renaming happened after footage shot for the first three episodes of Republic's proposed science fiction syndicated television series, Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, which was later released (for union contractual reasons) to theaters also instead of TV. Republic, meanwhile, released both of these serials during 1953.

Because of its original television production origins, the longer length of the weekly serial chapters, and their lack of traditional cliffhanger endings, many entrenched serial fans refuse to acknowledge the theatrical release of Sky Marshall as a true movie serial—this despite its having been released to theaters weekly and having a detailed plot that progresses through a dozen clearly numbered and titled chapters until the villain is finally defeated in the last chapter. Sky Marshall was finally syndicated to NBC television in 1955 as a dozen 24+ minute episodes (before commercials).

Confusion with other serials

Commando Cody serials are sometimes confused with King of the Rocket Men (1949), because the rocket-powered flying suit and helmet costume worn by the title character, Jeff King, was recycled to become the flying suit worn by Cody. To add to the confusion, serial hero "Larry Martin", who started out to be Commando Cody, wore the same costume again in Zombies of the Stratosphere.

Referring to these different Republic characters wearing the same costume collectively as "The Rocket Man" was a concept formulated decades later on film by Walt Disney Productions in their 1991 feature film, The Rocketeer, based on a comic book series by Dave Stevens, which was in turn a nod to the various Republic "rocket-suited" serial characters. Some have noted, also, that the original "King of the Rocket Men" wardrobe design appears to have been "lifted" by Republic from a preliminary flying suit design for the 1940s Fawcett Publications' comic book character Bulletman, whose adventures the studio had once considered adapting as a serial.

The odd choice of character name "Commando Cody" was possibly an attempt to make children think they were going to see the adventures of Commander Corry, the hero of the ABC TV and radio series Space Patrol (1950–1955). The equally odd Cody title Sky Marshal of the Universe for the character's final incarnation seems likely to be the studio's imitation of Corry's title, "Commander-in-Chief of the Space Patrol", proclaimed at the beginning of every Space Patrol radio and television broadcast. There is, however, no surviving evidence today of either being the case.