Images via Paramount/Paramount+ App

Looking back at movie trends over the last 30 years or so, it’s pretty safe to say that the superhero genre is on a wild roller coast ride filled with ups and downs. A superhero movie will come along and be incredibly successful, receiving both critical and financial success, and studios will attempt to ride the newly created gravy train as far as they can, by cranking out as many superhero movies as they can.

The whole process is even explained by Brodie Bruce in this clip from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

After X-Men hit at the box office, all the studios started buying up every comic property they could get their dirty little hands on.

The ’90s was a weird time for comic book properties. Tim Burton’s dark and gritty interpretations of Batman had ignited an interest in superhero movies, and since DC was owned by Warner Bros., their properties were off limits by other studios, while Marvel had the movie rights to most of their properties held by a variety of different studios whose plans for movies were languishing in various stages of Development Hell. If you wanted to make a superhero movie in the ’90s your only options were to either make up your own, or if you weren’t that imaginative you could find a lesser-known superhero who wasn’t owned by DC or Marvel. Because of this we got all kinds of weird superhero movies in the ’90s. There was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Shadow, Spawn, Judge Dredd, and the subject of this post: The Phantom.

Created by Lee Falk in 1936 the Phantom is viewed as this mythological-like figure operating out of the jungles of the fictional country of Bangalla and dedicated to fighting evil and injustice. Due to the fact that the Phantom has existed for several centuries and has appeared to have return from death multiple times, those who are familiar with the Phantom believe him to be an immortal or supernatural figure which is why many call him “The Ghost Who Walks.” In reality the Phantom is not one person, instead he is a legacy hero, an identity passed down from father to son, creating the illusion that the Phantom is an immortal figure.

According to The Phantom mythos the origin of the Phantom began in 1536 with a young sailor/cabin boy named Christopher Walker serving on his father’s ship. When the ship is attacked by pirates, Christopher sees his father killed in front of him before he is swept overboard. Washing up on the shores of Bengalla, Walker is nursed back to health by a local tribe. After recovering, Walker swears an oath of revenge on “the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, in all their forms!” Setting up a base of operations in a cave shaped like a human skull ,Walker then creates the Phantom identity and his family’s legacy.

Unlike most superheroes at the time, the Phantom had no superpowers of his own; instead he relied totally on just his strength, intelligence, and own mythos to fight crime. Between this and the fact he operates out of a cave and his motivation to fight crime is watching his father get killed in front of him makes him sound like a straight rip off Batman. However, I do want to point out that Batman didn’t make his first appearance until 1939 while the Phantom first debuted in 1936, so if anything Batman is a rip off of the Phantom, kind of like how some people think the Thief and the Cobbler is a rip off of Aladdin even though in reality the Thief and the Cobbler predates Aladdin by like 24 years.

When The Phantom came out I was somewhat familiar with it. One of the cartoons I used to watch around that time was Phantom 2040 which I guess you could consider to be a sequel to the comic strip, since it saw the 24th Phantom fighting crime in a dystopian future. In fact, it was my fascination with Phantom 2040 got me interested in The Phantom.

Directed by Simon Wincer whose other works include D.A.R.Y.L., Free Willy, Operation Dumbo Drop, and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles and based on a screenplay written by the late Jeffrey Boam whose other works consist of The Dead Zone, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Lost Boys, and Lethal Weapon 2 and 3, it’s no surprise that the plot of The Phantom plays out like a rejected script for Indiana Jones and while intended to be an action movie, seems a bit light-hearted even for a superhero film.

Loosely inspired by three separate The Phantom stories, “The Singh Brotherhood”, “The Sky Band” and “The Belt”; The Phantom begins with a quick intro of the Phantom’s origin story, how in the 16th century a merchant ship was attacked by a band of pirates known as the Sengh Brotherhood.

A young boy on the ship watches as his father is murdered by the pirates’ leader, Kabai Sengh before jumping overboard and washing up on shore of the island of Bengalla. There a local tribe takes him in and gives him a special skull-shaped ring. The boy then swears an oath to fight evil and becomes the first Phantom.

Fast forward to 1939, a group of mercenaries led by Quill, a modern-day member of the Sengh Brotherhood are searching the jungles of Bengalla for one of the Skulls of Tougunda, three jeweled-skulls which have the ability to give their wielder “great destructive power.”

Kit Walker, the 21st Phantom is alerted to their presence by his secret network of jungle spies and sets out to stop them, however Quill is able to escape with the skull when the Phantom is distracted trying to save the life of a native boy the mercenaries had captured to use as a guide.

In New York City, World Tribune newspaper owner, Dave Palmer is investigating Xander Drax, a power-hungry and shady businessman involved with several criminal dealings. Having discovered Drax’s connection to the Sengh Brotherhood and their connection to Bengalla, Palmer sends his niece, adventurer and Kit’s ex-girlfriend, Diana Palmer to Bengalla to investigate Drax’s interest there, but makes the mistake of telling his plans to the city’s corrupt police commissioner who is loyal to Drax. The commissioner reveals this information to Drax who has Sala, the leader of an all-female group of air pirates, hijack Diana’s plane, and capture her and take her to Quill in Bengalla.

The Phantom is informed of Diana’s capture by Phillip Horton, the Jungle Patrol’s captain, and a secret ally of the Phantom. The Phantom rescues Diana and brings her back to his headquarters, the Skull Cave. After learning that Diana is investigating the Sengh Brotherhood and their connection to Drax, Kit decides to follow Diana back to New York to investigate him.

In New York, Quill and Sala bring the first skull to Drax, while in his civilian identity, Kit has an awkward reunion with Diana who has mixed feelings for him because of his sudden disappearance years before. In reality Kit was forced to return to Bengalla to assume the role of Phantom following his father’s death.

After learning from Diana’s would-be suitor Jimmy Wells that the second Skull of Tougunda is at the Museum of World History, Kit and Diana go to retrieve it.

At the museum, Kit meets with Drax and his men who steal the skull and capture them. Due to the skulls’ mystical connection to each other, the first two skulls reveal to Drax the location of the third skull somewhere in the Devil’s Vortex, an area in the Andaman Sea known for its many shipwrecks.

Kit after learning that Quill has a Phantom gun belt like his, manages to escape and learns from the ghost of his father that Quill was the man who murdered him.

Drax heads to the Devil’s Vortex with Sala and Quill and his other henchmen Charlie. Unknown to them the Phantom has stowed away aboard their plane. Once in the Devil’s Vortex they discover an uncharted island inhabited by members of the Sengh Brotherhood who are responsible for the shipwrecks in the area and led by Kabai Sengh, a direct-descendant of the original Kabai Sengh. After learning about Drax’s desire for his Skull of Tougunda, Sengh warns Drax of the existence of the Fourth Skull, which has the ability to control the other three Skulls.

The Phantom reveals himself and a massive fight breaks out. During the melee, Kabai Sengh is killed when he falls into a pool of sharks, while Kit avenges his father and takes his father’s gun belt back from Quill.

Meanwhile Drax who has managed to get the third Skull unites them to create an energy beam weapon. Drax accidentally disintegrates Quill with the Skulls before turning his attention to the Phantom.

The Phantom realizing that his family heirloom, the skull-shaped ring is the fourth Skull uses it to turn the Skulls’ power back on Drax.

Drax is disintegrated by the Skulls and the Phantom, Diana, and a reformed Sala make their escape as the Sengh Brotherhood’s hideout is destroyed.

Returning to Bengalla, the Phantom tells his family’s story to Diana who reveals that she has figured out the Phantom’s secret identity as Kit Walker before heading back to New York with Sala. The Phantom tells Diana that he is only permitted to reveal all his secrets to the woman he intends to marry and in a closing narration Kit’s father reveals that even though she has left, Diana will return to the jungle and to the Phantom in an attempt to set up for a sequel that never happens.

Billy Zane played Kit Walker, the 21st Phantom. Zane’s is best known for playing Cal Hockley, the villain from James Cameron’s Titanic movie. Zane’s other credits include one of Biff’s goons in the Back to the Future series, Richard Miller in Sniper, Val Kozlowski in Memphis Belle, and Mr. Fabian in Tombstone.

Supposedly Billy Zane was a big fan of the comic strip after being introduced it while working on Dead Calm and he had to beat out Bruce Campbell and Kevin Smith (the New Zealand actor from Hercules/Xena, not the director) to play Kit Walker/the Phantom. According to something I read online, originally Zane was supposed to wear a rubber suit with a fake muscular physique like the ones used in the Batman movies, however Zane spent over a year working out to get in shape, so when they started filming they didn’t need it.

As I said earlier, when Lee Falk first created the Phantom he was supposed to be a new kind of superhero, one who didn’t actually have any superpowers, but instead relied on his own intelligence, strength, and speed to fight evil, attributes which while greater than those of the average person can still be gained if someone were to train hard enough for them.

Movie Goof: These guns are an anachronism, they’re not period-correct Colt 1911s. they’re actually AMT Hardballers which weren’t made until 1977.

One thing I want to point out and this was never explained in the movie, but the Phantom doesn’t kill his enemies, or at least not on purpose. This is a bit surprising since the Phantom’s weapons of choice are two .45 Colt 1911s. Supposedly it was on Falk’s insistence that instead of shooting to kill his enemies, the Phantom instead pulls an A-Team and only uses his guns to shoot the guns out of his enemies’ hands. This, I feel came from the Lone Ranger who would attempt to avoid violence, shooting only to disarm but not to kill.

I do want to point out in a probably overlooked seen, despite the fact the Phantom supposedly doesn’t kill his enemies, he will still let them die since he lets Kabai Sengh die by being devoured by sharks.

Kristy Swanson played Diane Palmer, the Phantom’s love-interest. Swanson is probably best known for playing the titular Buffy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. Some of Swanson’s other credits include Hot Shots!, Dude, Where’s My Car?, and Big Daddy.

Unlike most superhero movies at the time who usually portrayed the love-interest as a helpless damsel-in-distress figure, Diana is instead portrayed as being strong and adventurous, and although she is captured a few times in the film, she is far from helpless, showing that she is more than capable of handle herself in a fight.

Treat Williams played Xander Drax, the film’s main villain. Most people would probably remember Williams from Everwood, I wouldn’t though since I never watched that show. In fact, the only other movie I can remember seeing Williams in was Deep Rising, a great ’90s creature-feature horror movie which I would love to examine if I can find it on a streaming service (or if I could figure out how to hook up a VCR to a computer to rip it for screenshots since I had it on VHS).

In the film, Drax is a corrupt businessman in the vein of Lex Luthor who has ties to organized crime as well as other shady dealings. Rather than portray Drax as a grizzled and crusty old man, he’s portrayed as a young and modern and cool and collective. This is probably best emphasized in his monologue when they meet Kabai Sengh.

You represent the old guard of grizzled scallywags and Peg-leg Petes. I stand for the new order of things, modern and up-to-date. Just the man to carry our cause into the 20th century.

And it’s shown in this scene when he deals with a librarian who accidentally exposed his plans, by gouging his eyes out with a bladed microscope.

As well as this scene where he tells his plans to his henchmen in a boardroom.

Drax is also meant to be portrayed as a wild thrill-seeker—kind of like a young Howard Hughes or Richard Branson if he was alive in the 1930s

As well as when he dies. Rather than uttering some cliched expletive or curse as his last words, he reacts by shouting excitedly “Unbelievable!” as if his death is

Looking back, Drax creates too many questions for me. Like how did he learn about the Skulls of Tougunda? And how did he hook up with the Sengh Brotherhood?

James Remar played Quill, a modern-day member of the Sengh Brotherhood, Drax’s right-hand man, and the man who killed Kit Walker’s father, the 20th Phantom. Remar has been acting since 1978 so his filmography is quite extensive spanning TV, movies, and even voice work. Looking at his filmography some of the parts that stick out to me include Ajax in The Warriors, Raiden in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, a Federal Agent in 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Tonraq in Legend of Korra.

Quill’s history with the Phantom is hinted pretty quickly in the film when it is revealed he has the “The Evil Mark” or “Skull Mark,” a skull-shaped scar inflicted on him when the previous Phantom punched him with his skull-shaped ring, although this detail was never really explained in the film and it was something I never learned about until I had internet access and googled the Phantom.

Like Drax, Quill creates too many questions. The big one that sticks out to me is, if he’s a modern-day member of the Sengh Brotherhood, then how come he didn’t know about the current Kabai Sengh? Also how was he able to successfully murder the previous Phantom? It was said in the movie that he was able to trick the Phantom by offering to lead him into the jungle to a Sengh Brotherhood hideout before stabbing him in the back, but how was he able to get the Phantom to trust him? Especially since he had the Skull Mark on him. Are we to believe that he tricked the Phantom, stabbed him, then got punched in the face?

Also during the final fight, despite being a member of the Sengh Brotherhood, Quill’s loyalty is still with Drax which is shown when he fights off other members to help Drax get away.

Patrick McGoohan played the ghost of Mr. Walker, Kit’s father and the 20th Phantom. McGoohan is probably best known for playing Number Six in The Prisoner a role he reprised 30 years later when The Simpsons spoofed it.

Mr. Walker’s main primary role is providing advice to Kit in times when he needs it as well as exposition.

Catherine Zeta-Jones played Sala, the femme-fatale leader of the sky pirates working for Drax, who has a change of heart towards the end of the film. Some of Zeta-Jones’ other work include parts in the recent Zorro movies, Entrapment, Ocean’s Twelve, The Terminal, and Chicago.

Sala seems like too much of a throw-away character since she really doesn’t add that much to the plot. I feel she was probably only included because they tried too hard to shoe-horn as much Phantom lore into the movie as possible. I also feel Sala’s change of redemption at the end came out of nowhere and was just way unnecessary.

I also feel Sala was only thrown into the movie just so they could explain the existence of female pirates and justify this scene of The Phantom busting into their locker room and catching them in their underwear.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa played The Great Kabai Sengh, the modern-day leader of the Sengh Brotherhood. Tagawa is probably best known for playing Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat movie as well as being one of the go-to Asian actors in the ’90s.

Due to the Sengh Brotherhood’s extensive history with the Phantom, Kabai Sengh knows the Phantom is really a normal human being. This is shown during the duel between Sengh and the Phantom when Sengh says:

You’re not immortal.

Another throw away character, Kabai Sengh I feel was thrown in not only to include more Phantom lore but was also included in order to provide some resolution for the whole Sengh Brotherhood angle that was thrown in when it was revealed Quinn is a member.

In the comic strip the Sengh Brotherhood and Kabai Sengh were called Singh, however, since Singh is such a common name in India, it was changed to Sengh for the movie in order to avoid alienating people in that part of the world.

Radmar Agana Jao played Guran. Jao’s career is filled with various minor roles in both TV and movies. From what I’ve read online Jao supposedly retired from acting to become a Catholic priest.

In the comic strip Guran had a pretty major role in the Phantom being the Phantom’s childhood best friend and also the one who taught the Phantom the ways of the Bandar tribe and was known for wearing a grass skirt and hat made out of leaves, indicative of his tribal background. In the film Guran’s role is pretty minor, he’s basically the Phantom’s Alfred. Aside from having a smaller role in the film I also want to point out that Guran was African and didn’t wear a turban.

Robert Coleby played Captain Philip Horton, the leader of the Jungle Patrol. Most of Coleby’s work is in Australis so I’m really not that familiar with him. The only roles he’s been in I recognize are in the short-lived Fox series Terra Nova and the Lost World series.

If Guran is the Phantom’s Alfred then Horton is the Phantom’s Commissioner Gordon. In the film, Horton denies the Phantom’s existence publicly, denouncing him as a myth, however in reality Horton works closely with the Phantom, picking up villains he captures and passing intel to him.

Bill Smitrovich played Dave Palmer, Diana’s newspaper uncle investigating Drax’s illegal activities. Smitrovich has had a pretty extensive career in both television and movies. A peak at his filmography reveals several roles where he plays military officers. Some of his most recent work include appearances in the MacGyver, Magnum PI, and Dynasty reboots.

David Proval played Charlie Zephro, Drax’s connection to organize crime who comes to power after Drax kills his brother Ray for not staying loyal to him. Proval has had a pretty varied career however his filmography includes numerous roles in several crime films which is why I think he was chosen to play a Mafioso in The Phantom.

Jon Tenney played Jimmy Wells, Diana’s would-be. Some of Tenney’s other work include parts in Tombstone, Beverly Hills Cop III, the Stepfather, Legion, and that really bad Green Lantern movie with Ryan Reynolds where he played Hal Jordan’s father.

Another throw-away character, I feel Wells’ only purpose in the film is to be a Deux Ex Machina as he reveals to Kit and Diana the location of the second skull, telling them he remembers seeing it in museum when he was a kid.

John Capodice played Al the Cabby. Al the Cabby is a minor character who only has like 5 minutes of screen time, I just wanted to point out how cliche his character, the street-wise cab driver in 1930s New York was.

While most people today might consider The Phantom a cult classic due to strong home media success, when the film came out in 1996 it was met with mixed reviews from film critics and was seen as a financial failure. Looking back at The Phantom now, it’s no surprise why it was met with so little success.

The first problem with The Phantom is I feel the film’s makers were already fighting an uphill battle by trying to build a movie on such an obscure character. At the time when the movie came out the comic strip had been around for 60 years, however comics themselves have been such a niche media medium for decades, and this was also in the pre-internet days where a person could easily look things up. Sure, there are many characters from DC and Marvel who have become household names, but the thing with DC and Marvel characters is that they’ve been able to successfully branch out into other mediums outside of comic books.

As I said earlier, I was somewhat familiar with The Phantom because I used to watch the Phantom 2040 cartoon, however that show was actually fairly obscure with very few merchandise tie-ins for it. Prior to the movie, The Phantom received very little exposure outside of the comic strip. Aside from Phantom 2040, there was a TV film made in 1957 and was supposedly broadcast in 1961 (this film was supposedly heavily criticized for having an incoherent script that fails to provide important information for the story), then there was the 1986 cartoon Defenders of the Earth, which saw the Phantom teaming up with Mandrake the Magician, and Flash Gordon to save the Earth from Ming the Merciless. Even in this show, the Phantom gets very little exposure, I mean the show is called “Defenders of the Earth” and he’s essentially Flash Gordon’s sidekick. Now compare those to all the cartoons, movies, books, videogames, and merchandise you’ve seen a Marvel or DC character on.

The older generation who were around when comic books and strips were popular might remember the Phantom, in fact, I remember hearing somewhere that Hugh Hefner was such a huge fan that he allowed them to use the Playboy Mansion to serve as the Palmer Mansion. However, if you asked casual superhero fans, or even younger hardcore comic book fans who The Phantom is and they’d probably just give you a blank stare.

Another problem I feel The Phantom had was that it was too ambitious a character to adapt for the film. 60 years of comic strips that cover 400 years of fictional history all of which is filled with rich details about the character? It’s just too much. The film makers did what they could to stylistically cram as much as they could into the movie but it was too much for them to handle and they just did a bad job doing it.

When going through the cast, I mentioned how there were so many throw away characters, Sela and Kabai Sengh being two of the more noteworthy ones. I feel the only reason they were included is because they were major characters in their own storylines in the comic strip, and the writers were trying to find a way to cram as much of The Phantom’s history as they could into the movie.

Then there’s the whole thing with Quill, how his encounters with the 20th Phantom resulted in him receiving “The Evil Mark” or “Skull Mark.” The Evil Mark is a big part of The Phantom’s history and they never explained its significance in the movie. In fact, I remember when I first saw this movie as a kid and I saw Quill’s scar, I actually thought he was the Phantom.

The whole Mr. Walker’s ghost to give provide exposition was such a poor and lazy way of providing an explanation, and even then he didn’t even reveal that much about The Phantom’s lore.. I suppose they could have had scenes of Kit interacting with other ancestors when needing advice, but that would have been such a cop out to do things and would have just expanded on an already unnecessary and unexplained supernatural aspect of the movie.

Another problem is the tone of the movie. The 1930s setting? It doesn’t really appeal to the audience and the writers should have thought about this considering they weren’t the first people to try it. Before The Phantom there were three other comic/superhero movies that were all based in the 1930s: The Shadow, The Rocketeer and Dick Tracy. All of these movies were met with mixed reviews and except for Dick Tracy were all viewed as financial failures.

I feel the filmmakers chose to go with the ’30s setting because they wanted to stay true to the comic strip, but making a successful period-piece is an uphill battle to make it relatable to the audience. I feel Marvel had a similar challenge when they made Captain America: The First Avenger since that took place in the ’40s, but they found a way to take a period-story and make it successful.

The writers honestly should have taken a cue from Superman and Batman and used the floating timeline to move The Phantom to contemporary times, I remember SyFy did this a couple years ago when they made a Phantom miniseries, it focused on the 22nd Phantom, Kit and Diana’s son, but it still took place in modern times. Hell, if they weren’t comfortable with that they could have just used the Phantom’s legacy hero nature and put the focus on whatever number Phantom would be active in the late 20th century. The problem with this though is that most of The Phantom storylines don’t work in modern times and they would have had to come up with something completely original for the movie.

The Skulls of Touganda are one thing that really bug me. For starters while a devastating weapon they’re not really that dangerous weapon by 1990s or even 1930s standards. Combined they create an energy beam capable of disintegrating people but that’s pretty much it. They’re never shown or stated to give their owner any other abilities. A guy with a rifle could easily take out a skull-armed Drax from a far enough distance to not get noticed. Or not even a guy with a rifle. I mean somebody quiet enough could sneak up on him, or a single guy agile or quick enough could easily take him down.

While we’re on the topic of the Skulls I do want to say the whole fourth skull/Phantom Ring thing bugged me as well. The ring is introduced in the first 30 seconds of the film and then we don’t hear about it again until the final battle, where The Phantom quickly realizes it is the key to defeating the skulls, which he does so in a quick confrontation that seems so lame and lazy. Looking at it now I’m wondering if the filmmakers either ran out of money or ideas and this was the only thing they could come up with to end it.

Also how is it the Sengh Brotherhood know about the fourth skull/ring but the Phantom doesn’t when he’s looking in his book about the skulls. The writers should have really tried to hint at it, especially since in the comic strip the ring has a different purpose and origin. In the comic strip, the ring is to the Phantom what Z is to Zorro, it’s his way of leaving his calling card on evil doers and in the comics it is stated that the ring was worn by Nero during his reign of the Roman empire and was made from the nails that crucified Jesus.

Despite its failures The Phantom did have some strengths which helped make it the cult classic some people view it as today. The half-pirate ship evil lair that served as the Sengh Brotherhood’s hideout was probably one of the visually most impressive sets in the movie. Also while most might not consider The Phantom a pulp hero the movie did do a good job recreating the feel and energy of the pulp hero stories that were popular when The Phantom first debuted.