Another 12-chapter Rocket Manmovie 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 first released to theaters instead of TV. Republic, meanwhile, released both of these Rocket Man 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 Marshal as a true movie serial—this despite its having been released weekly to theaters and having a plot that progresses through a dozen numbered and titled chapters until the villain is finally defeated in the final chapter. Sky Marshal was finally syndicated to NBC television in 1955 as a dozen 24+ minute episodes.
Confusion with other serials
Commando Cody serials are sometimes confused with King of the Rocket Men, 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. A similar character with a similar name was Commander Corry, hero of the ABC TV and radio seriesSpace Patrol, which ran from 1950 to 1955. Corry's title was "Commander-in-Chief of the Space Patrol".
