Over the years, the 1973 Turkish movie 3 Dev Adam gained notoriety for its strange take on popular superheroes. Directed by T. Fikret Ucak from a script by Dogan Tamer, the film features a crossover of Marvel characters Captain America and Spider-Man, along with El Santo, a famous masked luchador in Mexican pop culture. However, in this story, Spider-Man is portrayed as a villain.

3 Dev Adam begins in Istanbul, where Spider-Man (Tevfik Sen), a former wrestler turned supervillain, leads a violent gang flooding the city with fake money. Their crimes escalate when they disfigure a woman’s face with a boat propeller. Captain America (Aytekin Akkaya), Santo (Yavuz Selekman), and Captain America’s girlfriend, Julia (Deniz Erkanat), join forces with local police to stop the criminals.

3 Dev Adam ripping off popular Marvel characters was common practice in Turkish cinema at the time of its release…

Julia infiltrates Spider-Man’s base but gets captured. Fortunately, she manages to send a distress signal to Captain America, who saves her. Santo, posing as a student, finds evidence of the gang’s operation. The heroes raid a hideout, disrupting the counterfeit scheme. Spider-Man, however, continues his crime spree, including murder and theft. In a showdown, Spider-Man reveals a hidden ability.

Despite its low production value, unintentional humor, and lack of adherence to copyright laws, 3 Dev Adam has become a fascinating piece of Turkish cinema history…

To catch Spider-Man, the heroes eventually go undercover in a club. 3 Dev Adam takes a few further unexpected twists mixed with tragedy before the credits role. Somewhere in the chaotic plot, the movie feels like an exploration of the complexity of heroism and the innocence lost in the chaos. But that might be a stretch.

Despite its low production value, unintentional humor, and lack of adherence to copyright laws, 3 Dev Adam has become a fascinating piece of Turkish cinema history, known for its unlicensed bizarre interpretation of the beloved superheroes created by Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Joe Simon, and Rodolfo Guzman Huerta.

While this transition initially faced resistance from audiences accustomed to the wild and unorthodox superhero tales seen in 3 Dev Adam, it also opened doors to fresh creativity within the industry.

3 Dev Adam ripping off popular Marvel characters was common practice in Turkish cinema at the time of its release as filmmakers in the 1960s and 70s took advantage of lax copyright protections. Although it had a limited budget, the film became famous for its blend of violence, sex, sadism, and heroism, typical of Turkish superhero stories.

As copyright enforcement became stricter, filmmakers faced greater hurdles in creating derivative works inspired by popular characters like those from Marvel comics. The era of freely adapting and blending superheroes in Turkish cinema began to wane. Productions like 3 Dev Adam, which once thrived on the loose interpretation of copyright laws, found themselves in legal trouble and facing potential lawsuits.

In response to the tightened regulations, filmmakers had to adapt their storytelling techniques. Instead of direct copies or unauthorized interpretations, they began exploring original characters and narratives. While this transition initially faced resistance from audiences accustomed to the wild and unorthodox superhero tales seen in 3 Dev Adam, it also opened doors to fresh creativity within the industry.

One notable example is the 1982 sci-fi martial arts superhero movie Dunyayi Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saves The World). Despite initial negative reviews, the film, directed by Cetin Inanc, developed a significant cult following over the years, though it is still considered one of the worst films ever made. It features Turkish astronauts who crash on an unknown planet and includes scenes inspired by Star Wars.