Mystery Men is a 1999 comedy film directed by Kinka Usher . It stars William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, and Hank Azaria as a trio of lesser superheroes with fairly nondescript superpowers. Macy plays The Shoveller, whose ability is hitting people over the head with a shovel. Stiller plays Mr. Furious, who has the ability to get very, very angry. Azaria plays The Blue Raja, a self-described "effete British superhero" who wears a turban and throws silverware at villains (including forks and spoons but not, as a point of honor, knives).
Captain Amazing (played by Greg Kinnear), Champion City's real superhero, faces a problem: he's running out of supervillains to defeat, and if his public image suffers, so do his corporate sponsorships. When he aids in the release of his greatest adversary Casanova Frankenstein (played by Geoffrey Rush) from an insane asylum, it's up to the "other guys" to save the day.
Also appearing are Janeane Garofalo as The Bowler (who carries the skull of her murdered father in a bowling ball which can fly around); Kel Mitchell as the Invisible Boy (who can only become invisible when no one is looking at him); Paul Reubens as The Spleen (who uses his highly accurate flatulence as a weapon); Wes Studi as The Sphinx (who can cut guns in half with his mind, and acts as mentor to the misfit superheroes, uttering cryptic but ultimately meaningless aphorisms); and Tom Waits as eccentric scientist Dr. Heller, who only invents "non-lethal" weaponry.
The movie is based on characters from the independent comic book series Flaming Carrot by Bob Burden.
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