Mystery Men - 1999

Plot: A group of inept amateur superheroes must try to save the day when a supervillian threatens to destroy a major superhero and the city.

Story: In order to generate more endorsement revenue, Champion City's resident superhero Captain Amazing arranges for the release of supervillian Casanova Frankenstein, only to be captured by him. The city's fate rests in the hands of seven loser superhero wannabes: the fork-flinging Blue Rajah, the shovel-wielding Shoveler, the posessed bowling ball-hurling Bowler, the flatulent Spleen, the only-when-nobody's-looking Invisible Boy, the mysterious Sphinx, and the perpetually-angry Mr. Furious.

Did you know: The Sphinx was a Golden Age hero who was the creation of Better Publishing; his real name was Ellsworth Forrester, and he first appeared in Exciting Comics #2. Had Better Publishing still been in existence at the time this movie came out, the filmmakers could have been sued for plagiarism. As it is, due to the fact that Better went out of business in the 1950s with no successor, the character is now in the public domain.