Trailer
Plot summary
In Champion City, Mr. Furious, the Shoveler and the Blue Raja are an amateur superhero team whose gadgets and abilities rarely work, and their efforts to stand out end in frustration while the powerful Captain Amazing outshines them. With his sponsorships drying up, Amazing has his alter ego, the lawyer Lance Hunt, argue that Casanova Frankenstein should be freed from an insane asylum so the city will need its hero again. Casanova rejoins his henchman Tony P and the Disco Boys, blows up the asylum and takes the hero prisoner. Watching Casanova's mansion, Mr. Furious sees the capture and brings the news back to the others.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Mystery Men (1999)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Smash Mouth's newly recorded "All Star", heard over the end credits, became a massively successful international hit after their manager Robert Hayes licensed it for the film's soundtrack. It became the band's signature song, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a Grammy nomination.
- For Paul Reubens the film was his first major role since he retreated from public life after being caught masturbating in an X-rated movie theater. Promoting it on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno was one of his first public appearances as himself rather than as Pee-wee Herman since the early 1980s.
- Danny DeVito was in talks for a $13 million deal to both star in and direct the film, but negotiations broke down over who would produce the soundtrack. "It was a big deal for me," DeVito said. "I really wanted it, so I walked away from the project."
- Ben Stiller was originally offered the Blue Raja role but was not interested in playing a "nerdy guy" again, saying that the minute you repeat yourself in comedy people say they have seen it. He took the role of Mr. Furious instead.
- Janeane Garofalo kept a prop from the shoot: her character's skull bowling ball, which she took home after filming and enjoys using as a Halloween decoration.
- Before the final line-up came together, Ving Rhames had been the initial choice for the Shoveler, and Vince Vaughn had also been in consideration for a role in the film.
- The original ending was unpopular with test audiences, so director Kinka Usher shot a new one with what he called "a big-cheer finish".
