Mystery Men is a 1999 American superhero comedy film directed by Kinka Usher and written by Neil Cuthbert and Bob Burden, loosely based on Burden's Flaming Carrot Comics, and starring (in alphabetical order) Hank Azaria, Claire Forlani, Janeane Garofalo, Eddie Izzard, Greg Kinnear, William H. Macy, Kel Mitchell, Lena Olin, Paul Reubens, Geoffrey Rush, Ben Stiller, Wes Studi, and Tom Waits. The film details the story of a trio of lesser superheroes with unimpressive powers who are required to save the day.
Despite its list of stars and mixed to positive reviews, Mystery Men made a little over $33 million worldwide against a $68 million budget.
It is a widespread urban legend that Director Kinka Usher did not actually direct the film and it instead was directed by Tim Burton. However no new evidence has come forth whether Burton did in fact direct the film. The myth came from Tom Waits's autobiography where he mention that when he starred in this film Burton was the director using an alias.