By Michael Lyons
A crazed psychiatrist, a mercenary armed with high-tech weapons, a thief who wields boomerangs, a half-man/half-shark...
...and these are the good guys!
The superhero stars of writer-director James Gunn's movie, The Suicide Squad, debuting this weekend in theaters and on HBO Max, is not what immediately springs to mind when one thinks of cape-wearing, "do-gooding," battling evil superhero.
Based on the DC Comic of the same name (which had been adapted once before in 2016) The Suicide Squad centers on a group of inmates the government recruits to save the world and soon become the strangest anti-heroes ever seen.
The Suicide Squad also continues a long-standing trend of movies about unlikely superheroes. Many of these films have slipped between the cracks of our pop-culture consciousness...until now.
What follows is just some of these seldom-seen strange, "super" stars.
Condorman (1981)
A comic book artist (played by Michael Crawford - yes, the Michael Crawford, who would later star as The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway) finds himself dressing up and becoming the superhero he has created for his comic books.
Released by Disney, this superhero tribute/send-up was a critical and box-office disappointment that's gained more notoriety through the years as a forgotten footnote of a curiosity in the studio's timeline.
Mystery Men (1999)
Based on a series of comics, this film centered on "B" list superheroes, with somewhat limited powers, such as Mr. Furious, who uses his rage, the Blue Raja, who wields cutlery, The Bowler, known for tossing her bowling ball at criminals and The Shoveler, who...well..shovels.
With a staggering, all-star cast that includes Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, Paul Reubens, and Geoffrey Rush, Mystery Men is very offbeat, walking a delicate line between parody and tribute.
The Meteor Man (1993)
Writer, director, and star Robert Townsend brought us this genial comedy about a schoolteacher (Townsend) who finds himself imbued with powers after being struck by a meteor. Donning a super-suit, he becomes the titular hero, saving his community from a drug lord.
Like all of Townsend's work, The Meteor Man is filled with heart, humor, and a nice message about sharing one's strengths with others.
Hero at Large (1980)
In his first starring film role, John Ritter, during the height of his Three's Company fame, plays a struggling actor in New York City, who inadvertently thwarts a robbery while wearing a "Captain Avenger" costume for a film's promotion.
He becomes a real-life hero for the city but soon learns lessons about the price of fame, particularly when you aren't true to yourself or others.
The posters for Hero at Large declared: "Help is on the way!" True of all of these characters. Like The Suicide Squad, however, they may not be the help we want, but they're the help we've got...and they'll do their best to be super!
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