The Meteor Man (1993): The Superhero Movie Before the Superhero Era

Movie Monday this week: The Meteor Man, 1993, directed by and starring Robert Townsend.

The cast is a who's-who. Bill Cosby. James Earl Jones. Marla Gibbs. Robert Guillaume. Luther Vandross. Eddie Griffin. Sinbad. Don Cheadle in an early role. Cypress Hill on the soundtrack. Townsend turned his own childhood neighborhood in Washington DC into Gang Central and then dropped a superhero in the middle of it.

Why it matters

The Meteor Man was the first major-studio superhero film written, directed by, and starring a Black filmmaker. It came out in 1993. That is more than a decade before the Marvel era kicked off in 2008. It is twenty-five years before Black Panther.

The film itself is earnest in a way that 2020s superhero movies are not. It is about a neighborhood choosing to become better because a teacher got powers. That is the whole pitch. It is not ironic. It is not franchised. It is a movie.

On the shelf

The VHS comes through a few times a year. So does the laserdisc. So does the odd original one-sheet poster. Prices have crept up on all three. If you want one and we have one, grab it while it is there. These do not come through on a schedule.