The Meteor Man

The Meteor Man (1993) — watch online on iFILM: a superhero comedy written, directed, and led by Robert Townsend. Jefferson Reed is a mild-mannered schoolteacher who gets hit square in the chest by a chunk of meteor one night and wakes up with powers he never asked for.

He can fly — but he's terrified of heights. He absorbs the contents of any book in seconds, then forgets everything half a minute later. His neighbors and family immediately decide he's the solution to the Golden Lords, a gang that's been running the block for years. The cast is stacked: James Earl Jones, Don Cheadle, Sinbad, Bill Cosby, Chris Tucker, plus cameos from Luther Vandross and Big Daddy Kane.

Townsend uses the superhero frame to tell a story about a community looking out for itself, with enough self-aware humor to keep it light. Stream The Meteor Man (1993) online on iFILM.