Superman | 2025

Another Superman means another Metropolis. This time around it's mainly Cleveland, Ohio, with some Cincinnati and just a bit of Macon, Georgia. Discover exactly where.

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The production was based at Atlanta's Trilith Studios so although Metropolis is largely Downtown Cleveland, some practical locations are closer to the studio in Georgia.

The film opens with Superman's 'Antarctic' Fortress of Solitude. The snowy landscapes are just about as far from the Antarctic that you can get.

It's Adventdalen (Advent Valley), a 19-mile-long valley on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, an archipelago about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole.

It lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, and if you're inspired to visit, it's an adventurous trip. Approximately 60% of the archipelago is covered with glaciers, boasts mountains and fjords and is a place to experience both Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights.

Svalbard Airport, 2 miles from Longyearbyen, is the only airport. Scandinavian Airlines has scheduled services from Tromsø and Oslo.

The action soon kicks off with an aerial battle between Superman (David Corenswet) and 'The Hammer of Boravia' – secretly Ultraman – a tough opponent secretly being controlled by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).

They're slugging it out above the streets of Metropolis where, surprisingly, it's Superman who plummets to earth, crashing into the small plaza in front of PNC Bank on Euclid Avenue at East 9th Street, Downtown Cleveland.

Staying in Cleveland, the entrance to 'The Daily Planet' office is simple enough. It's the Leader Building, 526 Superior Avenue, a 15-story high-rise standing on the southwest corner of Superior Avenue at East 6th Street.

Yes, this really was once a newspaper office, built for the Cleveland Leader, hence the name. In 1917, a mere four years after moving into the building, the paper closed – but its name lives on.

But once inside the newsroom, here we are in Macon, Georgia. The office interior is the 1916 Beaux Arts-style Terminal Station, 200 Cherry Street, with the passenger benches replaced by newsroom desks.

The station, designed by Alfred T Fellheimer, who had previously designed New York's Grand Central Station, closed as a rail terminal in 1971. After lying disused for years, it's been transformed into the new Greyhound bus terminal.

The terminal was also seen in Marvel's Black Widow and Brian Helgeland's sports drama 42.

Lex Luthor is seeking to undermine the 'good guy' image of the "alien Kryptonian", portraying him as a potential threat requiring Luthor's own 'Planetwatch' scheme to keep him in check.

To this end, Luthor and his cohorts have managed to gain access to the icy fortress on a quest to dig up any information which could compromise Superman.

To keep him distracted, they release a small but ferocious creature into the centre of Metropolis, which immediately grows into a gigantic kaiju.

Superman hopes to subdue the beast and confine it to a zoo but when he's joined by the newly-formed Justice Gang – Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), their tactics turn out to be less gentlemanly though lethally effective.

The colossus is fought and killed in Cleveland's Public Square, the heart of the city. You might remember this square standing in for 'Stuttgart, Germany', where Loki commands the crowd to kneel to him in Avengers. And for an older generation, in the background you can see the building which was Higbee's Department Store in 1983 seasonal classic A Christmas Story.

After being provoked into an ill-judged outburst, Superman dutifully turns himself in for questioning by the authorities, who immediately put him into the custody of the only person they believe can rein in his superpowers – Lex Luthor.

The Man of Steel is hauled off to an oceanfront military encampment which doesn't look too formidable but which leads to Luthor's own personal institution hidden within a 'pocket dimension', accessed via a black hole.

The beach is Headlands Beach State Park, 9601 Headlands Road, on the waterfront of Lake Erie, in the city of Mentor about 25 miles east of Cleveland. The mile-long natural sand beach is the largest in the state.

Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) appeals to the Justice Gang for help releasing Superman from incarceration. Their new 'Hall of Justice' HQ is still in the process of being repurposed from an old railway station, and that's no accident.

This amazing semicircular deco building can be found in Cincinnati. It's the old Union Terminal, a railway station which really has been repurposed not as a hall of justice, but as Cincinnati Museum Center, 1301 Western Avenue.

The location is carefully chosen. If you're a longtime Superman fan, you'll probably have recognised that its distinctive design was the inspiration for the look of the Hall in the old comic books. And yes, of course that's unmistakably the real interior.

Of the Gang, only Mister Terrific agrees to help. Together with assistance from Metamorph (Anthony Carrigan), who's also imprisoned, they manage to free both of them.

Weakened by the Kryptonite used to keep him subdued, Superman retires to the Kent farm in 'Smallville, Kansas' to recuperate.

For this we're off to Georgia. The farm is on the 600 block of Stovall Road east of LaGrange, just over 60 miles southwest of Atlanta. Please be aware this is a private residence and respect the owners' privacy.

The next phase of Luthor's plan involves encouraging the country of Boravia to invade its neighbour, Jarhanpur – whose people vainly call for help from Superman.

We're staying in Georgia for the desert border conflict, which was filmed at Atlanta Sand, 740 East Sand Pit Road, a mine in Roberta, Crawford County, about 80 miles south of Atlanta. It's a convenient desert location for Atlanta-based productions and as such has been used in both Black Adam and Black Panther 2.

Furious at Superman's escape, Luthor increases power to the 'pocket dimension' reactor in order to lure him out of hiding. When this tears open a rift in the earth's crust which grows to threaten Metropolis itself, a mass evacuation is triggered.

Fleeing motorists jam the Lytle Tunnel in Cincinnati, carrying I-71 under Lytle Park from Fort Washington Way to the Northeast Expressway.

Others flood across the bridge out of the city.

Finally back to Cleveland, this is the Detroit–Superior High Level Bridge, a structure crossing the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland's west side and its east side.

It's down to the Justice Gang to sort out the border conflict with Boravia while Superman and Mister Terrific are engaged in ferocious combat against Ultraman and the Mechanic (María Gabriela de Faría) inside a football ground – which is Progressive Field, 2401 Ontario Street, home of the Cleveland Guardians.

I don't think it's a spoiler to reveal that good triumphs over evil in a Superman movie. The rift finally sealed, prisoners released from Luthor's 'pocket dimension' flood out onto Cleveland's Superior Avenue near East 6th Street.

This is back where the 'Daily Planet' office stands and it's directly alongside the entrance to 'Lacey's Arcade', the huge and elaborate arcade into which Superman and Lois slip for that final airborne clinch.

It's real too. This is Cleveland Arcade, linking Superior Avenue with 401 Euclid Avenue. Opposite the Arcade, at 325 Superior Avenue, stands Cleveland Public Library, the building left with that annoying crack.

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