Cleveland as Metropolis: Complete guide to ‘Superman’ filming locations (spoilers)

Superman director James Gunn talks with actor Edi Gathegi, playing Mister Terrific, during filming on Ontario Street in Cleveland.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — I spent two days holed up on a high floor of the Carl B. Stokes Federal Courthouse last summer, part of a clandestine operation to report on the filming of “Superman.” Armed with a pair of cheap binoculars, I watched dozens of background actors and a car move up and down the Detroit-Superior Bridge. Take after take. Again and again. Never once did I see David Corenswet suit up as the Man of Steel.

I wondered: How much Cleveland is actually going to be in this movie?

David Corenswet, the actor playing Superman, and Edi Gathegi, the actor playing Mister Terrific, return to their positions after a take outside the Cleveland Public Library building on Superior Avenue.

Exactly one year later, I have the answer. Turns out, it’s more than I expected. Cleveland is Metropolis throughout the film — from an early scene where Superman is slammed into the ground during a brawl in the sky with the Hammer of Boravia, to the movie’s emotional peak, when Superman and Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) float through the air and seal their relationship with a kiss — and plenty of moments in between.

Filming for the Superman movie continues on Friday, July 12, 2024 at Progressive Field. Superman battles the Engineer and Ultraman film a fight scene in right field. David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com

Let’s break it down, but tread carefully — spoilers ahead.

PNC Plaza

After losing round one to the Hammer of Boravia, a metahuman under the control of Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), Superman returns to Metropolis for a rematch — only to be flung across the sky once more. He crash-lands in front of the PNC Bank Building at East 9th and Euclid, now the Metropolis Museum of Modern Art. The impact creates a sinkhole. Mali (Dinesh Thyagarajan), a nearby falafel cart vendor, helps Superman climb out.

Headlands Beach State Park

This popular summer spot in Mentor was transformed into Fort Kramer, base camp for Planet Watch — Luthor’s team of enhanced commandoes. The location pops up a few times in the movie, most notably when Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), accompanied by Lois Lane in search of Superman, uses his high-tech T-spheres to sneak past the guards.

Leader Building

Clark Kent, wearing his trademark glasses and a mess of bushy hair, strolls through a crowd before entering the Daily Planet. The building’s exterior is Cleveland’s Leader Building on Superior Avenue, though the newsroom interior was filmed at Trilith Studios in Atlanta. (In case you’re wondering, Metropolis is canonically located in Delaware.)

Exterior of Tower City - Night

In the only night scene filmed in Cleveland, two of Luthor’s goons unleash a baby kaiju outside Tower City Center on Canal Road in the Flats. Luthor means to distract Superman with the fire-breathing creature while he snoops around the Fortress of Solitude.

Citizens of Metropolis run with their belongings in a slow shutter camera setting over the Detroit-Superior Bridge during filming of the Superman movie in Cleveland.

Public Square

Cleveland’s most elaborate set piece features Superman saving civilians— a dog, a little girl, a woman, even a squirrel— from the now-giant kaiju. The city skyline — including Terminal Tower, Key Tower, 200 Public Square, the old May Company building and the Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Monument — is unmistakable, even with digital enhancements. When the monster proves too much for him alone, Superman gets backup from the Justice Gang: Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and Hawkgirl (Cleveland native Isabela Merced).

David Corenswet as Superman is taken away into custody by Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr. (left), an unidentified masked villain (center) and Maria Gabriela de Faria as the Engineer (right) during filming of "Superman" at Cleveland City Hall on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.

Key Tower

The ensuing celebration is short-lived as an anti-Superman broadcast turns the adoring crowd into an angry mob. Superman and the Justice Gang regroup in the Key Tower lobby to talk it out.

City Hall

Film crews work to transform Superior Ave. in downtown Cleveland into Metropolis for production of the new Superman movie.

The action shifts a few blocks north to Cleveland, err, Metropolis City Hall, where Superman turns himself in to Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) and Ultraman. The scene offers a good look at Public Hall across the street when Ultraman slams Supe’s head into the pavement.

Superman, played by David Corenswet, is filmed in a hole after falling from the sky during production at PNC Plaza in Cleveland on July 10, 2024. The scene appears early in the movie.

Cincinnati Museum Center

After wrapping in Cleveland on July 16, 2024, the production headed south on I-71 for two days of filming in the Queen City. The old Union Terminal — the inspiration for the Hall of Justice in the “Super Friends” animated series from the 1970s — serves as the live-action version of the superhero headquarters, where Lois visits the Justice Gang.

The Red Chimney

In a quiet scene, Guy Gardner eats a bowl of cereal at the Red Chimney, a beloved Slavic Village diner, while watching breaking news of a global conflict and pondering his next move.

Hawkgirl’s apartment

A companion moment shows Hawkgirl doing the same from her apartment, filmed at the Hyatt Regency Cleveland at the Arcade.

Escape from Metropolis

Luthor’s creation of a pocket universe threatens Metropolis, forcing an evacuation of the city. Some of this sequence was filmed in Playhouse Square, where the Greyhound Bus Station and Crowne Plaza Hotel are clearly visible. The bulk of it, however, takes place on the Detroit-Superior Bridge, where Superman swoops in to save a woman from a building collapsing on top of her car.

Progressive Field

One of the film’s most thrilling sequences unfolds at LordTech Field — home of the Metropolis Meteors — where Ultraman and the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) battle Superman and Mister Terrific. Superman briefly gains the upper hand, spinning across the diamond like a cartoon Tasmanian devil before the duo neutralizes him and the Engineer fills his lungs with air, forcing a retreat.

Superior Avenue

After saving the world, Superman lands outside the Daily Planet, where he’s reunited with Lois and the rest of Clark’s co-workers, while Lex Luthor meets his fate. The scene appears to be the only one that cast members Hoult, Wendell Pierce (Perry White), Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), Sara Sampaio (Eve Teschmacher), Beck Bennett (Steve Lombard) and Mikaela Hoover (Cat Grant) filmed in Cleveland.

The Arcade

In a scene near the end of the film that’s sure to give you goosebumps, Superman agrees to give Lois an exclusive interview. Instead, inside the historic Arcade —labeled “Lacey’s Arcade” in the movie — they share a kiss, the gravity of the moment literally lifting them off the ground in what’s destined to become the film’s most enduring image.

Post-credits scene

But wait — there’s more! The first Cleveland scene shot is actually the last one in the movie, one of two post-credits scenes. In it, Superman stands outside the Cleveland Public Library’s Main Library, inspecting a crack in the façade, apparently unimpressed with Mister Terrific’s patch job after the building split in two during the film’s climactic battle.

Not in the movie

Cleveland.com reporter Pete Chakerian spent hours covering a scene shot at the Standard Building last June where Mister Terrific tries to lure Superman’s unruly (CGI) superdog Krypto out of a pet shop using treats. The shot of Krypto remains, but Gathegi’s part in the scene was cut from the film — but not from a Milk-Bone ad.

That’s Hollywood for you: one minute you’re saving the world, the next you’re shilling dog treats.

“Superman” opens in theaters Friday.

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