List of locations in the Superman film series

The following is an overview of the various locations depicted in the live-action Superman films since 1978. This includes the 1984 spin-off Supergirl.
Argo City
In the 1984 film Supergirl, Argo City is shown as having survived in a pocket of extradimensional space, with life-support powered by a device called the Omegahedron, the loss of which forms the basis of the film's plot.
Fortress of Solitude

Christopher Reeve films (1978-1987)
In Superman and its sequels (except for Superman III, in which it did not appear), the Fortress is created by a crystal that Jor-El enclosed in Kal-El's spaceship. The crystal leads teenage Clark Kent to an ice field where, after he throws it down, it melts into the ice and grows into a huge crystalline building, similar to the crystalline architecture shown on Krypton at the beginning of the film. This feat is similar to other descriptions in science fiction of a nano-assembler device. This Fortress contains numerous "memory crystals" that can be used to access Jor-El's artificial intelligence and hologram, interactive holographic recordings of Lara, and other Kryptonians, and a chamber that uses red sun radiation to strip Kryptonians of their super powers. (Used in both versions of Superman II)
In , the Fortress is destroyed by Superman as its existence was revealed to Lex Luthor as well as the police who arrested General Zod, Ursa, and Non. However, Superman then turns back time (à la Superman I), so technically the fortress is completely undamaged, while Zod, Ursa and Non are returned to the Phantom Zone.
Superman Returns
In Superman Returns, the Fortress follows the same formula as the earlier movies, but goes into more detail about the crystal origins of the Fortress and Kryptonian architecture. Lex Luthor attempts to use memory crystals he stole from the Fortress to create a new continent. An observation is made (following Superman II) that he acts as though he has been there before.
The tie-in book, Superman Returns: The Visual Guide lists the Fortress as sitting on "Fletcher's Abyssal Plane".
Krypton
Christopher Reeve films (1978-1987)
With the release of the in 1978, a vastly less idyllic image of Krypton, compared to the previous comics' versions, was presented. Whereas in the comics, Krypton was colorful and bright, in Superman, the planet was envisioned as having stark white terrain of jagged frozen plateaus, stretching broadly under heavy, dark skies (becoming redder as their sun grew toward becoming supernova), prompting Jor-El to attempt to persuade the immediate evacuation of the entire planet to the council of elders, to avoid perishing in the cataclysm, to no avail.
Kryptonians themselves were portrayed as being a coolly cerebral society, clad in stark white body-suits emblazoned with the standard of each family's house symbol, and treading through halls of antiseptic, white crystal under crystalline arches. The crystalline motif was employed not only in the architecture, but in the landscape and technology as well, suggesting that the entire planet had been adapted and altered by Kryptonian influence. Krypton was ultimately destroyed when its red sun began to collapse; the planet was pulled into the sun and steadily crushed, then exploded in the ensuing supernova. Krypton is mentioned in deleted scenes to be located in the(fictional) "Xeno Galaxy" and Jor-El's recordings say that Kal-El will pass through six galaxies during his voyage to Earth. This could either mean Krypton is millions of lightyears away, well past the Andromeda Galaxy(making it the most remote of its various locations in any Superman story to date), or located in one of the dwarf galaxies closer to the Milky Way in the Local Group.
This version of Krypton was to have a strong influence on John Byrne's 1986 re-imagining of the world. However, the film's Krypton was still presented as having a society "better" than Earth's, unlike the Krypton that Byrne envisioned. For example, there was no death penalty on Krypton because almost all criminals were rehabilitated (the ones that were not or were beyond rehabilitation such as General Zod were banished to the Phantom Zone). Superman himself thought very highly of the planet and was proud to have come from there. Also, in this version of the story, both Jor-El and Lara preserve some part of their essence in the starship that brings their child to Earth, so that on Clark Kent's eighteenth birthday, Jor-El appears to him within the Fortress of Solitude and initiates twelve years of Kryptonian education for the youth, and both remain as constructs within the Fortress until it is ransacked by Lex Luthor (see below).
The origin of Superman's symbol is given a Kryptonian origin in the film (as Smallville and Mark Waid's Superman: Birthright would years later). Male Kryptonians are shown wearing unique symbols on the chests of their robes, similar to a family crest; Jor-El and Kal-El after him wear the familiar S-shield, which Lois Lane later assumes to be the letter S from the familiar Latin alphabet, and thus dubs him Superman.
The idea for Jor-El to have the symbol was suggested by actor Marlon Brando, who portrayed Jor-El in the movie, and eventually was retconned into the comics continuity as being the crest of the House of El, which both Superman and Kara Zor-El are part of. In more recent years it has been adapted by comics writers to be an actual grapheme of Kryptonian orthography, with the standard version of the shield meaning hope, and the inverted (upside-down) version meaning resurrection.
In the 2008 Kevin Anderson novel The Last Days of Krypton, the El family crest is suggested to symbolize the serpent of deception imprisoned in a diamond-hard crystal of truth.
Rao
In both 1978's Superman: The Movie and the 2006 film Superman Returns, Rao becomes a supernova, destroying Krypton.
Superman Returns
The 2006 movie Superman Returns presents a version of Krypton almost identical to Superman (since Superman Returns is more or less set in the same continuity as Superman The Movie.) In the beginning of the film, scientists discover remains of Krypton, and Superman leaves Earth for five years to look for it. His ship is seen leaving the dead planet. In the shooting script for the film (under the production title "Red Son"), Lex Luthor reveals to a weakened Superman that his henchman actually set Superman up to believe that Krypton still existed by sending false signals.
During the beginning, we see the city where Kal-El was born (including the famous white dome that housed the trial of General Zod, Ursa, and Non), then as to replicate the lift-off, other cities can be seen on the night side and then finally the planet's destruction by a supernova of its red supergiant sun Rao.
Superman Returns extends the crystalline Kryptonian technology from Superman which allowed young Clark Kent to "grow" the Fortress of Solitude. In the new movie, Kryptonian crystals are able to grow huge land masses and incorporate the properties of the surrounding environment; a sliver taken from of one of the crystals used to test the theory causes Lex Luthor's basement to be filled with a huge crystal structure. Growing land in this manner causes widespread power failure in the vicinity, inadvertently causing the emergency involving a space-shuttle and an airliner which acts as Superman's triumphant return. When he later returns to the Fortress of Solitude to find that the crystals that powered it have been stolen, Superman is visibly enraged. Lex Luthor later combines one of the crystals with kryptonite and shoots it into the ocean, creating what he calls "New Krypton". After being stabbed and falling into the sea, Superman uses his heat vision to get under the crust of the island and he then throws it into space, nearly killing himself in the process.
The novelization by Marv Wolfman further expands on the "S" as well, stating that one of Superman's ancestors helped civilize Krypton long ago, and the crest was considered one of the three most respected icons in Kryptonian culture.
Metropolis
Christopher Reeve films (1978-1987)
In 1978's Superman and its sequels, Metropolis is shown as being in (or taking the place of) New York City, including depicting such New York landmarks as the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center, the Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Station, and the New York Daily News offices. In Superman III, some Calgary, Alberta landmarks can be seen, including the Calgary Tower and the St. Louis Hotel, as parts of the film were filmed there.
Daily Planet
In 1978's Superman and its sequels, the Daily Planet exterior was the New York Daily News Building. The globe, which used to be on the top of the building, was apparently replaced with one in the front lobby to make room for a helipad on the roof. In fact, The News Building in New York has featured a globe in its lobby for almost all of its history. The real-life Daily News was headquartered in The News Building until the mid 1990s.
Superman Returns
Superman Returns director Bryan Singer intended his version of Metropolis to be a stylistic cross between 1930s New York and current New York. The many shots of Superman flying high above the city establish that although Metropolis has a rectangular park reminiscent of Central Park, the city overall has a slightly different shape from New York City. Several New York City landmarks, such as the American International Building, Battery Park, the MetLife Building, the Woolworth Building, World Financial Center, 7 World Trade Center and the Brooklyn Bridge, were clearly shown, as was the street grid of lower Manhattan, with a fictional bridge inserted north of Battery Park City and a fictional pier in the middle of Battery Park. The map of Metropolis shown in this article, however, tries to make the city's form as different as possible from New York City's, given the scenery shown.) Photographs of some automobiles used in filming show license plates bearing the phrase "New York State" along the bottom, although the featured vehicles (including Lois Lane's car) are shown in the film to have license plates reading "The First State" Lex Luthor's map onscreen portrays the city as directly in the location of New York City. Senior production designer Guy Dyas said in The Art of Superman Returns (Chronicle Books, 2006): "We wiped out, I think, half of New Jersey to put in Metropolis." The map showed Metropolis clearly being in place for New York City but in New York State. Long Island was not shown.
Midtown Manhattan was only shown twice, both in brief high aerial shots of the city at night. The first had the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building obstructed by clouds while the GE Building was visible. The second, all three buildings would appear but very briefly. License Plates show the Daily Planet Building as the main symbol for Metropolis. With no World Trade Center due to the September 11, 2001 attacks (which took place during Superman's five year departure from Earth), the real life Empire State Building, or in this case the Emperor Building as named in the comics, would be the tallest in Metropolis.
In past Superman movies, Metropolis was suggested to be New York City itself. Landmarks like the World Trade Center and Statue of Liberty were seen. It should be noted that Metropolis is, if not, New York City with minor changes. The movie really only focused on Lower Manhattan with Midtown Manhattan only shown twice in the distance. 17 State Street, which is a recognizable glass tower at the tip of the island was replaced by an older looking tower and the tops of the two World Financial Center Towers were removed. A small cluster of tall Art-Deco Towers along with the Daily Planet building were added to the skyline near the Civic Center. The LexCorp Tower never appeared in the movie; comics suggest LexCorp had a Twin Towered Headquarters, which suggests that if they still existed, the World Trade Center North and South towers were the LexCorp Towers, but being 2006, unlike the older Superman movies, the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, did not appear, being that the setting is after the September 11, 2001 attacks. It is implied that 9/11 happened shortly after Superman's 5 year departure from Earth, as in 2006, 5 years ago it was 2001 where the world was in no major wars until the events of 9/11. Despite this, one aerial shot showed several small buildings over the site, probably suggesting that they never existed, yet a quick scene showed footage of the War on Terror on television news.
Parts of Superman Returns was filmed in Sydney, Australia, and some minor landmarks in Sydney can be identified such as Martin Place, when Superman catches the car. License plates on cars that state the first state may also refer to NSW license plates.
Daily Planet
The 2006 Superman Returns movie has redesigned the Daily Planet as a completely computer generated image of a fictional building inserted into the Empire State Building skyline.
Phantom Zone
In the starring Marlon Brando and Christopher Reeve, the Phantom Zone is presented as a large, flat shard of crystal. First Elder (Trevor Howard) refers to the Phantom Zone only in the extended versions of Superman. Susannah York (Lara) refers to the Phantom Zone by name in Superman II when she first makes the revelation about the three villains. In his DVD commentary, Director Richard Donner refers to it as "the Zone of Silence". General Zod and his co-conspirators Ursa and Non appear to be transferred to a two-dimensional space on the crystal's surface. The crystal is then flung into space.
Years later, in Superman II, a nuclear explosion from a bomb Superman was forced to fling from Earth into space inadvertently shatters the prison and releases the prisoners. Now free, General Zod and his cohorts travel to Earth, wreaking havoc with the powers granted to them by Earth's yellow sun.
The Phantom Zone appears in cut of Superman II, released in November 2006. In this version (per the original shooting script prior to being altered by director Richard Lester for the theatrical version), the crystal shard imprisoning Zod, Ursa, & Non is shattered by the XK-101 rocket Superman threw into space in Superman. The Zone is shown splitting into three separate shards, one containing each villain, before it finally shatters, freeing them. After defeating Zod and his followers, Superman uses a timewarp to imprison the three criminals back in the Phantom Zone and undo the damage they had done during their time on Earth.
In the Supergirl movie, Kara is banished to the Phantom Zone by means of a summoned crystal shard. The crystal transports her to a barren, desolate world where it shatters, casting her to the ground. This depiction of the Phantom Zone suggests that the crystal shard seen in the first two Superman movies is not the Phantom Zone itself, but simply a vehicle that takes prisoners to this desolate wasteland which is referred to as the Phantom Zone. In this movie, it is also revealed that there is a way out of the Zone, but the trip to the exit portal is extremely dangerous.
Smallville
Smallville was first placed in Kansas by the 1978 film, Superman, although actual filming of the Kent family's farmland was done in Alberta and the surrounding fields of the town of Baldock, England. Superman writer Elliot S. Maggin incorporated the Kansas location into the DC Universe in his 1981 Superman novel, Miracle Monday. Comic writer and artist John Byrne also placed Smallville in Kansas in his 1986 rewrite of Superman's origin. The 1990s limited series The Kents places Smallville in Eastern Kansas within approximately one day's horse ride of Paola, Kansas, which is located in Miami County. The tag on the truck driven by Glen Ford's character had a Cloud County identifyer CD Kansas. Incidently there was a Smallville in Cloud County Kansas NW of Concordia and south of Norway, Kansas. All that is left there is an old railroad depot.

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