Superman: Legacy just had its first table read for the principal cast in Atlanta, where most of the filming will take place. We know this thanks to a cast selfie posted by James Gunn on social media. But the newest Superman film will also be shot in Cleveland and Cincinnati. We’ve learned this is thanks to tax credits the production received from the state of Ohio. This has significance for two reasons. The first is that Cleveland is where young Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman as teenagers. The second though, might have larger implications for the DCU. You see, Cincinnati is the real-life home of the Justice League’s home base, the Hall of Justice. Well, sort of.
The Justice League has had many headquarters in the comics. A secret cave, a satellite in space, and a Watchtower on the moon. But thanks to the 1970s Super Friends cartoon, most people think of one HQ in particular when thinking of where the League hangs their capes—the Hall of Justice. Because it was so popular in the cartoon, the comics eventually incorporated it into mainstream continuity. However, Super Friends creators Al Gmuer and Joe Barbera lifted the design from Union Terminal in Cincinnati. First built in 1933, Union Terminal is a museum today. But with Superman: Legacy filming in Cincinnati, could using this building be too good an opportunity to pass up?
Now, we don’t even know that there’s a Justice League in this new DCU. That said, our best guess is that there is a functioning Justice League already in the film. The fact that prominent League members like Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific, and Metamorpho are in the film suggests a version of the Justice League already exists. If they do, then they need a base of operations. So with filming in Cincinnati, why not just use the building that inspired the Hall of Justice in the first place? At least the exterior anyway. We may just have our superhero tin foil hats on, but we wouldn’t be surprised if this bit of speculation turns out to be real.
