Metropolis is a

fictional city A fictional city refers to a town, city or village that is invented for fictional stories and does not exist in real life, or which people believe to exist without definitive proof, such as Plato's account of Atlantis. Cultures have always had l ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by DC Comics, best known as the home of

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

and his closest allies and some of his foes. First appearing by name in '' Action Comics'' #16 (Sept. 1939), Metropolis is depicted as a prosperous and massive city in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

, in close proximity to Gotham City. In recent years, it has been stated to be located in Delaware or

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The co-creator and original artist of Superman, Joe Shuster, modeled the Metropolis skyline after Toronto, where he was born and lived until he was ten. Since then, however, the look and feel of Metropolis has been greatly influenced by New York City.Bridwell, E. Nelson. "Metropolis Mailbag," ''Superman'' #306 (Dec. 1976). Within the DC Universe, Metropolis is depicted as being one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world, having a population of 11 million citizens. In addition to Superman, the city has also been home to other superheroes, such as Booster Gold and Black Lightning.

Creation

Like many other fictional cities in DC Comics, the location of Metropolis has varied over the years but is usually portrayed as a major city in the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

, sharing various qualities with New York City.

co-creator Joe Shuster moved to Cleveland at age ten, where he met co-creator and Ohio native Jerry Siegel. Originally intending to sell the Superman strips to a Cleveland newspaper, they decided to set the stories there, but when the strips were re-used for the comic books, they changed the location to the fictional Metropolis. Shuster was quoted as having modeled his Metropolis cityscape on that of his hometown, Toronto, and in the early versions of Superman, Clark Kent worked for a newspaper called the '' Daily Star'', modeled after the real-life ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

''. ''Action Comics'' #2, however, mistakenly portrays Clark Kent as a reporter for the ''Cleveland Evening News''.

Geography

In ''Superman'' #2 (Fall 1939), Metropolis was actually placed in the U.S. state of

, making it the earliest specific reference to the location of Metropolis. In that issue, Clark Kent (Superman) sends a telegram to George Taylor, the editor of the ''Daily Star'' (the antecedent to the '' Daily Planet''), addressed to "Metropolis, N.Y." In the 1940s Superman cartoons, produced by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

, Superman is said to live on the island of Manhattan. In the seventh cartoon of the series, '' Electric Earthquake'', a Native American mad scientist claims that his people are the rightful owners of Manhattan, thus placing these cartoons on the island. In the fifth episode in the series, "The Bulleteers", the name of the city is identified as Metropolis, as the Bulleteers address in that cartoon the population of Superman's city as "citizens of Metropolis"; and in the 13th episode "Destruction Inc.", Metropolis is even seen spelled out twice on the Metropolis Munition Works. In a 1970s edition of "Ask the

Answer Man Robert "Bob" Rozakis (; born April 4, 1951) is an American comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of Mazing Man'' and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man". Career Bob Rozakis go ...

", a column that ran occasionally in DC publications, it was stated that Metropolis and Gotham City were adjacent to New York City; across the harbor from each other."Daily Planet," ''Detective Comics'' #470 (June 1977). That same column stated that Green Arrow's home, Star City, was in Connecticut, Flash's

Central City In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city i ...

was in Ohio, and Hawkman's Midway City was in Michigan. An earlier issue of DC's fanzine ''

Amazing World of DC Comics ''The Amazing World of DC Comics'' was DC Comics' self-produced fan magazine of the mid-1970s. Running 17 issues, the fanzine featured DC characters and their creators, and was exclusively available through mail order. Primarily text articles, with ...

'', however, stated that Metropolis was located in Delaware, while Gotham was placed in New Jersey. The 1990 ''Atlas of the DC Universe''

role playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal a ...

supplement, published by

Mayfair Games Mayfair Games was an American publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games that also licensed Euro-style board games to publish them in English. The company licensed worldwide English-language publishing rights to ''The Settlers of Catan'' ser ...

, states that Metropolis is in Delaware.''Atlas of the DC Universe'' (Mayfair Games, 1990). In June 1976, ''Superman'' #300 featured an out-of-canon story about the infant Kal-El arriving on Earth in that year, triggering an increase in

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. In that story's version of the year 2001, passing reference is made to the merging of the eastern seaboard cities from Boston to Washington, D.C., into a "newly incorporated urban center" called "Metropolis". In his 1978 work, ''The Great Superman Book'', an encyclopedia of the first forty years of the Superman comics, author Michael Fleisher cites many examples which demonstrate that Metropolis equates with New York City. The most blatant of these might be the statement he cites from ''Action Comics'' #143 (April 1950), which states that the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

stands in "Metropolis Harbor".Fleisher, Michael and Lincoln, Janet E. ''The Great Superman Book'' (Grand Central Publishing, 1978), pp. 223–225. The Statue of Liberty, in fact, stands in

New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

. In the pre-'' Crisis on Infinite Earths'' comics,

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...

was often shown as being within driving distance of Metropolis, although with no definitive location. John Byrne's 1986 revamp of Superman cited the city as being in Kansas. The 1992 " Death of Superman" storyline depicts

Doomsday Doomsday may refer to: * Eschatology, a time period described in the eschatological writings in Abrahamic religions and in doomsday scenarios of non-Abrahamic religions. * Global catastrophic risk, a hypothetical event explored in science and fict ...

on a path from Ohio through the state of New York, ending in Metropolis, and the 2005 comic '' Countdown to Infinite Crisis'' also places Metropolis in the state of

. The 2003 DC Comics/ Marvel Comics crossover mini-series '' JLA/Avengers'' depicts the city as along the multi-state

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

, which is the main highway on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

, and portrays the corresponding location in the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...

as forests and fields, explaining that Marvel's Earth and DC's Earth have different surface areas to account for their different geography (no Metropolis on Marvel's Earth, no Latveria on DC's Earth, and so on). On the television series '' Superman: The Animated Series'', the second part of the episode titled "Little Girl Lost" depicts Darkseid's minion using a machine hidden in or around Metropolis to attempt to pull a comet into the earth. The beam from that machine is depicted originating from the area of the mid-western United States where Kansas is located. In the second part of the episode "Last Son of Krypton" when Lois is introduced to Clark Kent, she is told he is from Smallville, she replies "Smallville? Never heard of it", prompting Clark Kent to ask her if she had ever been to Kansas. Lois replies "God No!" while turning her head in a sign of visible disgust. Frank Miller has said that "Metropolis is

in the daytime; Gotham City is

at night." Gotham City is home to

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

, whose activities are more often nocturnal, while Metropolis is home to Superman, who usually operates during the day. In terms of atmosphere, ''

'' writer and editor Dennis O'Neil has said that, figuratively, "Batman's Gotham City is Manhattan below 14th Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November, and Metropolis is Manhattan between

14th 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 (number), 13 and preceding 15 (number), 15. In relation to the word "four" (4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a s ...

and 110th Streets on the brightest, sunniest July day of the year". New York City has been more recently used as a locale in the DC Universe, like the Marvel Universe, in which it exists as a separate city from Metropolis and Gotham City. The Justice Society of America, for example, is based in New York, as were the Teen Titans.

In relation to Gotham City

Metropolis is frequently depicted as being within driving distance of Gotham City, home of

. This happens, for example, in the three-issue 1990 mini-series of ''

World's Finest Comics ''World's Finest Comics'' was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled ''World's Best Comics'' for its first issue; issue #2 (Summer 1941) switched to the more familiar name. Michael ...

'' by Dave Gibbons, Steve Rude, and Karl Kesel. The distance between the two cities has varied greatly over the years, ranging from being hundreds of miles apart to Gotham and Metropolis being twin cities on opposite sides of Delaware Bay, with Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City being in New Jersey.Montgomery, Paul (May 18, 2011)
"The Secret Geography of the DC Universe: A Really Big Map"
/ref> In Bronze Age stories that depicted Metropolis and Gotham City as twin cities, the Metro-Narrows Bridge was said to be the main route connecting Metropolis to Gotham City.''The New Adventures of Superboy'' #22, October 1981 Stated as being the longest suspension bridge in the world, the Metro-Narrows Bridge is likely based on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which stretches between

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

and Brooklyn in New York City. In ''

The World's Greatest Superheroes ''The World's Greatest Superheroes'' was a syndicated newspaper comic strip featuring DC Comics characters which ran Sunday and daily from April 3, 1978, to February 10, 1985. It was syndicated by the Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate ...

'' newspaper

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

, a 1978 Sunday strip shows a map of the east coast of the United States; the map places Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City across Delaware Bay in New Jersey, with the Metro-Narrows Bridge linking the two cities. A similar map appeared in ''The New Adventures of Superboy'' #22 (October 1981), with

shown within driving distance of both cities (in

post-Crisis "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Ma ...

comics, Smallville was officially relocated to Kansas). 1990's ''

The Atlas of the DC Universe ''The Atlas of the DC Universe'' by Paul Kupperberg was published in 1990 by Mayfair Games as a supplement to its DC Heroes role-playing game. It includes maps and information about locations in the DC Universe; for example, it places Metropolis ...

'' also places Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City in New Jersey. However, the exact location of the two cities has varied. A map of the United States in the Secret Files & Origins Guide to the DC Universe 2000 depicts Metropolis and Gotham City (alongside Blüdhaven) as being somewhere in the tri-state area. In the TV series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', when Lois finds out about Superman's secret identity and yells at Clark about how he's been hiding his secretly being Superman, he responds, "A little louder, Lois. I don't think they could hear you in Gotham City." In the TV series ''

'', Linda Lake, a columnist for the ''Daily Planet'', once boasted that she could see Gotham City from her new office. In '' Superman: The Animated Series'', Bruce Wayne is shown taking his private

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...

to Metropolis, indicating that the two cities have at least some distance between them. In the 2016 film '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'', director Zack Snyder confirmed that Metropolis and Gotham City would be portrayed as geographically situated right next to each other, on the opposite sides of a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

, similar to

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Manhattan.

History

A Native American tribe sold Metropolis Island to the first European settlers in 1644, similar to the history of New York City, in which Native Americans sold

Manhattan Island Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

to Dutch settlers in 1626.

Features

Over the years, Metropolis' features have greatly changed in the comics; however, Metropolis is always presented as being a global city. It is often referred to as "The Big Apricot" just as New York City is nicknamed " The Big Apple". It is commonly portrayed as having an Art Deco style of architecture, much like New York City. The skyline and many of the notable landmarks in Metropolis are based on real-life landmarks in New York City. Frank Miller has said that "Metropolis is New York in the daytime; Gotham City is New York at night." Metropolis' features became more defined and more obviously based on New York following both 1985's '' Crisis on Infinite Earths'' miniseries and John Byrne's subsequent revamping of Superman, including the late 1980s comic special ''The World of Metropolis''. According to ''Action Comics'' #143 (April 1950), the

is said to stand in "Metropolis Harbor", while the real-life Statue of Liberty stands in

. However, most stories indicate the Statue of Liberty is actually in New York City, which also exists in the DC Universe as a separate city from Metropolis. The map of Metropolis designed for Mayfair Games' first edition of the ''DC Heroes Role-Playing Game'' resembled that of Manhattan.

Districts and boroughs

Metropolis is made up of six boroughs, the largest being New Troy. Each of the boroughs has its own distinct character and feel, which resemble and mimic New York City's boroughs.

New Troy

New Troy is the largest borough in Metropolis. Resembling Manhattan, New Troy is a skyscraper island bustling with commerce and business. The concrete and steel canyons of the city rise to dizzying heights. "1930s architecture stretched like a rubber band" as cited in the ''Art of Superman Returns'' book. The '' Daily Planet'' Building is the most recognizable landmark in the Metropolis skyline, much like the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

for New York City. Located in "Planet Square", it is particularly known for the ''Daily Planet'' globe atop the building. Other prominent skyscrapers include the Emperor Building (a reference to the Empire State Building), the Newstime Building (home of the national ''Newstime'' magazine, a reference to and combination of '' Newsweek'' and '' Time'') which is secretly owned for several years by Lord Satanus posing as "Colin Thornton", and the Twin Towered LexCorp Tower, (a reference to the former twin towers of the World Trade Center), headquarters for Lex Luthor's company. Besides the Financial District, notable areas of New Troy include: *

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

- Metropolis' Asian District. * Little Bohemia - The arts capital of Metropolis and a reference to Little Italy and Greenwich Village in Manhattan. * Glenmorgan Square - An area that is based on Times Square. Famous streets in New Troy include

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

, Bessolo Boulevard, and Topaz Lane. The latter two are Metropolis' versions of Broadway in New York City. Bessolo Boulevard's name is derived from '' Adventures of Superman'' lead actor George Reeves' legal name before entering films. Other Metropolis boulevards in the New Troy borough are similarly named for other actors from that series and from its radio predecessor of the same name, such as Coates, Larson, and Collyer. Centennial Park (sometimes labeled as Metropolis Park) is Metropolis' largest city park and is based on real life Central Park of New York City. Its most noteworthy feature is a

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

of Superman with an

American bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

erected after his apparent death fighting Doomsday. A statue of Superboy

Conner Kent Superboy (also known as Kon-El or Conner Kent) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A modern variation on Superboy (Kal-El), the original Superboy, the character first appeared as Superboy in ''The Adventures ...

was built next to it after the events of '' Infinite Crisis''. Other notable places and their NYC inspirations include: * Wireless City Movie Theater - A spoof of

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

. * Metropolis International Airport - A spoof of LaGuardia Airport * Halldorf Hotel - A spoof of

Waldorf Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultz ...

. * Lacey's Department Store - A spoof of Macy's. * Stacey's Department Store - Another homage of Macy's * Spiffany's Jewelry Store - A spoof of Tiffany's. In northwestern New Troy is the impoverished and crime-infested neighborhood of

Suicide Slum Suicide Slum (official name Southside) is a notorious fictional slum in publications from DC Comics. The area was first introduced in the "Newsboy Legion" feature as a slum in New York City. It was later placed in Superman's city, Metropolis, when ...

, best known for the 1940s adventures of the

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

and his street urchin companions the Newsboy Legion and in more contemporary times with Gangbuster. Although the northwestern location is similar to the relationship of Harlem to midtown Manhattan, the neighborhood bears more physical and cultural resemblance to Manhattan's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

. The Ace o' Clubs is a bar owned by

Bibbo Bibbowski Bo "Bibbo" Bibbowski is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is typically shown as a good friend and supportive advocate of Superman. Bibbo Bibbowski first appeared in '' The Adventures of Superman ...

in Suicide Slum. In 1990s and 2000s stories, the married Clark Kent and Lois Lane live in an apartment in New Troy, at 1938 Sullivan Lane, which is a tribute to the year Superman first appeared. The apartment was a wedding gift to the couple by Bruce Wayne, who owned the building. Clark Kent's traditional address of 344 Clinton Street, Apartment 3D, was usually described as being located in midtown Metropolis.

Other boroughs and suburbs

New Troy is separated from the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

an boroughs by the West River and Hobb's River, based on New York's East River and Hudson River, respectively. * Midvale - Midvale is a suburb of Metropolis, more well known as the home of Supergirl and the site of the Midvale Orphanage prior to the events of '' Crisis on Infinite Earths''. It is located 60 miles northwest of Metropolis. * Bakerline - Bakerline is another borough of Metropolis. Located north of New Troy, Bakerline is the home of newspaper reporter

Jimmy Olsen Jimmy Olsen is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Olsen is most often portrayed as a young photojournalist working for the ''Daily Planet''. He is close friends with Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and has ...

and appears to be based on The Bronx in New York City. Other boroughs and

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

areas, almost all of which are based on real places in New York City, include Queensland Park (a reference to Queens), Hell's Gate (a reference to Hell Gate Bridge), St. Martin's Island (a reference to

), Park Ridge (a reference to Park Slope), Metrodale, and Highville.

Cultural, educational, and research institutions

In the Silver Age and Bronze Age comics, a major Metropolis landmark is the Superman Museum. The Superman Museum features various exhibits dedicated to Metropolis' favorite superhero, similar to the

Flash Museum The Flash Museum is a fictional museum that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The museum is dedicated to the superheroes sharing the alias of the Flash, with its primary focus on Barry Allen. It first appeared in the 'B' story from ...

. The Museum's exhibits were responsible for the origin of the

Composite Superman The Composite Superman is a DC Comics supervillain, an enemy of Superman and Batman. The character first appeared in ''World's Finest Comics'' #142 (June 1964) and was created by Edmond Hamilton and Curt Swan. Fictional character biography Joseph ...

. Members of the criminal organization

the 100 The 100 may refer to: Arts and entertainment * 100 (DC Comics), fictional organized crime groups appearing in DC Comics * ''The 100'' (novel series), a 2013–2016 science fiction novel series written by Kass Morgan * ''The 100'' (TV series), 20 ...

at one point secretly used the Superman Museum as their base of operations, which was discovered by the superhero Black Lightning and his nemesis the Whale. Superman, under the effects of hypnosis, once went on a rampage and wrecked several pieces at the museum. The Superman Museum, like the Flash Museum, is also usually shown as existing well into the

Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st c ...

' era, as shown in various stories and the 2000s television series ''

Legion of Super Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st cent ...

''. The central branch of

S.T.A.R. Labs Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories (S.T.A.R. Labs) is a fictional scientific research facility and organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It first appeared in ''Superman'' #246 (December 1 ...

, a major scientific research institution, is also located in Metropolis. The Metropolis Museum of Natural History was featured in the film '' Superman Returns''.

Education

Metropolis University, Clark Kent's alma mater, is located in the city of Metropolis; Clark graduated with a degree in journalism. The college has a floating aquarium anchored just offshore called the "Ark".

Other landmarks, institutions and businesses

#Centennial Hotel - Offers world-class cuisine and an observation deck with views across Centennial Park. #Centennial Park - Activities in the wooded acres include horseback riding,

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...

, and golfing. #1938 Sullivan - Owned by Wayne Enterprises, Lois Lane and

Clark Kent Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publish ...

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

building is one of the city's oldest buildings. #University of Metropolis - Clark Kent's alma mater, this Ivy League institution boasts well-respected schools of journalism, law, and business. #

- The Metropolis arm of the privately owned scientific think-tank founded by Dr. Garrison Slate. #Steelworks - John Henry Irons' foundry in the Old Hook Basin district of

includes a variety of advanced technology to aid

. #

- Despite being razed and renovated by

Brainiac 13 Brainiac is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino and first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #242 in July 1958. Brainiac is usually depicted as an extraterr ...

, Suicide Slum, where Bibbo has his Ace O' Clubs bar, is still a sink of crime and poverty. #Special Crimes Unit Precinct - Metropolis' S.C.U's upgraded headquarters houses offices, armories, and holding cells. # Stryker's Island Penitentiary - The ultimate

maximum security prison Maximum security prisons and supermax prisons are grades of high security level used by prison systems in various countries, which pose a higher level of security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is ...

possesses high-tech detention facilities designed to accommodate the most powerful

metahuman In DC Comics' DC Universe, a metahuman is a human with superpowers. The term is roughly synonymous with both ''mutant'' and ''mutate'' in the Marvel Universe and '' posthuman'' in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. In DC Comics, the term ...

villains. #Union Station - Location in the heart of the city, Union Station links the national railroad network to Metropolis' unique "Rail Whale" commuter grid. #Metropolis City Hospital - The state-of-the-art medical center maintains a privileges-sharing program with S.T.A.R. Labs. #

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

Extra-Terrestrial Museum - The museum exhibits artifacts from alien worlds and presents guest lectures by interplanetary heroes. # Lena Luthor Science Explorarium - Technological advances abound this interactive museum. #

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

- The administrative center of Metropolis has mayoral, governmental, and emergency services offices. #S.A.I. Dam - Hydroelectric waterworks control the flow of the twin rivers and the recycling of the city reservoir. #Hypersector - The business and financial center of Metropolis. #Hotel Metropolis - Five-star luxury accommodation located amid the heart of Downtown. #

Shuster Shuster (originally a spelling variant of Schuster) is the surname of several people: *Bill Shuster, American politician from Pennsylvania *Bud Shuster, American politician, father of Bill *David Shuster, American reporter *Frank Shuster, Canadian ...

Hall - Metropolis' premier theater has been in service since 1938. #GBS Building - The corporate hub of Galaxy Communications' media conglomerate. # Daily Planet Building - The home of the respected, globally circulated newspaper. The Daily Planet Building, with its distinctive hologram globe, is one of the city's most important landmarks. #Metropolis Museum of Art - Galleries include important historical and contemporary artistic works. # LexCorp Towers - Designed to form a double L, Lex Luthor's 307-story citadels (with robot sentries and mutable glass windows) are Metropolis tallest skyscraper.

Industry

LexCorp, founded by Lex Luthor, endeavors into all aspects of technology, communication, medical science, technical science, architectural engineering, future technology, and more. Steelworks is the laboratory of Dr. John Henry Irons and in

, it came to rival LexCorp as its reach expanded into many different industries. John Henry renamed Steelworks Ironworks to further himself from his superhero life as

Steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

Law and government

Mayors

At least four mayors are considered part of Metropolis' history: * Mayor Frank Berkowitz - Mayor Frank Berkowitz began his term prior to Superman's first known public meeting with Lex Luthor as depicted in the ''Man of Steel'' #4 mini-series by John Byrne. Superman was given a choice: join Luthor and receive a generous check from him as first payment for his services, or arrest Luthor for the events in #4 as Berkowitz asked him to. Superman's decision made Lex Luthor his deadliest enemy to this day. Some years later, Frank Berkowitz was killed by a sniper hired by Lex Luthor. ** Mayor Frank Berkowitz appeared in the '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' episode "The Man of Steel Bars" portrayed by Sonny Bono. In different points of this episode, Mayor Berkowitz made references to the titles of the songs that his actor performed with

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

. He talked about the Metropolis heat wave in November when scientists suspected that Superman was responsible when it was secretly a factory owned by Lex Luthor that was emitting large amounts of heat. Once Superman fixed up the factory upon Lois begging on TV for Superman to return, Mayor Berkowitz noticed the temperature change as Lex Luthor uses a loophole to keep himself from getting incriminated. * Mayor "Buck" Sackett - "Buck" Sackett was elected as Berkowitz's successor. He was covertly Lex Luthor's "puppet". * Mayor Fleming - Mayor Fleming is an African-American female who has been introduced in Nick Spencer's ''Jimmy Olsen'' back-ups. She chose Jimmy Olsen and Sebastien Mallory to show the Dalwythians around the city. * Mayor Rob Morrisroe - Mayor Rob Morrisroe is the mayor of Metropolis in the first issue of ''Superman'' (vol. 3), as of DC's 2011 New 52 reboot.

Metropolis Police Department

The Metropolis Police Department headed by Commissioner David Corporon possesses a Special Crimes Unit dedicated to defending the city against superhuman menaces in case Superman is absent. The unit is headed by Maggie Sawyer and

Dan Turpin Daniel "Terrible" Turpin is a character published by DC Comics. He first appeared as Brooklyn (due to him being born in New York City) in ''Detective Comics'' #64 (June 1942), and first appeared as Dan Turpin in ''New Gods'' #5 (November 1971). Pu ...

, both of whom maintain frequent contact with the Man of Steel. Another of Superman's police contacts over the years has been

Inspector William Henderson Inspector William Henderson is a supporting character in Superman comics published by DC Comics. Along with comic books, Henderson has made appearances in various television shows like '' Adventures of Superman'' where he was portrayed by Robert ...

, who is currently the Metropolis police commissioner. The police unit is featured in a 1994–1995 limited series, ''Metropolis SCU''. At some point during the missing year following Infinite Crisis, the division of the Metropolis Police Department dedicated to superhuman crime was renamed the Science Police, seemingly a reference to the similarly named group in the Legion of Super-Heroes' 31st Century. Stryker's Island Penitentiary (based on New York's

Riker's Island Rikers Island is a island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx that contains New York City's main jail complex. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was originally under in size, but has ...

) is the name of Metropolis' largest prison facility, as well as the name of the island on which it sits; it is located in Metropolis' West River south of New Troy (the real-life Riker's Island sits in the East River, connected by a foot and vehicle bridge to the nearby borough of Queens, although the island itself and its jail complex are technically and officially part of The Bronx).

Metropolis Fire Department

Post- Crisis, Fireman Farrell is shown to be a member of the Metropolis fire department. As of ''Batman & Superman: World's Finest'' #4 (July 1999), Farrell is now a captain in the Metropolis FD.

Media

Metropolis' premier newspaper is the '' Daily Planet'', one of the most renowned news organizations in the DC Universe. The city is also home to the national ''Newstime'' magazine, where Clark Kent held the position of editor during the Eradicator story arc until he was fired by his superior, Collin Thornton, in '' The Adventures of Superman'' #465, for his increasingly strange behavior due to the Eradicator (including firing of some employees). Other major media located in Metropolis include WGBS-TV, flagship station of the

Galaxy Broadcasting System Galaxy Communications is a fictional American multinational media corporation in the DC Comics universe. It is owned and run by businessman and crime lord Morgan Edge. Fictional history Galaxy Communications is one of the world's leading telec ...

(GBS) television network, both subsidiaries of media conglomerate

Galaxy Communications Galaxy Media (formerly Galaxy Communications) is a radio broadcasting company with radio stations entirely in the Central New York area. History Ed Levine, current president, attended the Newhouse School at Syracuse University where his love fo ...

. Popular shows included ''The Midnight Show Starring Johnny Nevada'' (a fictional version of NBC's '' The Tonight Show'', with Johnny Nevada being an analogue of

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...

). Between the early 1970s and mid-1980s, both Clark Kent and Lois Lane worked for WGBS after Galaxy Communications purchased the ''Daily Planet'' in a 1971 storyline, with Clark as the anchorman for the WGBS evening news.''Superman'' #317, November 1977 He was eventually joined by Lana Lang as a co-anchor. After John Byrne's revamp of Superman's origins, though, Clark and Lois were reverted to working at the ''Daily Planet'' once again. Galaxy Broadcasting and WGBS-TV still exist

, however, and are usually used in any story where a television station or network is needed or shown. Post-''Crisis'', Clark, Lois and Lana never worked for the station. During the 1990s however, both

and Cat Grant did work there.

People and culture

The people of Metropolis are depicted as a diverse group of large city-dwellers within the comics. They live in one of the world's largest, wealthiest, and most important cities.

Sports

As befitting any world city, Metropolis is represented by teams in all major-league sports. Like New York City, it is home to two teams in baseball and football. Of the two baseball teams, the Metropolis Monarchs are Clark Kent's favorite, while the other team, the Metropolis Meteors, is mentioned in '' 52'' as having a rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals. In American football, Metropolis is home to the Metropolis Metros and the Metropolis Meteors. The latter football team (sharing the same name as the above baseball team) once featured

Steve Lombard Steve Lombard is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Steve Lombard made his cinematic debut in the DC Extended Universe in the 2013 film '' Man of Steel'', played by Michael Kelly. Publication history ...

as its star quarterback. On the TV show ''Smallville'', there is a football team called the Metropolis Sharks. The city is also home to the Metropolis Generals basketball team, who play in Shuster Sports Arena, presumably named for Superman co-creator Joe Shuster. Professional ice hockey is also present in Metropolis; its

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

team is the Metropolis Mammoths. Several sports stadiums have been mentioned over the years. One such stadium is Metropolis Stadium, which was built in 1940. (Pre-Crisis, Metropolis Stadium had an

Earth-Two Earth-Two (also Earth Two or Earth 2) is a setting for stories (a "fictional universe") appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in ''The Flash'' #123 (1961), Earth-Two was created to explain differences between ...

counterpart, which was named "Sportsman's Stadium".) This was perhaps influenced by the real-life Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, for many years the shared home of baseball's St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns.

Legion-Era Metropolis

Metropolis is traditionally depicted as continuing to survive, thrive and expand well into the 30th- and 31st-century timeframes used as the backdrop of the ''

'' in all that series' varied incarnations to date. During the original incarnation of the series, Metropolis would be depicted as covering anything ranging from the entire Atlantic American coast to a more narrowed jurisdiction – according to one map officially published during Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen's initial partnership on the series, in ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' (vol. 2) #313 (July 1984) – covering most of Massachusetts, all of Rhode Island and Connecticut, New York State from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

's eastern tip up into the Catskills, and a large portion of northern New Jersey. In one imaginary ''Superman'' tale published in 1976 and partly set in then-futuristic 2001, "Metropolis" is the name of the new megalopolis of the Eastern seaboard corridor, comprising the cities of Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Boston and all the territory in between (''Superman'' #300, June 1976). Whatever version was used, it was generally viewed as given that the original city, as well as Gotham City, were considered within Legion-era Metropolis' boundaries, from the mid-1960s until the events of ''

Zero Hour Zero Hour may refer to: * Midnight, or 00:00 * Zero hour (1945), the capitulation of the Nazi government at midnight May 8, 1945 * Zero Hour (military designation), the scheduled time for the start of some event, especially a military operation ...

''. The first post-'' Infinite Crisis'' version of the series as published in the "three-boot" edition has described Metropolis as having expanded over the intervening millennium up the "entire Atlantic seaboard" of North America in one issue (reminiscent of New York's future expansion in

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

's ''

The Caves of Steel ''The Caves of Steel'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is a detective story and illustrates an idea Asimov advocated, that science fiction can be applied to any literary genre, rather than just being a limited ge ...

'' and in Poul Anderson's ''

The Corridors of Time ''The Corridors of Time'' is a science fiction novel by the American writer Poul Anderson that was first published in 1965 as a serial in ''Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by ...

'', and to an extent ''

Mega-City One Mega-City One is a fictional city that features in the ''Judge Dredd'' comic book series and related media. A post-nuclear megalopolis covering much of what is now the Eastern United States and some of Canada, the city's exact geography depends ...

'' of the '' Judge Dredd'' comics). In '' Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds'', it is revealed that this version of Metropolis belongs to the newly restored

Earth-Prime Earth Prime (or Earth-Prime) is a term sometimes used in works of speculative fiction, most notably in DC Comics, involving Parallel universe (fiction), parallel universes or a multiverse, and refers either to the universe containing "our" Earth, ...

's 31st Century. In ''Adventure Comics'' (vol. 2) #12, Metropolis during the Legion's first year is described by Brainiac 5 as having a population of "78 million sentient inhabitants in the urban zone before you reach the greenbelt".

In other media

Television

* The 1950s television series '' Adventures of Superman'' is silent on the subject of the city's location, but in general, and in a departure from most other media depictions, scenes depicting Metropolis were filmed in Los Angeles, California. In the first episode, "''Superman on Earth''", there is a quick stock clip of what appears to be the New York City skyline as seen from one of the rivers around Manhattan, labeled "Metropolis". Another early episode mentions that Jimmy is a fan of the Chicago White Sox. However, nearly every exterior shot depicting Metropolis either contains landmarks readily identifiable as being in Los Angeles (such as the Los Angeles City Hall or the Griffith Observatory), or is known to have been filmed in Hollywood back lots. As the show's own credits state, the series was filmed in Hollywood. * Metropolis appears in '' The New Adventures of Superman'', as well as the 1980s ''

'' TV series. Downtown Chicago Illinois Nov05 img 2459

* In the 1990s television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', Chicago landmarks such as the John Hancock Center, the Tribune Tower, the Wrigley Building, and Wrigley Field are easily identifiable. A reference is made to the city having the telephone

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

219, which would place it in northwestern Indiana, near Chicago. A map in the pilot episode puts Metropolis in north-east Pennsylvania. In one episode, Martha Kent mentions that Smallville and Metropolis are not in the same state. In later seasons, the main area of the city is seen as being called "New Troy", like the comics of the time. Metropolis Channel 6 mentions of professional sports Major League Baseball Team, The Metropolitans. Later LSPN, Metropolis' version of ESPN, has interview coverage with quarter back Steve Law of the Metropolis Tigers regarding their upcoming game with the San Francisco 49ers. Occasionally, such as in the third-season episode ''Through a Glass Darkly'', a map of Manhattan is clearly identified as Metropolis. * Metropolis also appears in '' Superman: The Animated Series'', where it is depicted as a coastal city with much of its architecture sharing a retrofuturistic motif. It is also has brief appearances in '' Justice League'', '' Justice League Unlimited'' and '' Batman Beyond''. * On the ''

'' television series, Metropolis is located in western Kansas over by Dodge City (a six-hour round trip, according to some episodes). In an interview, the creators of ''Smallville'' have stated that Metropolis is approximately 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Smallville. Characters are shown routinely traveling back and forth between Smallville and Metropolis for work; Lois Lane and Clark Kent live in Smallville but work at the ''Daily Planet'' in Metropolis. LutherCorp headquarters are also located in Metropolis. In filming the series, Vancouver and

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

stand in for Metropolis, For example, the Marine Building in Vancouver stands in as the ''Daily Planet'' Building and the Central City Building in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

stands in as the LuthorCorp. Other episodes do show other cities as Metropolis, such as Downtown Los Angeles, Minneapolis (in the Season Four episode "Recruit"), New York City and Chicago; either way, Metropolis is portrayed as a clean and modern city. * The city appears in ''

The Batman Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman or The Batman may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Characters * Batman (Terry McGinnis) * Batman (Thomas Wayne) * Batman (Earth-Two) * Bat ...

'' episode "The Batman/Superman Story" Pt. 1. * Metropolis appears in '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "The Battle of the Superheroes". * In the animated TV series '' Young Justice'', Metropolis is shown on a map at roughly the real-life location of New Haven, Connecticut. * Metropolis was mentioned in the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

of '' Supergirl''. It was later seen in the episodes "

The Adventures of Supergirl The second season of the American television series '' Supergirl'', which is based on the DC Comics character Supergirl / Kara Zor-El, a costumed superheroine who is the cousin to Superman and one of the last surviving Kryptonians. The season ...

" and " The Last Children of Krypton". It was mentioned in ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

''s series finale episode " Fadeout" when John Diggle and

Lyla Michaels The Harbinger (Lyla Michaels) is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine appearing in publications by DC Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, she first appeared in her civilian form in ''The New Teen Titans'' Annual ...

make plans to move to Metropolis and

Dinah Drake Black Canary (Dinah Drake) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by the writer-artist team of Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, the character debuted in ''Flash Comics'' #86 (August 1947) as ...

joined them as well. A map in

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

episode

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

puts Metropolis in Pennsylvania in close proximity to the Delaware and Maryland border and to Philadelphia. * The city is mentioned in an episode of ''

Beware the Batman ''Beware the Batman'' is an American computer-animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. The series premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on July 13, 2013, as part of their DC Nation block, replacing ''Batman: ...

''. * Metropolis has been referenced in the fourth season of '' Gotham''. * In January 2018, ''Gotham'' executive producers John Stephens and Danny Cannon and Warner Bros. TV announced that they're developing a prequel TV series titled ''Metropolis''. The series will follow Lois Lane and Lex Luthor as they investigate the city of Metropolis and will premiere on DC's digital service, DC Universe. * Metropolis is the main setting of the ''

DC Super Hero Girls ''DC Super Hero Girls'' or ''DC Superhero Girls'' (in various countries) is an American superhero web series and franchise Produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network based on characters from DC Entertainment that launched in the thi ...

'' television series; the major characters are students at Metropolis High School. * Metropolis appears in the television series ''

Superman & Lois ''Superman & Lois'' is an American superhero drama television series developed for The CW by Todd Helbing and Greg Berlanti, based on the DC Comics characters Superman and Lois Lane, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Tyler Hoechlin and E ...

Film

In 1978's ''

'' and its sequels, Metropolis is shown as taking the place of New York City. The original movie series made no attempt to hide this similarity, as prominent New York landmarks are seen throughout the movies, including the

, the World Trade Center, the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center, the United Nations Headquarters, the

, the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

, and the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'' offices. (However, in '' Superman IV: The Quest for Peace'', in the scene involving a runaway train in the Metropolis "Metro City Transit" subway system, an advertising poster on the subway station wall soliciting public donations for the then-ongoing Statue of Liberty restoration effort urges the donations be sent to "The Lady, P.O. Box 1986, New York 10018" - implying that Metropolis and New York are, in fact, two separate places.) In '' Superman III'', some

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta landmarks can be seen, including the Calgary Tower and the

St. Louis Hotel The St. Louis Hotel was built in 1838 at the corner of St. Louis and Chartres Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally it was referred to as the City Exchange Hotel. A hotel exists in the same place today but with a different n ...

, as parts of the film were filmed there. Metropolis is briefly mentioned in the movie '' Batman Forever''. When Dick Grayson (played by Chris O'Donnell) plans to find Two-Face, Bruce Wayne mentioned the circus is halfway to Metropolis. '' Superman Returns'' director Bryan Singer intended his version of Metropolis to be a stylistic cross between 1930s

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 70 Pine Street – formerly known as the 60 Wall Tower, Cities Service Building, and American International Building – is a 67-story, 952-foot (290 m) residential building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. B ...

, Battery Park, the MetLife Building, the Woolworth Building, World Financial Center,

7 World Trade Center 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC, WTC-7, or Tower 7) refers to two buildings that have existed at the same location within the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The original structure, part of the original World Trade Cent ...

, and the

, 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.

was not shown.

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

was only shown twice, both in brief high aerial shots of the city at night. The first had the

and Chrysler Building obstructed by clouds while the

GE Building 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...

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 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

(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

were seen on film. In '' Superman Returns'', Metropolis is New York City with minor changes. The movie focused primarily on

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

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 World Trade Center (1973–2001), 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 five-year departure from Earth, as in 2006, five 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 New South Wales, NSW license plates. Metropolis appears extensively the DC Extended Universe, first appearing in ''Man of Steel (film), Man of Steel'' and later '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' and ''Justice League (film), Justice League''. Areas of Vancouver, downtown Chicago and Detroit have been used as filming locations for the city, with several fictional buildings being added. Much of Metropolis is destroyed during the fight between Superman and General Zod in the first film's climax. It also appears to be a federal district#United States, federal district similar to Washington, DC, with a ZIP code of 33866. Director Zack Snyder confirmed that Metropolis and Gotham City are portrayed as being in close geographical proximity to each other but are separated by Delaware Bay. In ''Justice League (film), Justice League'' it is revealed there is a tunnel connecting the two, constructed as part of the abandoned 'Metropolis Project' in 1929 to connect the two cities. There are multiple islands located in the bay also, with one of them being named Braxton Island. During Super Bowl 50, an advertisement for Turkish Airlines showcased a rebuilt Metropolis, with Lex Luthor (played by one of the film's stars, Jesse Eisenberg) declaring the city open for business again. A "Gotham City" version of the ad, starring Ben Affleck, Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne and sharing an identical theme, also aired during the game. Metropolis also appears in most of the DC Comics animated films in which Superman makes an appearance, namely ''Superman: Brainiac Attacks'', ''Superman: Doomsday'', ''Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'', ''Superman/Batman: Apocalypse'', ''All-Star Superman'', ''Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths'', ''Justice League: Doom'', ''Superman vs The Elite'' and ''Superman: Unbound''. Additionally, it is mentioned in some of them, such as in ''Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam.'' In the live action/animated hybrid film ''Space Jam: A New Legacy'', there was a scene where Superman prevents a runaway train in Metropolis from crashing into an orphanage.

Video games

Metropolis appears in several video games, including ''Superman (Atari 2600), Superman'', ''Superman: Shadow of Apokolips'', Superman: The Man of Steel (2002 video game), Superman: The Man of Steel, ''Superman Returns (video game), Superman Returns'', ''Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe'', where it is shown partially in ruins following the Justice League's fight with Darkseid, and it appears in ''DC Universe Online''. In ''Batman: Arkham Asylum'', an inmate states that he would prefer moving to Metropolis to living in fear of the

while in Gotham City. In the game's sequel, ''Batman: Arkham City'', Batman and Talia al Ghul mention having a date there at some point prior to the game. Hugo Strange considers replicating the Arkham City project in Metropolis. "Metropolis" is also the password to open the monorail. In ''Batman: Arkham Knight'', some thugs will discuss how "the only thing that can make this worse is if that freak from Metropolis flew in here." The city appears in the game ''Injustice: Gods Among Us'', in two different forms- a Prime Earth version, in which Joker (comics), the Joker attempts and fails to destroy the city with an atomic bomb, and an parallel universe (fiction), alternate universe Earth version, which occurs as a result of the Joker succeeding in his plot, which also involved the death of Lois Lane and Superman's unborn son. The alternate universe, or "Regime" Metropolis is used as a playable fighting stage. Here, it has been rebuilt into a more dystopian city, which is where the "prime" Batman and Joker end up when they are accidentally transported there. The Prime Earth version, however, is not a playable stage in the game, and is only shown as a cameo in the game's story mode. One notable feature in each version of Metropolis is a statue depicting Superman with a globe. In the Prime universe, the statue depicts Superman standing below the globe, carrying it above his head, symbolizing that he follows the world's rules. On the other hand, in the Regime universe, the statue depicts Superman standing above the globe with his arms folded, symbolizing that the world follows his rules, as he has become a tyrant following the destruction of the original Metropolis and the deaths of Lois Lane and their unborn son. Metropolis is the only stage in the game to have three sections: the city streets, the top of the Daily Planet, and a museum featuring past superhero costumes and weapons. In ''Batman: Arkham Origins'', there's a billboard located on Burnley with name of cities, including Metropolis. ''Lego Dimensions'' depicts the city as having been taken over by Sauron from ''The Lord of the Rings'' franchise, with him setting up the Dark Tower and Eye of Sauron in the middle of the city. With Superman being sucked into an parallel universe (fiction), alternate dimension,

, Gandalf, and Wyldstyle oppose Sauron. The city is once again a playable stage in ''Injustice 2''. The two sections consist of Memorial Station (which contains statues of Superman and his downfall and Lex Luthor's opposition) and the Ace O' Clubs bar. In the story mode, Metropolis is one of the cities Superman fails to restore on Brainiac's ship. In ''Lego DC Super Villains'', part of the open world is Metropolis. LexCorp Tower, The Daily Planet, and

are featured. An open world Metropolis will be the base and setting of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, ''Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League'', set for release in 2022.

Theme Parks

Metropolis appears in the ''Justice League: Alien Invasion 3D'' dark ride designed and created by Sally Corporation for Warner Bros. Movie World in Gold Coast, Australia. The city also appears in the ''Justice League: Battle for Metropolis'' dark ride created by Sally Corporation and is located at several Six Flags theme parks. A section of Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is themed after Metropolis, with major landmarks serving as entrances to attractions such as the Daily Planet for a Superman attraction, the Hall of Justice (comics), Hall of Justice for a Justice League ride, and the Metropolis Observatory for a Green Lantern attraction. Patrons can also eat at a restaurant themed after Big Belly Burger.

Metropolis, Illinois

The real town of Metropolis, Illinois, has been proclaimed the "hometown of Superman" by the Illinois State Legislature, and the town celebrates its "local hero". Among the ways it celebrates the character include a large Superman statue in the city, a Superman museum, an annual Superman festival, and its local newspaper ''The Metropolis Planet'', a name inspired by the major newspaper in fictional Metropolis, ''The Daily Planet''. A version of the town has appeared in the comics itself, as a city whose citizens idolize the hero who lives in their 'sister' city."Adventures of Superman" #515

References

External links

Supermanica: Metropolis
Supermanica entry on the Pre-Crisis Metropolis.

{{Authority control Metropolis (comics), Fictional elements introduced in 1939 Fictional populated places in the United States DC Comics populated places 1939 in comics Cities in Delaware Delaware in fiction