Superman: Legacy’s Filming Update Creates A Secret Link To Its 86-Year-Old Origins

One of the filming locations for Superman: Legacy gives the DCU film a link to Superman’s Golden Age origins. Superman: Legacy will be the first live-action property of the new DC Universe, a partial reboot of the DC Extended Universe. While some characters – such as Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle and Viola Davis’s Amanda Waller – will carry over into the new universe, David Corenswet will replace Henry Cavill as Superman. In addition to introducing a brand-new iteration of Superman, Legacy also appears to be honoring an often-forgotten element of the Superman mythos.

Superman: Legacy is set to be released on July 11th, 2025. While little is known about its premise thus far, the film will introduce new iterations of numerous classic DC Comics characters. One of Superman Legacy’s filming locations will be Cleveland, Ohio, a locale that holds significance to the early Golden Age Superman comic books and those familiar Superman’s co-creators.

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Cleveland Is One Of The Most Important Real-World Locations For Superman

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster both grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and, naturally, made the city the setting of Superman’s earliest comic books. In the first 15 issues of Action Comics (and the first issue of Superman), Superman lived, worked, and fought crime in Cleveland. Starting with the 16th issue of Action Comics and the second issue of Superman, however, Cleveland was retconned into being the fictitious city of Metropolis, similar to the way that Batman’s earliest stories were set in New York City before the locale was retconned into Gotham City.

Superman: Legacy

Written and directed by James Gunn, Superman: Legacy is the first movie in Warner Bros.’ rebooted DC Universe to center around the titular comic book hero. It introduces a new version of the Man of Steel after Henry Cavill’s departure from the role, honoring the character’s roots as “the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way.”

Metropolis Is An Amalgamation Of Two Real-World Cities

Metropolis itself is an amalgamation of the two most important real-world cities for Superman: Cleveland and New York City. While Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster both grew up in Cleveland (along with Toronto, in the latter’s case), Detective Comics, Inc. was based in Manhattan. Many influential creatives in Superman’s early history were New Yorkers, such as the Fleischer brothers, whose iconic Superman cartoons gave Superman his famous ability to fly. Metropolis’s location in the comics varies, depending on the continuity, with some putting it in the Greater New York Area while others place it in the state of Delaware.

The DCEU adhered to some iterations of the comics, with its Metropolis being set in Delaware while remaining a combination of Cleveland and New York. The Richard Donner Superman movies portrayed Metropolis as simply being New York City, with the name Metropolis referring to the otherwise realistic Manhattan. How Superman: Legacy will use Cleveland, however, remains to be seen, with footage of the city potentially representing the DCU’s iteration of Metropolis, which would – fittingly – honor the early history of the Superman mythos.