DC Cinematic Universe ( The James Gunn era)

[theenglish]

Well, sure, Metropolis and Gotham are separate from NYC in-universe, but they're still based on NYC from a creative standpoint. There's that line someone said (maybe Denny O'Neil or Frank Miller) that Metropolis is the best parts of NYC in the daytime and Gotham is the worst parts of NYC at night. But what I'm saying is that I don't know if the comics' depiction of Metropolis was inspired by NYC prior to the Donner movie. Like how Smallville wasn't in Kansas until the Donner movie -- that very map reference you mention put it in eastern Pennsylvania or something, fairly close to Metropolis in Delaware.

Then again, I'm kind of talking myself out of my hypothesis right now, because it occurs to me that the very fact that that reference put Gotham in New Jersey and Metropolis in Delaware implies that they were meant to be similar to New York City. (Which is obvious in Gotham's case from its name; indeed, at least one early Batman story explicitly called the city New York.) I guess that stands to reason, since the comics' creators for most of its history were working out of NYC, and so had been the creators of the Superman radio series in the '40s. So it seems likely that the roots of treating Metropolis like NYC do go back that far after all.

In that sense, yes, I believe that Metropolis and Gotham had been inspired by New York in the comics for as long as I've been reading them. Huge, metropolitan cities, filled with blocks and blocks of skyscrapers are not really that common in the Western world. Most cities have urban centers that are only a few blocks with smaller buildings stretching out beyond that as opposed to New York which is many blocks are large buildings built close to each other. I wonder though, when Metropolis and Gotham were first depicted as being on an island near the coast, which is another defining trait of NYC.

 

[Christopher]

When Kurt Busiek wrote the JLA/Avengers crossover miniseries it was pointed out that the Justice League/DC Earth was actually slightly larger than the Avengers/Marvel Earth, allowing it to accommodate the fictional DC countries/cities such as Metropolis/Gotham/Central/Coast.

That seems rather silly to me, since even in the modern day, only about 3% of the planet's land surface is urbanized. There's plenty of room for more cities, and indeed many large cities are still growing rapidly.

I wonder though, when Metropolis and Gotham were first depicted as being on an island near the coast, which is another defining trait of NYC.

That's more recent, I think. As late as 1989 (not the '70s as I thought), The Atlas of the DC Universe put Gotham and Metropolis on the New Jersey and Delaware shores of Delaware Bay, respectively: https://13thdimension.com/the-atlas-of-the-dc-universe-paul-kupperberg-reveals-13-fascinating-facts/

(That link also clarifies the quote I mentioned: "Denny O’Neil famously described the two cities as Metropolis being NYC above 14th Street and Gotham being NYC below it.")

I think it may have been the No Man's Land event in the '90s that established Gotham as occupying an island, so that the bridges could be blown up to isolate it from the mainland.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Splitting hairs a bit, but I always read that Metropolis was based on Toronto, since that's where Shuster was from.

 

[Christopher]

Splitting hairs a bit, but I always read that Metropolis was based on Toronto, since that's where Shuster was from.

From what I can find in a quick search, there were elements of both creators' hometowns, Cleveland and Toronto. The main Toronto nod, originally, was the Daily Star name for the newspaper, after the Toronto Daily Star, but that was quickly changed to Daily Planet because some of the newspapers that carried the Superman comic strip had rivals named Daily Star.

 

[Nerys Myk]

When Kurt Busiek wrote the JLA/Avengers crossover miniseries it was pointed out that the Justice League/DC Earth was actually slightly larger than the Avengers/Marvel Earth, allowing it to accommodate the fictional DC countries/cities such as Metropolis/Gotham/Central/Coast.

Seemed silly to me. Especially considering Marvel's fake countries. Central Europe must be huge in the MCU.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

. I wonder though, when Metropolis and Gotham were first depicted as being on an island near the coast, which is another defining trait of NYC.

There are some Golden Age comics where establishing panels depicted Gotham and Metropolis as resembling New York, including some shots of the harbor that bore some resemblance to NY's.

Further, in the Fleischer's Superman cartoon short, "Electric Earthquake" (1942), Clark says the following about the city:

"You know, Lois, the old island looks just as good as ever." (Upper left).

The "island" anyone would readily associate with an American city in 1942 would be those found in New York, or in this case, its additional, "neighboring island" (or city) Metropolis.

 

[The Realist]

So apparently Rachel Brosnahan posted this image without comment:

The consensus is they are swear jars.

 

[theenglish]

Swear jars were the first thing I thought.

And thank you to Trek God for that info.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

It took some doing but I believe I have found the first illustrated instance of a map showing the locations of Metropolis and Gotham City in relation to other major cities on the East Coast. It comes from Amazing World of DC Comics #14 (March 1977).

 

[kirk55555]

I never bought Metropolis/Gotham being so close because Gotham's problems would logically become Metropolis' very often. Plus, Superman isn't going to avoid saving people in a city literally next door just because batman might complain, so everytime his super vision saw something like The Joker trying to blow up the city Superman would logically be the first person there. At least if the cities are far apart there is more justification for Batman and his Bat Family being the main heroes of the city and it makes Gotham not be a direct problem for Metropolis.

Of course by the time of No Man's Land (if not earlier) Gotham really couldn't be anywhere near Metropolis based on what happens to the city/area.

 

[Christopher]

It took some doing but I believe I have found the first illustrated instance of a map showing the locations of Metropolis and Gotham City in relation to other major cities on the East Coast. It comes from Amazing World of DC Comics #14 (March 1977).

You could've found it more easily just by clicking on my link in comment #782 to Paul Kupperberg's column, which includes and discusses that image.

 

[The Realist]

So this is interesting. In addition to the very early-20th-century look of the building chosen for The Daily Planet, and the rather old-school vibe of the Planet logo as seen in the bookstore window, this is apparently a Dairy Queen storefront in the movie:

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Curious. Is Gunn going super-retro for Metropolis as a whole? Or is stuff like this going to be part of a flashback sequence? (I do note that the DQ logo on the door looks modern enough, as does the design of the storefront itself. It's just the window advertising that looks '50s vintage.)

 

[JD]

Superman's suit and the skyline in the reveal picture looked pretty modern, so I'm thinking it's going to be set in the present but with a lot of retro style designs.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Nostalgia is a selling point. Dairy Queen is probably using that.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

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Here's your cast for Bruce Timm's 'Batman: Caped Crusader'. I'm not sold on his vocal take just yet. Sounds like he's trying to do Keanu Reeves.

 

[YLu]

That seems rather silly to me, since even in the modern day, only about 3% of the planet's land surface is urbanized. There's plenty of room for more cities, and indeed many large cities are still growing rapidly.

Sure, but where in the US would there be room for a city the size of Metropolis, in a location that would actually make sense as a place a large city would have developed *and* align with where its typically depicted as being located in stories?

 

[Christopher]

Sounds like he's trying to do Keanu Reeves.

Sounds more to me like he's trying to do Kevin Conroy.

Sure, but where in the US would there be room for a city the size of Metropolis, in a location that would actually make sense as a place a large city would have developed *and* align with where its typically depicted as being located in stories?

Pretty much anywhere in the existing DC-to-Boston urban corridor, which continues to get more urbanized over time as the cities expand toward each other, and is often predicted in fiction and futurism to eventually grow into a single megalopolis (Mega City One in Judge Dredd is an example). Metropolis and Gotham are just south of there on that old DC map.

 

[The Realist]

New official photos of Corenswet as Superman ... sort of.

Spoiler

From street/set dressing in Cleveland:

I'm a little dismayed that the Daily Planet one appears to me to misspell Jimmy Olsen's name (though it will almost certainly not be visible in the film).

You do have to love the "INSIDE THIS EDITION" callouts on the Metropolis Eagle front page, though: "Chocos Seeks Factory Workers" and "Lex Luthor Wins Arcane Genius Award."

 

[The Realist]

Also (relevant to discussion above), it appears Gunn's Metropolis is located in

Spoiler

Delaware.

 

[FreezeC77]

New official photos of Corenswet as Superman ... sort of.

Spoiler

From street/set dressing in Cleveland:

I'm a little dismayed that the Daily Planet one appears to me to misspell Jimmy Olsen's name (though it will almost certainly not be visible in the film).

You do have to love the "INSIDE THIS EDITION" callouts on the Metropolis Eagle front page, though: "Chocos Seeks Factory Workers" and "Lex Luthor Wins Arcane Genius Award."

Woah. Newspapers in newspaper stands? Maybe it really is set in a 'retro-past'