List of locations in films based on Marvel Comics

The following is an overview of the various fictionalized locations depicted in films based on Marvel Comics.

Baxter Building
It appeared in the 2005 Fantastic Four Movie, being displayed as an art-deco apartment block, where Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) had rented the entire top floor and turned it into a laboratory/home. Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) referenced many times that he couldn't pay the bills to keep the lights running. Vancouver's Marine Building is standing in for the building in its sequel.

Daily Bugle
The Bugle is seen in most media adaptations of Spider-Man, the most prominent appearance being in the 2002 Spider-Man film and its sequels. In the movies, the Bugle is housed in the Flatiron Building (as it is in the Marvels miniseries by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross). One Bugle employee who appears exclusively in the films is Hoffman, who serves as comic relief and is frequently harassed by Jameson. Hoffman is played by Ted Raimi, who is the brother of Sam Raimi, the director of the Spider-Man film series. In Spider-Man 3, Eddie Brock (played by Topher Grace) is a photographer employed by the Bugle. In the comics, Eddie worked for the rival Daily Globe.

Empire State University
In the film Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker attends Columbia University and not ESU, although in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, which is set in between the first two Spider-Man movies, he, Mary Jane and Harry attend ESU. In Spider-Man 3, Robbie Robertson declares that the "Empire State Photography Department" confirms that Eddie Brock's picture of Spider-Man stealing money from a bank in black clothing is a fake.

Director Louis Leterrier wanted Bruce Banner to meet Samuel Sterns at Empire State University in The Incredible Hulk. In the finished film Sterns' place of teaching is named as Grayburn College in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database, because Columbia Pictures, who own the name as part of their rights to film Spider-Man, refused.

Blade (film)
Filming was in large part done in Los Angeles, with some scenes being shot in Death Valley.

Daredevil
20th Century Fox wanted to start filming in Canada in order to save money. This plan was contended by Mark Steven Johnson, and the film's cinematographer, Ericson Core, after they found a preferred area for shooting around downtown Los Angeles' Arcade Building. Core noted that the appeal came from the "beautiful, old brick buildings and great rooftops," which they felt was perfect for a depiction of Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, in comparison to the studio's choice where the filming would be done in Montreal or Vancouver. Due to their insistence, coupled with Ben Affleck's disinterest in filming in Canada (after having filmed there for his previous film, The Sum of All Fears) they were able to overturn the studio's mind.

Ghost Rider
On February 14, 2005, Ghost Rider commenced filming in Australia at the Melbourne Docklands film studios. Director Mark Steven Johnson originally planned to film before an audience at the Telstra Dome, but instead opted to create a crowd using computer-generated imagery. The director also chose to film in the motorcycle district of Melbourne. By June 2005, principal photography had been completed for Ghost Rider, which was set for a summer 2006 release. In April 2006, the cast and crew performed last-minute reshoots in Vancouver.

Hulk (film)
Filming began on March 18, 2002 in Arizona, and moved on April 19 to the San Francisco Bay Area. This included Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley labs, Oakland, Treasure Island military base and the sequoia forests of Porterville, before several weeks in the Utah and Californian deserts. Filming then moved to the Universal backlot in Los Angeles, using Stage 12 for the water tank scene, before finishing in the first week of August. Filming of Hulk constituted hiring 3000 local workers, generating over $10 million into the local economy.

The Incredible Hulk film
Filming began on July 9, 2007. Shooting primarily took place in Toronto, because mayor David Miller is a Hulk fan and promised to be very helpful to the crew when closing Yonge Street for four nights in September to shoot the Hulk and Blonsky's clash at 125th Street. Despite messing the street with explosives and overturned burning vehicles, the crew would clean-up within twenty minutes so business could continue as normal each day. The first action sequence shot was the Culver University battle, which was filmed at the University of Toronto and Morningside Park. The filmmakers built a glass wall over a walkway at the University for when the soldiers trap him inside to smoke out the Hulk. There was also shooting in the Financial District. A factory in Hamilton, Ontario, which was due for demolition, was the interior of the Brazilian factory. The site's underground floors were used for Ross' military command center. The crew also shot part of the Hulk and the Abomination's fight on a backlot in Hamilton. Other Canadian locations included CFB Trenton and a glacier in Bella Coola, British Columbia. Afterwards, there was a week-long shoot in New York City and two weeks in Rio de Janeiro. While there, the crew shot at Rocinha, Lapa, Tijuca Forest and Santa Teresa. Filming concluded in November after eighty-eight days of filming.

Iron Man
Director Jon Favreau chose to shoot the film primarily in California, rejecting the East Coast setting of the comics to differentiate the film from numerous superhero films set in New York City-esque environments.

Production was based in the former Hughes Company soundstages in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California. Favreau rejected the East Coast setting of the comic books because many superhero films had already been set there. Howard Hughes was one of the inspirations for the comic book, and the filmmakers acknowledged the coincidence that they would film Iron Man creating the flying Mark III where the Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose" was built.

Filming began on March 12, 2007, with the first few weeks spent on Stark's captivity in Afghanistan. The cave where Stark is imprisoned was a 150- to 200-yard (150-200 m) long set, which had movable forks in the caverns to allow greater freedom for the film's crew. Production designer J. Michael Riva saw footage of a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan, and saw the cold breath as he spoke: realizing remote caves are actually very cold, Riva placed an air conditioning system in the set. He also sought Downey's advice about makeshift objects in prison, such as a sock being used to make tea. Afterwards, Stark's capture was filmed at Lone Pine, and other exterior scenes in Afghanistan were filmed at Olancha Sand Dunes, where the crew endured two days of 40- to 60 mi an hour (60 to 100 km/h) winds.

Filming at Edwards Air Force Base began in mid-April, and wrapped on May 2. Exterior shots of Stark's home were digitally composited on footage of Point Dume in Malibu, while the interior was built at Playa Vista, where Favreau and Riva aimed to make Stark's home look less futuristic and more "grease monkey". Filming concluded on June 25, 2007 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Punisher (1989 film)
The Punisher was filmed in Sydney, Australia.

The Punisher (2004 film)
The Punisher was filmed on location in Tampa. The Florida location was first chosen at the insistence of screenwriter Michael France, who advised Marvel and Artisan that "it would be cheap to shoot [there] - that they'd get a lot more for their money than in New York or Chicago" as well as wanting to use "both sunny locations, and dark, industrial locations" in the screenplay.

Punisher: War Zone
Filming occurred from October 22 until December 14 in Montreal. Principal photography for Punisher: War Zone was completed on December 27.

Spider-Man (film)
With Spider-Man cast, filming was set to begin the following November in New York City and on Sony soundstages. The film was set for release a year later, but when the film was postponed to be released on May 3, 2002, filming officially began on January 8, 2001 in Culver City. Sony's Stage 29 was used for Peter's Forest Hills home, and Stage 27 was used for the wrestling sequence where Peter takes on Bonesaw McGraw (Randy Savage). Stage 27 was also used for the complex Times Square sequence where Spider-Man and the Goblin battle for the first time, where a three-story set with a breakaway balcony piece was built. The scene also required shooting in Downey, California. On March 6, 45-year-old construction worker Tim Holcombe was killed when a forklift modified as a construction crane crashed into a construction basket that he was in. The following court case led to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health to fine Sony $58,805.

In Los Angeles, locations included the Natural History Museum (for the Columbia University lab where Peter is bitten and receives his powers), the Pacific Electricity Building (the Daily Bugle offices) and Greystone Mansion (for the interiors of Norman Osborn's home). In April, some of the Spider-Man costumes were stolen, and Sony put up a $25,000 reward, although they were never returned. Production moved to New York City for two weeks, taking in locations such as the Queensboro Bridge, the exterior of Columbia University's Low Library, the Flatiron Building, the outside of the New York Public Library, and a rooftop garden in the Rockefeller Center. The crew returned to Los Angeles where production and filming ended in June.

Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 was shot on over 100 sets and locations, beginning with a pre-shoot on the Loop in Chicago during two days in November 2002. The crew bought a carriage, placing 16 cameras for background shots of Spider-Man and Doc Oc's train fight. Principal photography began on April 12, 2003 in New York City. The crew moved on May 13 to Los Angeles, shooting on 10 major sets created by producer designer Neil Spisak. After the scare surrounding his back pains, Tobey Maguire relished performing many of his stunts, even creating a joke of it with Raimi, creating the line "My back, my back" as Spider-Man tries to regain his powers. Even Rosemary Harris took a turn, putting her stunt double out of work. In contrast, Alfred Molina joked that the stunt team would "trick" him into performing a stunt time and again.

Filming was put on hiatus for eight weeks, in order to build Doc Oc's pier lair. It had been Spisak's idea to use a collapsed pier as Ock's lair, reflecting an exploded version of the previous lab and representing how Octavius' life had collapsed and grown more monstrous, evoking the cinema of Fritz Lang and the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Filming then resumed on that set, having taken 15 weeks to build, occupying Sony's Stage 30. It was 60 by 120 ft long, and 40 ft high, and a quarter-scale miniature was also built for the finale as it collapses. Filming was still going after Christmas 2003.

A camera system called the Spydercam was used to allow filmmakers to express more of Spider-Man's world view, at times dropping 50 stories and with shot lengths of just over 2,400 feet (in New York) or 3,200 feet (Los Angeles). For some shots the camera would shoot at six frames per second for a faster playback increasing the sense of speed. Shots using the Spydercam were pre-planned in digital versions of cities, and movement of the camera was controlled with motion control, making it highly cost-effective. The camera system was only used in the previous film for the final shot.

Spider-Man 3
Principal photography for Spider-Man 3 began on January 16, 2006 and wrapped in July 2006 after over a hundred days of filming. The team filmed in Los Angeles until May 19, 2006. In spring 2006, film location manager Peter Martorano brought camera crews to Cleveland, due to the Cleveland Film Commission offering production space at the city's convention center at no cost. In Cleveland, they shot the battle between Spider-Man and Sandman in the armored car. Afterwards, the team moved to Manhattan, where filming took place from May 26, 2006 until July 1, 2006. Shooting placed a strain on Raimi, who often had to move between several units to complete the picture. Shooting was also difficult for cinematographer Bill Pope, as the symbiote Spider-Man, Venom, and the New Goblin were costumed in black during fight scenes taking place at night.

X-Men (film)
Filming took place from September 22, 1999 to March 3, 2000 in Toronto and in Hamilton, Ontario. Locations included Central Commerce Collegiate, Distillery District and Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Casa Loma, Roy Thomson Hall and Metro Hall were used for X-Mansion interiors, while Parkwood Estate was chosen for exteriors. For the train station scenes, Toronto Union Station and Hamilton GO Centre were set. Spencer Smith Park doubled for Liberty Island. A scale model was used for the Statue of Liberty.

X2
Most of the filming took place at Vancouver Film Studios, the largest soundstage in North America. Production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas adapted similar designs of John Myhre from the previous film. Producer Lauren Shuler Donner had hoped to start filming in March 2002, but production did not began until June 17, 2002 in Vancouver and ended by November. Over sixty-four sets were used in thirty-eight different locations. The film crew encountered problems when not enough snow was produced in Kananaskis, Alberta. An excessive amount of fake snow was then applied. The idea to have Jean Grey sacrifice herself at the end and to be resurrected in a third installment was highly secretive. Singer did not tell Famke Janssen until midway through filming. Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel and two stunt drivers nearly died when filming the scene in which Pyro has a dispute with police officers.

X-Men: The Last Stand
Most notably the Golden Gate Bridge sequence was originally in the middle of the film, but director Brett Ratner decided it would create a more dramatic climax if moved to the end, which was originally to take place in Washington, D.C.

X-Men: The Last Stand began shooting in August 2005 and ended in January 2006. Much of X-Men: The Last Stand was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. According to associate producer Dave Gordon, "This is the biggest production ever filmed in Canada. It used to be X2, now it's X3."

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Preliminary shooting took place at the Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, during late 2007. Principal photography began on January 18, 2008 in New Zealand. One of the filming locations that was selected was Dunedin. Controversy arose as the Queenstown Lakes District Council disputed the Department of Labour's decision to allow Fox to store explosives in the local ice skating rink. Fox moved some of the explosives to another area. The explosives were used for a shot of the exploding Hudson Farm, a scene which required four cameras. Jackman and Palermo's Woz Productions reached an agreement with the council to allow recycling specialists on set to advise the production on being environmentally friendly.

Filming continued at Fox (where most of the shooting was done) and New Orleans, Louisiana. Cockatoo Island was used for Stryker's facility; the enormous buildings there saved money on digitally expanding a set. Production of the film was predicted to generate AUD$60 million for Sydney's economy. Principal photography ended by May 23. The second unit continued filming in New Zealand until March 23, and were scheduled to continue filming for two weeks following the first unit's wrap. This included a flashback to Logan during the Normandy Landings, which was shot at Blacksmiths, New South Wales.

In January 2009, after delays due to weather and scheduling conflicts, such as Hugh Jackman's publicity commitments for Australia, production moved to Vancouver, mostly at University of British Columbia. Work there included finishing scenes with Ryan Reynolds, who had been working on two other films during principal photography.

Helicarrier
The first live-action incarnation of the Helicarrier appeared in the 1998 TV-movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Latveria
In the Fantastic Four film, Latveria is mentioned initially in reference to Victor Von Doom's past and is described as "the old country", possibly indicating his birth there. After "The End" has appeared, Von Doom's incarcerated body is shown on board a ship bound for Latveria. Also during the scene where he first dons his trademark metal mask, a plaque can be seen declaring it as a gift to Doom from the people of Latveria. In the sequel, Doom is reawakened in his castle by the Silver Surfer's passage through Latveria.

Muir Island
In the second X-Men movie, X2: X-Men United, Stryker's computer displays a desktop folder labeled "Muir Island".

In a scene of the third X-Men movie, X-Men: The Last Stand, Professor X shows a video of Moira MacTaggert on Muir Island. A scene after the credits also takes place on the island.

Roxxon Energy Corporation
The Roxxon logo and corporate headquarters appear briefly in the background of the 2008 Iron Man film during the climactic fight scene.

Stark Industries

 * The 2008 film Iron Man features the company, with a logo similar to that of Lockheed Martin, and touted as developing many of the same weapons systems that Lockheed Martin is/was responsible for developing, such as the F-22 Raptor and F-16 Fighting Falcon. After Tony's father Howard died, Obadiah Stane became the CEO and later abdicated when Tony was old enough to run it. After Stark comes back from Afghanistan, he announces that he is closing the weapons division of the company. In Iron Man 2, In the absence of Obadiah Stane, Virginia "Pepper" Potts would becomes the CEO of the Stark Industries.


 * In The Incredible Hulk movie, Stark Industries flashes on the screen during the opening credit sequence and at the end of the movie, along with several weapon boxes. Tony Stark, CEO of Stark industries has a cameo appearance, in which he tells the General about the team 'they're' putting together.


 * In 2010, Stark Industries will appear again in the film Iron Man 2. As a promotion for the film, at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, Stark Industries recruiters handed out business cards with an invitation to apply for a job at Stark Industries by visiting StarkIndustriesNow.com.

X-Mansion
The X-Mansion was featured in Generation X (live action made for TV movie that came out on FOX in 1996), X-Men, X2: X-Men United, and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Cerebro
In the films X-Men and X2: X-Men United, Cerebro is a massive device that fills a spherical room in the basement of Xavier's School. The helmet interface is similar to the version seen in the comics, although the bulk of Cerebro's machinery is contained in the surrounding walls. While in use, three-dimensional images of the minds scanned by the device appear around the user. Unlike the comics' version of Cerebro, the film version can detect both human and mutant minds with ease. The unique signature of mutant brainwaves is shown in the first film by having human mental images portrayed in black and white, while those of mutants show up in color; In X2, mutants appear in red, and humans in white.

In the first film, Cerebro is sabotaged by Mystique so that it injures Professor X, putting him into a coma. The only person seen using Cerebro effectively in the films is Xavier; Jean Grey attempted to use the device to locate Magneto in X1, but the input overwhelmed her nascent telepathic power and left her stunned, though she was successful. It is mentioned that Magneto helped Charles Xavier design Cerebro. This has not been confirmed to be true in the comics, although the Magneto of the comics can use Cerebro and has designed similar devices.

In X2: X-Men United, the device was copied and modified by William Stryker in his plot to have a brainwashed Xavier use his Cerebro-amplified powers to kill the world's mutants, and was later further modified by Magneto to kill humans. According to X2, it is difficult to pinpoint the location of mutants who have the ability to teleport and are constantly in transit, such as Nightcrawler.

Danger Room
The Danger Room was supposed to appear in the first X-Men film, but was deleted. In the second X-Men film, there is a brief scene where a room saying "Danger" can be seen. The room was to make an appearance in the film in which Wolverine would do an exercise, but after construction began on the site, the idea was quickly scrapped due to budget concerns. The Danger Room makes its first true appearance in the film X-Men: The Last Stand where the team has a training exercise against a holographic Sentinel, among other threats in the Days of Future Past storyline.