One of the fun things comic book fans love to do is try and figure out just where the real life location of some of the most iconic cities in the comic universe are located. DC fans have it much harder than Marvel fans. Where Marvel uses the real New York City, DC uses both Metropolis and Gotham as stand ins for the city that never sleeps. Once you factor in changes and shifts throughout the various incarnations of Superman and Batman, you start to realize that trying to find one unified location for a city like Metropolis is a fool's errand. That said, it looks like Metropolis has developed a new way of being geographically undefinable: it's becoming a state.
Comic Book spotted a fan tweeting a photo from the Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice set in Chicago, and they noticed that Metropolis, much like Washington D.C, is a District/State classified territory. They've also noted that, as far as anyone can see, this is the first time Metropolis has been pegged as such a municipality, which is interesting considering how much comic books dictate the filmed versions of their stories. For once, the tail is wagging the dog. You can see the tweeted license plate below.
This is an interesting way for Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice to avoid the age old question of just where Metropolis rests in the American continent. Metropolis isn't just a city, it's now a state as well as a city. Of course, knowing how competitive Batman has always been with Superman, the next logical extent is for Gotham to become an entire continent, which means Marvel is going to send its version of New York into space. It's all about one upping the competition in comics.
Though back to the serious side of the equation, one has to wonder where Gotham actually will fit into the geography of Zack Snyder's master plan. Come to think of it, there are more cities that are going to be effected by this shift, as The Flash's Central City, Suicide Squad's Belle Reve, and Green Lantern's Coast City will all be affected with the shift in their own special way. With Metropolis serving as an unofficial "ground zero" for the DC Cinematic Continuum, there's a lot more map that's going to be filled in between now and 2020.
One last question this new knowledge has us asking, if Metropolis is a district like Washington D.C, does this mean that it's now the D.C. Stand in for the DC universe? With all the talk of senators and presidents being on hand for Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice's storyline, it's a good assumption that this would be true. In which case, does this mean we might see Lex Luthor run for the White House in future films? (Side bar: is it still called The White House in DC parlance?)
One thing we do know, Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice will save the day on March 25, 2016.
