Crews continue building Metropolis, as ‘Superman’ descends over downtown Cleveland

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Metropolis police cars, a military tank and a pile of boulders filled Superior Avenue on Saturday, the latest additions to the set of DC’s filming of “Superman” in downtown Cleveland.

No filming took place, though workers continued to transform modern Cleveland into Metropolis, a bustling city of yesteryear. A crew member worked on the sign “Greetings from Metropolis,” which was on one of the windows of the Arcade.

Another put a fresh coat of paint on the sign of “Hob’s Bay Pizza.” (For Clevelanders, that’s Guy’s Pizza). Staffers placed “Metropolis Waste Management” trash cans along the street.

In other words, Superior Avenue, as we know it, is no more. At least at East 6th Street.

It is Concord Street, which houses The Daily Planet. Clark Kent and Lois Lane work in a newspaper that has temporarily taken over Residences at Leader. And it appears that it will be there for a while.

On Saturday, as the temperature climbed to 93, people stopped to see a piece of cinematic history return to Cleveland. Crews spent the day working to put things in place, from the tank to the stunt cars that crashed into the piles of rubble.

“It’s like being in Neverland; it’s like being a tourist at work,” said Amber Finucan, the retail manager of Rising Star Coffee Roasters in the Arcade. “It’s wild. It’s fun and cool, but it has been pretty crazy.”

Through much of Saturday, passersby took photos and videos of the props and film materials. Stephanie Hewitt of Manchester, New Hampshire, said she didn’t come to Cleveland for the filming, but she thought it was interesting to be here to see the set.

“They film a lot in Boston, so we’ve seen people filming there,” she said. “I’ve encountered this a couple times in my life, but this is cool.”

Andy Gervais of Toronto said he and his family came to Cleveland to watch the Blue Jays play the Guardians. They thought seeing a film set was an extra perk of the trip. His two children couldn’t contain their excitement as they looked at the set.

“When we checked into the hotel, they said they were filming this down here, so we thought, ‘Oh, that would be cool to come down and check it out, see what it’s all about,’” he said. “It’s pretty neat, actually.”

It’s not known when cameras will actually start filming, but a stretch of Superior Avenue from East 6th Street to Public Square will remain closed while production expands to Lakeside Avenue on Tuesday.

The movie is part of Cleveland lore. It was created in the 1930s by Glenville High School students, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster.

“Superman was more powerful than any politician and more effective than any social activist,” Laura Siegel Larson, Siegel’s daughter told The Plain Dealer in an interview in 2013.

The movie, which is scheduled to be released in 2025, stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent. Rachel Brosnahan stars as Lois Lane, while James Gunn is the director of the film.

Kaylee Remington is the shopping and entertainment commerce reporter and metro reporter for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Read her work online.