In the DCU's first major project, Superman, the world has its own team of righteous, super-powered heroes who are ever-standing at the ready as the Justice... Gang. Okay, so Justice Gang doesn't quite roll off the tongue as smoothly as Justice League (what do you expect when the name was conceived by Guy Gardner?), but the three-person squad's presence still looms over the plot of Superman. Its members, Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, and the saltiest Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, have been fixtures of the movie's marketing campaign. Director James Gunn repeatedly promised that his movie is squarely a Clark Kent adventure and that his fellow superheroes are merely along for the ride in a supporting capacity. However, the Justice Gang wants to present itself as a professional, reliable organization. And an organization needs a headquarters.
While the Justice Gang title was created specifically for Superman, it shares a portion of its wording with DC Comics' premiere congregation of mission-aligned do-gooders, the Justice League. And while the League has had a few bases of operations over the decades, its most recognizable meeting place is the Hall of Justice. The Hall originated in the 1973 DC Saturday morning cartoon Super Friends and didn't reach the comic universe until Justice League of America #7 from 2007. And while the team's iconic HQ has made live-action appearances in several Arrowverse episodes, the Hall of Justice has never been glimpsed in a DC movie. But perhaps this is about to change.
A new collection of Superman promo art shows several key locations from the DC mythos that also appear in the movie. Metropolis, Luthorcorp, The Daily Planet, and the Fortress of Solitude all factor heavily into the story Superman is telling. However, no other piece of tie-in art, trailer, TV spot, featurette, or even a social media post from James Gunn has shown or mentioned the Hall of Justice. Yet, there it is, rendered in stained glass style alongside places known to be in the film.
Naturally, this must mean that the Hall of Justice is included in Superman. Logic also suggests that it's the home base of the Justice Gang. The Justice Gang's uniforms (and the Peacemaker Season 2 trailer) suggest that the team is operated and financed by Maxwell Lord's corporation, Lordtech, which clearly endeavors to privatize the global protection business by employing its own superheroes.
Crucially, James Gunn was reported to take Superman's production to Cincinnati Union Hall (via Dayton 24/7 Now), the real-world structure (seen below) on which the Hall of Justice was modeled. This blatantly indicates that the DCU film features scenes set at the Hall.
This would be a significant milestone for DC in cinema. Up to this point, the Hall of Justice has only been glimpsed in live-action on television in shows like The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow as an abandoned STAR Labs facility. But after the Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, it officially became the Hall of Justice.
Where and when the Hall pops up in Superman are details that moviegoers will need to wait until the highly anticipated motion picture hits theaters on Friday, July 11, to learn. Superman stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. Other cast members include Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, and Anthony Carrigan.
Other Versions of DC's Hall of Justice
The Hall of Justice was designed by Al Gmuer, who worked on ABC's Super Friends cartoon in 1973. Gmuer drew heavy inspiration from the Ohio landmark Cincinnati Union Hall. In fact, the Hall of Justice is a near-exact doppelgänger of the famous Buckeye State building. In addition to being part of DC Comics since 2007, the Hall of Justice has shown up and been referenced in all sorts of DC-affiliated media.
The Hall has been a video game level in popular titles such as Lego Batman 3 and Injustice: Gods Among Us. The Metro Tower, from another animated DC property, the beloved Justice League Unlimited, borrows aesthetics from the Hall of Justice and was also used as a second headquarters for the titular team.
The 1990s action/rom-com series, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, used "Hall of Justice" as a nickname for the local police precinct. A replica of the Justice League's meeting grounds has been constructed as housing for the Battle for Metropolis ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California.
In the mid-'70s, toy company Mego offered a cardboard Hall of Justice playset. A few years later, rival toymaker Kenner upstaged them with a plastic rendition complete with multiple play features for its Super Powers Collection line of action figures (for which the Super Friends cartoon was essentially a 30-minute commercial).
The Hall of Justice remains an enduring institution in the many facets of the DC brand. Not bad for a design copied from a train station in Ohio.
