An iconic DC Universe landmark just made its screen debut in an unlikely place — a car commercial. Toyota USA dropped a new ad on Monday, revealing that the car company has arranged product placement in Superman. Rachel Brosnahan plays Lois Lane, who drives a Toyota bZ in the movie, and she spoke about the movie in a brief interview, accompanied by clips. For the most part, we’ve seen this footage before, but at the two-minute mark, there’s a glimpse of the Hall of Justice that hasn’t been featured in any trailers or previews before now. We don’t know the history of the Hall of Justice in the DCU, but in the comics, it’s usually the headquarters for the Justice League.
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The DCU’s Hall of Justice is extremely accurate to its DC Comics counterpart — its main structure is a massive arch with tall windows on the front and pillars on either side. Here, it has a large clock affixed to the exterior, though in many other depictions, this place is taken up by a stylized sculpture of the earth. This ad even seems to show Lois pulling up to visit the hall, parking her car conspicuously out front.
We can only speculate about the function of the Hall of Justice in the DCU. We know that in this continuity, costumed superheroes have been active for years, even before Superman hit the scene. We also know that several of the movie’s other heroes are members of a team called the Justice Gang. They receive financial support from corporate sponsors, including Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), which contrasts them with Superman’s unwavering integrity.
It’s possible that the Hall of Justice is the home of the Justice Gang in the DCU, especially since the Justice League doesn’t seem to exist yet in this continuity. We also don’t know where this hall is located — in the comics, it’s usually in Washington, D.C., but depending on where Metropolis is supposed to be located, that may be a long drive for Lois. Superman filmed most of its Metropolis scenes in Cleveland, Ohio, and many fans agree that is a reasonable place for the fictional city to be placed.
The Hall of Justice was first depicted in the cartoon Super Friends, but was later adopted into the comics and even retroactively attributed to the League’s past adventures. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, it’s explained that Superman built the Hall of Justice himself with designs from John Stewart and Wonder Woman, and financing from Batman, but that’s unlikely to be the case in the DCU, if the hall is introduced this early. It’s just one of many headquarters for the Justice League, alongside the Watchtower, the Compound, and the Refuge.
This is just one more intriguing detail about the DCU continuity we’re about to explore, and the story that is already underway there. Superman hits theaters on Friday, July 11th.
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Image courtesy of Lionsgate
