Cincinnatians have long known Union Terminal was the inspiration for the Hall of Justice in the comic book world. Now it's canon.
The home of the Cincinnati Museum Center is featured in the latest Superman movie. Museum spokesman Cody Hefner says it’s too early to tell if the movie has affected paid attendance, but there is anecdotal evidence people are taking notice.
“What we’ve seen lately as people come in, they kind of poke their heads in the doors and say ‘Hey, can we come in here? We just want to see the building. Can we take a picture?’ ” he says. “And we see them take this photo of the rotunda and then almost run out the door gleefully, like they’re on a scavenger hunt or they finally just captured a picture of Bigfoot or something.”
Hefner says the Museum Center is trying to capitalize on that new interest.
“And reintroduce people to some of the superheroes who occupy our building today — our curators, paleontologists, the dinosaurs, the Children’s Museum, the exhibits,” he says. “But also the history of superheroes; the soldiers who shipped off and came home during World War II, the Holocaust survivors who walked through Union Terminal and built their lives here in Cincinnati. It has a heroic history.”
Hefner says Superman is known worldwide, and that means Union Terminal now has international fame.
The building was the model for the original Hall of Justice featured in a 1970s cartoon series, the SuperFriends.
There has been some talk about showing the new movie in the Museum’s OMNIMAX theater.
“There are some contract stipulations with theaters around the region. There’s also the OMNIMAX formatting. Films that aren’t shot in the OMNIMAX format don’t always play well in the theater because that screen curves, so unless you are really centering it, you’re not taking full advantage of that screen,” he says. “But you never know. What more iconic place to show it than here.”
Hefner says any other movies set in that superhero universe could mean movie makers return to Cincinnati for more filming.
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