DC”s latest movies have taken us to the iconic fictional cities of Metropolis and Gotham City. Suicide Squad spends a bit of time in Batman”s town (also home turf to Squad member Deadshot), but the bulk of the anti-superhero movie takes place in Midway City.
Where”s that? Not in California (there is a real Midway City in Orange County – not the same as the fictional DC Comics locale).
Here are five things to know about where you”ll be spending (or spent, midnight opening fans!) your time when you see Suicide Squad.
1. Midway City is loosely based on Chicago. But it”s in Michigan, as stated by writer Bob Rozakis in an “Ask the Answer Man” column printed in a DC Comics issue in 1977. In Suicide Squad, Michigan license plates appear on the city”s cars.
2. Its best-known superhero ties are to Hawkman, Hawkwoman, and Hawkgirl. Originally from the planet Thanagar, Hawkman chased a criminal to Earth (specifically, to Midway City) and ended up sticking around. In some iterations, Hawkman, an archaeologist by day (who first appeared in an issue of Flash Comics in 1940) and his wife, Hawkwoman, have been curators of a museum in Midway City. The use of the city in Suicide Squad may point to a future appearance of Hawkman or Hawkgirl in a future DCU movie.
3. It”s also home to the Doom Patrol. This group of superpowered misfits was first assembled by Dr. Niles Caulder a.k.a. The Chief in My Greatest Adventure #80 in June 1963. Among these gifted outcasts is Robotman, a daredevil who “survived” a car accident on a European racetrack with only his brain intact. The Chief put his brain in a robot”s body. The Doom Patrol later relocated their headquarters to Kansas City in a 1987 issue of their comic.
4. The city is connected to Ontario, Canada via the massive Bi-State Tunnel. It”s the the longest underwater tunnel in the United States, connecting Midway City to the wilds of Ontario beneath the waterways of the North Channel, according to the guidebook DC Adventures Universe.
5. Midway City dealt with major destruction in a 2008 mini-series. The crossover event, called Final Crisis, the city was destroyed by forces from Apokolips, the planet where Darkseid rules. Darkseid, you might remember, may or may not have something to do with a deleted scene in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.