The Avengers (2012)
- Documented locations
- 37
- Year
- 2012
- Cities
- Cleveland, New York, Albuquerque, Bethpage, Manhattan Beach, Sandusky, Wilmington, Fairborn, Chilili, Worthington, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Parma, Inyokern
Cleveland, United States
This former bank in downtown Cleveland, later renamed Ameritrust, is known for its rotunda topped with a glass roof. It had previously served as a backdrop for Spider-Man 3 in 2007 and for Avengers in 2012.
The scene : The glass-domed rotunda serves as the bank on 42nd Street: Captain America bursts in to free civilians held hostage by the Chitauri, before being thrown through the storefront. We see the lobby again in the news report where Beth, the waitress, is interviewed.
Cleveland, United States
The Cuyahoga County Courthouse, located on West Lakeside Avenue, houses, among other things, the probate court. It had previously been featured in Avengers, where it represented a location in Stuttgart.
The scene : Interiors of the gala evening supposed to take place in a museum in Stuttgart: Loki attacks a scientist and tears out his eye to force open a secure door, then makes the guests kneel.
New York, United States
Monumental Beaux-Arts style train station inaugurated in 1913, one of the largest in the world by the number of platforms, located on 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. It was designed by the architectural firms Reed and Stem and Warren and Wetmore and is a dead-end underground railway station.
The scene : Second unit shots for the final battle, filmed in front of the train station. On screen, Hulk and Thor finish off a Leviathan by smashing it against the facade on Vanderbilt Avenue.
New York, United States
Grand avenue of Manhattan leading to the Grand Central terminal.
The scene : The Park Avenue viaduct over 42nd Street carries the essence of the Battle of New York, including the famous shot revolving around the six heroes. Most of the action was actually filmed in Cleveland and New Mexico, but reference and second unit shots were indeed made here to digitally recreate the avenue.
New York, United States
The scene : The Quinjet transporting Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Captain America, struck by Loki, crashes onto the plaza of the tower at the corner of East 40th Street. This is one of the few battle scenes actually filmed in New York.
Albuquerque, United States
Large film studio complex south of Albuquerque.
The scene : Film sets: almost all of the scenes aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier were filmed here, including the containment cell designed for Hulk in which Loki traps Thor before ejecting him.
Bethpage, United States
The scene : New York film sets, situated in the former Grumman aerospace hangars in Bethpage.
Manhattan Beach, United States
Manhattan Beach Studios complex in California. The shooting reports refer to it as Manhattan Beach Studios, and the mapping data refers to it as MBS Media Campus.
The scene : California film studios, at 1600 Rosecrans Avenue.
United States
Large US Air Force base in the Mojave Desert, renowned for its aeronautical testing and runways on a dried-up lake.
The scene : Background shots taken by the second unit for visual effects.
United States
The scene : Exterior shots of the car chase from the opening sequence, filmed by the second unit.
Cleveland, United States
The scene : Heart of the battle of Manhattan, filmed in Cleveland: the police arrive at the intersection while pedestrians flee from the exploding taxis, Captain America gives his instructions to the agents here, Loki's attack pulverizes a delivery truck, and this is where Iron Man crashes to the ground. Thor and Captain America team up here later against the Chitauri.
Cleveland, United States
The scene : At the start of the assault, civilians escape from a building targeted by the Chitauri. The northeast corner building has changed since the 2011 filming, but the intersection is indeed the same.
Cleveland, United States
The scene : A Leviathan crashes into a building, obliterating a hot-dog vendor's cart in the process: the setting was established at this address, where Walnut meets East 9th Street.
Cleveland, United States
Office and parking complex at 999 Chester Avenue, in Cleveland, known as Ohio Savings Plaza.
The scene : The parking garage at 999 Chester Avenue serves three times: Iron Man, projected several blocks away after blowing up a Leviathan, crashes into the bus shelter bordering it; Hulk is besieged by a swarm of Chitauri on its roof; and a side street of the building serves as the front of the Shawarma Palace in front of which Iron Man comes to a stop.
Cleveland, United States
Office building at 2060 East 9th Street, in Cleveland, completed in 1902 and recognizable by its terracotta cladding.
The scene : It is in front of this façade that Captain America and Thor stand against the extraterrestrial army.
Cleveland, United States
A twenty-eight story tower erected in 1971 on Euclid Avenue for the Cleveland Trust Company, designed by architect Marcel Breuer. Long vacant, it has been converted into a hotel and apartments within the complex known as The 9.
The scene : The entrance of the tower has been transformed into the subway entrance "Grand Central-42nd Street": the National Guard enters the city and takes position in front of it.
Cleveland, United States
Central place of Cleveland, designed as early as the founding plan of 1796 and redesigned in 2016 as a pedestrian esplanade. It serves as the zero point for the city's street numbering.
The scene : All the exterior scenes meant to take place in Germany were shot there: Loki forces the crowd to kneel before him, then faces Captain America and Iron Man in the middle of the square.
Cleveland, United States
Former Westinghouse factory in the industrial area of Cleveland, beside a railway line, identified by the work The Art of The Avengers.
The scene : Abandoned warehouse by the railway tracks where Russian henchmen are holding Natasha Romanoff tied to a chair and interrogating her until she gains the upper hand. On the screen, the announced address is 114 Silensky Plaza, third floor.
Cleveland, United States
A two-level bridge spanning the Cuyahoga River, built in 1918, with the upper deck for cars and the lower level for streetcars. The latter has been closed since 1954 and is only opened for visits, making it a highly sought-after tunnel setting.
The scene : Loki sets up Selvig, Hawkeye, and the soldiers he has enslaved in an abandoned tunnel network to prepare for the invasion: the sequence was filmed under the bridge, in the old lower-level viaduct.
Sandusky, United States
Former NASA Plum Brook Station, opened in 1941 as an ordinance factory and later converted into a space test center, renamed in 2021 in honor of Neil Armstrong. Its Space Power Facility houses the world's largest vacuum chamber, thirty-seven meters high.
The scene : Interiors of SHIELD's secret base, the Joint Dark Energy Mission: the immense vacuum chamber of the Space Power Facility serves as a laboratory where Dr. Selvig studies the Tesseract, and it is here that Loki emerges from the portal, subdues Selvig and Hawkeye, then causes the facility to collapse. Thor then crashes in a field just outside the station after being ejected from the Helicarrier.
Wilmington, United States
Southwest Ohio Air Cargo Airport, long a hub for Airborne Express and then DHL. DHL's withdrawal in 2008 freed up immense hangars, which have become sought-after filming volumes.
The scene : The duel between Hulk and Thor in the depths of the Helicarrier was filmed inside a DHL hangar at this cargo airport, according to issue 130 of Cinefex.
Fairborn, United States
Base of the US Air Force born from the merger of the test fields of Wright Field and Patterson Field, on the lands where the Wright brothers learned to fly. It houses the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
The scene : Military base used for filming. No source specifies which scene was shot there.
Albuquerque, United States
Public high school opened in 2009 in the southwest of Albuquerque, whose low and angular architecture makes it regularly used as a government facility on screen.
The scene : Exterior of the Joint Dark Energy Mission, the secret SHIELD base hidden in the New Mexico desert, including aerial shots. It is from here that Nick Fury orders the evacuation when the Tesseract activates.
Albuquerque, United States
Santa Fe Railway locomotive repair shops, built starting in 1915 in the Barelas neighborhood. Closed in 1970, their steel-framed halls and skylights have become one of the most sought-after settings in New Mexico.
The scene : Alleyways supposed to be in Kolkata: a little girl comes to fetch Bruce Banner for her sick father, a ruse set up by Natasha Romanoff to approach him. The abandoned warehouse where Hulk crashes, presented on screen as a New York shipyard, is the same site.
Albuquerque, United States
The scene : The loading dock of the convention center serves as the loading dock of the SHIELD base: Maria Hill sees Hawkeye loading suspicious cargo into a truck, just before learning that Agent Barton has turned to the enemy.
Albuquerque, United States
The scene : The launch pad of the Helicarrier was built on an old airport runway: this is where the Quinjet lands, bringing Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner, convinced they are joining an ordinary aircraft carrier. About thirty meters of the ship's superstructure have been mounted there.
Albuquerque, United States
Building of the cinema and digital media campus of the University of New Mexico, located at Mesa del Sol, right across from Albuquerque Studios.
The scene : Secure laboratory where Hawkeye and the agents enslaved by Loki steal the iridium needed for the portal, while Loki creates a diversion at the Stuttgart party.
Chilili, United States
Village of the Sierra de Manzano, founded in the 17th century and one of the few Spanish land grants in New Mexico still administered collectively by its heirs.
The scene : Thor intercepts the convoy bringing Loki and takes him away: the ensuing fight between Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America was filmed on a wooded cliff near the village, according to issue 130 of Cinefex.
Worthington, United States
Former limestone mine converted into a mushroom farm, the largest in the world at its peak: two hundred and forty kilometers of tunnels at a constant temperature, dug beneath the countryside of Armstrong County.
The scene : The tunnels under the SHIELD base through which Loki escapes with the Tesseract, Selvig and Hawkeye, and where Maria Hill chases him.
New York, United States
Two-tiered terrace with stairs opened in 1864 in the heart of Central Park, designed by Calvert Vaux as the park's open-air salon. Its fountain, the Angel of the Waters, is the only sculpture that was included from the original plan.
The scene : Final scene, filmed just above the large fountain: the invasion repelled, the Avengers part ways, Thor takes Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard.
New York, United States
Café located under the Park Avenue viaduct, at the entrance of Grand Central Terminal, in a former underground passage converted into a vaulted hall.
The scene : As the Chitauri surge through the portal, bystanders take refuge in the café, where the waitress Beth is later seen being interviewed on television after the battle.
Los Angeles, United States
Restaurant located at 9340 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, which bore the sign Elat Burger at the time of filming.
The scene : Post-credits scene: the team gathers without a word around a shawarma, the one Stark mentioned at the height of the battle. The shot was filmed after the film's premiere but before its theatrical release, which explains the beard that Chris Evans is trying to hide, grown out for Snowpiercer.
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : The truck taking Erik Selvig and his team to New York drives through this tunnel: in reality, the covered ramp connecting the 105 East to the 405 North, near Los Angeles International Airport.
Brooklyn, United States
Large complex of film and television studios located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The scene : New York sets mentioned as filming locations for the film. No source specifies which scene was shot there.
Parma, United States
Southern suburb of Cleveland, born around the automobile factory that General Motors has operated since 1948.
The scene : The explosion scenes were filmed at a Chevrolet factory in the city, which moviescenemap mentions without naming it or providing the address. No source goes further down than the municipality.
Inyokern, United States
Village in the Indian Wells Valley, in Kern County, established around its airfield opened in 1935.
The scene : Mojave Desert Commune mentioned among the filming locations of the film, without any source specifying the scene or a site within the commune.
New York, United States
Suspension bridge opened in 1964 between Brooklyn and Staten Island, at the entrance to New York Harbor. Its 1,298 meters of span made it the longest in the world for seventeen years.
The scene : The World Council launches a nuclear missile at New York against Nick Fury's advice. Iron Man intercepts it mid-flight under the bridge's apron and directs it toward the open portal above the city, ending the invasion.