I've lately become obsessed with this!
Marvel
Obviously, most Marvel-related stuff takes place in New York, and boy have I analyzed the Battle of New York in The Avengers!
That film was actually shot in Cleveland, but Stark/Avengers Tower takes the place of the MetLife Building (formerly the PanAm Building) just behind Grand Central Station, with Park Avenue just in front of that. So they actually recreated Park Avenue and the front facade of Grand Central on a set in Cleveland, and that's where most of the action takes place! It's accurate right down to Central Cafe below Park Avenue, and the red umbrellas over the tables outside! Pretty cool!
That same locale shows up again multiple times in the MCU, including Peter meeting MJ there at the end of Far from Home.
But then there's the DC stuff, which, unlike Marvel, is all in fictional cities.
Batman '66
I haven't seen it in a long time, but from what I'm told, in the 1966 Batman series, Gotham City is supposed to be New York.
Superman '78
In this franchise, Metropolis is New York. I got excited when I learned that Lex Luthor's lair was underneath Grand Central and the building Lois Lane fell from was across the street from the PanAm/MetLife Building. So I thought I'd see some of the same locations as in Avengers, but you never see PanAm or Grand Central.
Batman '89-'97
Tim Burton's and Joel Schumacher's Gotham Cities are ground-up original creations, with matte paintings or terrible CGI shots representing the skylines.
Smallville
Shot in Vancouver, which stands in for Metropolis. The Marine Building stands in for The Daily Planet, with a CGI globe added.
The Dark Knight Trilogy
Chicago.
Superman Returns
Shot in Australia. I'd like to know what the skyline is taken from.
Screenshot (1).jpg
The Arrowverse
Then there's the CW Arrowverse shows, which are all shot in Vancouver. However, they can't have the same skylines for Star City, Central City, National City, and Gotham City. Supergirl/National City is pretty obviously L.A. I know Batwoman gets some of its plate shots from Chicago, so Gotham is Chicago just like in Nolan's films. But I'd be interested in what skylines are supposed to be Star City and Central City.
DCEU
The same thing goes for Metropolis in the Snyderverse
Anything else people have noticed/are wondering?