The Baxter Building | MCU Location Scout

Aerial of New York skyline with the Baxter Building.

Welcome back to the Baxter, Dr. Richards.

FANTASTIC FOUR

Exterior

After their adventure at the Brooklyn Bridge, Reed brings everyone back to his headquarters, the Baxter Building.

The Marine Building, at 355 Burrard Street in Vancouver, serves as the entrance and Lobby for the Baxter Building. It has appeared in the movie Timecop, and it was used as the headquarters of the Daily Planet in the TV show Smallville. The tilt down of the skyscraper is a digital set extension, placing it in Midtown Manhattan.

  • Looking up the Baxter Building.
  • Crowds gathered outside the Baxter Building.
  • Johnny outside the Baxter Building.
  • Reed and Sue with crowds outside the Baxter Building.
  • Doorman inside the Baxter Building.
  • Reed and Sue inside the Baxter Building.
  • Reed and Sue in the elevator of the Baxter Building.
  • Ben in the lobby of the Baxter Building.
  • Victor outside the Baxter Building.
  • Johnny in the lobby of the Baxter Building.
  • Ben and Johnny in the lobby of the Baxter Building.

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Two different aerial views of the Baxter Building within the Manhattan skyline appear in the film. The first is the day version, above and immediately below. This appears to be approximately 217 W 57th Street. The Empire State Building is visible in the background, but no Von Doom Industries tower. The nighttime view, below, puts the building closer to 250 W 55th Street. Neither of these shots ar consistent with a view of the Baxter Building seen from Von Doom Industries, which puts Reed’s HQ south of Victor’s building. Additionally, Johnny can see the team’s building from Times Square.

The reasons for these discrepancies are that the filmmakers did not decide where their buildings were to be located. They found interesting background plates or stock footage and composited the Baxter Building or Von Doom Industries into the best-looking shot.

  • Aerial of New York skyline with the Baxter Building.
  • Aerial view of the Baxter Building at night.
  • Aerial view of the Baxter Building at night.
  • Johnny in Times Square looking at Baxter Building.
  • Reed hanging on to the side of the Baxter Building.

Parking Garage

Johnny gets tired of being confined to his quarters, so he hops into his car and goes out for some fun.

While this parking garage is unidentified, it has a high likelihood of being in the Marine Building. The shots of the car stopped at the traffic light were filmed very close to that location.

  • Johnny driving his car through the Baxter Building garage.

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This is an unknown location on MCU: Location Scout. If you have any information about the whereabouts of this location or any other tips, please send them to MCULocationScout@gmail.com

Penthouse Lab & Living Quarters

The top floor of the Baxter Building contains Reed’s lab and the team’s living quarters. All of these rooms were built on a soundstage. The production did a great job of replicating the ornate interior of the elevator at the Marine Building.

  • Sue and Johnny in the hallway of the penthouse of the Baxter Building.
  • Johnny and Sue in the Baxter Building laboratory.
  • Johnny and Sue in the Baxter Building laboratory.
  • Reed, Johnny, and Sue in the Baxter Building laboratory.
  • Sue in room inside the Baxter Building.
  • Victor in Sue's room inside the Baxter Building.
  • Victor in the penthouse hallway inside the Baxter Building.
  • Reed working on his blackboard in the Baxter Building laboratory.
  • The Fantastic Four in the living room of the Baxter Building.
  • The Fantastic Four in the kitchen of the Baxter Building.
  • Sue, Reed, and Ben in the living room of the Baxter Building.
  • Sue, Reed, and Ben in the living room of the Baxter Building, watching Johnny on TV..
  • Reed in his laboratory in the Baxter Building.

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER

Exterior

As with the original film, above, the ground floor exteriors and lobby were filmed at the Marine Building in Vancouver, British Columbia.

  • Entrance to the Baxter Building.
  • The doorman of the Baxter Building.
  • Cars and crowds outside the Baxter Building entrance.
  • Johnny speaking to reporters outside the Baxter Building entrance.
  • A man reading the newspaper outside the Baxter Building.
  • Sue, with Johnny's flame powers, on the sidewalk outside of the Baxter Building.

Visual effects shots have the building in two different locations, with no specific anchor point for it in the city. As with the images above from the first film, the upgraded Baxter Building looks to be around 217 W 57th Street. The MetLife building is visible, barely, in the upper-middle-left of the image below. Yet for scenes where Sue accidentally gets Johnny’s powers, the view outside the windows of the Baxter Building puts it around Park Avenue and E 34th Street, now downtown from MetLife.

  • Aerial of the Baxter Building.
  • Sue, with Johnny's flame powers, outside a window of the Baxter Building.
  • Sue, with Johnny's flame powers, outside a window of the Baxter Building.

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Penthouse Lab & Living Quarters

The living quarters and laboratory have been upgraded since the last time they were seen. No doubt, Reed has parlayed money coming to the team and used it to keep the lights on, and more! Once again, these areas were built on a soundstage at one of the two studios where the movie was filmed.

  • The laboratory complex in the Baxter Building.
  • Reed and Johnny in the lab area in the Baxter Building.
  • General Hager and his staff in the lobby of the Fantastic Four office in the Baxter Building.
  • Reed and Ben in the laboratory of the Baxter Building.
  • Reed explaining something to General Hager and his staff, while Ben, Johnny, and Sue sit nearby.
  • Sue escorting the military into the Baxter Building elevator on floor 33.
  • Ben with a Slurpee in the Baxter Building laboratory.
  • Alicia and Sue getting ready for the wedding in the Baxter Building.
  • Alicia and Sue getting ready for the wedding in the Baxter Building.
  • Ben, Alicia, and Reed in the Baxter Building.
  • Reed in the living quarters of the Baxter Building.
  • Reed and Sue in the family room of the Baxter Building.
  • Reed and Sue in the family room of the Baxter Building.
  • Reed and Sue in the family room of the Baxter Building.
  • Ben and Alicia in the Baxter Building.

Rooftop

A new area of the building is seen in this sequel: the rooftop. It is featured for the wedding of Reed and Sue, which includes a stunt with a real helicopter (with digitally enhanced rotors). The production erected this set on top of a parking garage located at 1050 W Pender Street in downtown Vancouver. This is a very good effect, except for the buildings nearby that tower over the Baxter Building. Aerial views of the skyscraper, above, show no such nearby buildings.

  • Ben and Reed on the rooftop of the Baxter Building.
  • Johnny on the rooftop of the Baxter Building.
  • Aerial view of wedding event on the rooftop of the Baxter Building.
  • Aerial view of wedding event on the rooftop of the Baxter Building.
  • Johnny and Sue walking towards the alter on the rooftop of the Baxter Building.
  • Johnny, Sue, and Reed on the rooftop of the Baxter Building.
  • A helicopter crashing the wedding of Reed and Sue on the rooftop of the Baxter Building.
  • The Silver Surfer as seen from the rooftop of the Baxter Building.
  • The Human Torch as seen from the rooftop of the Baxter Building.

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(Fantastic Four, 2005 & Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 2007)