Dark Knight Trilogy

49. Cardington Hanger

Chicago, IL

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Seen from miles away, two of the largest sheds in Western Europe stand side by side surrounded by vast countryside in Bedfordshire, England. Hand built during the first world war for airship construction, the massive Cardington Hangars stretch five acres each. The size is necessary for the construction of zeppelins and the largest aircraft ever to be constructed till this day, the R101, spanning 777 feet long. During the 1970's, Hangar Two became a Fire Research Station, housing gas explosion experiments in order to investigate fires. Currently Shed One is undergoing reconstruction while Shed Two has been used by Warners Brothers since 2005 to create sets for all three of Nolan's Batman films.

Taking advantage of the massive space, filmmaker Nolan builds a life size set of the Gotham's slums known as the Narrows in Batman Begins. In order not to destroy the construction in progress at the Trump Hotel and Tower, a recreation of the interior was built in order for The Batman and The Joker to hash things out in The Dark Knight. Seen in background shots in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises the exterior antiquity and size is also complimented in the films. Making a final appearance in The Dark Knight Rises the hangar houses the location for Bane's underground sewer hideout which he strategically located under the Applied Sciences warehouse of Wayne Enterprises. Bane makes his first appearance on a set created in Hangar 2 of a highjacked aircraft carrying a well known Nuclear Scientist. And the building's space was used as the four level underground prison where Bruce learned about his inner strength and escaped to make his last stand in Gotham.