Answer: Professor X and Lex Luthor

Fans of all comic-book themed movies and television shows will have surely noticed a striking resemblance between the X-Mansion, the roost of the X-Men and one Professor X found in the X-Men movies, and the residence of one young Lex Luthor as seen in the television series Smallville.

The resemblance is certainly more than passing, as both the X-men film series and Smallville filmed at the same location: Hatley Castle located in Hatley Park, a Canadian national historic site.

The mansion was built in the early 20th century by British Columbia’s then Lieutenant Governor James Dunsmuir; it was constructed in Scottish baronial style and the elaborate gardens were designed by American garden design masters Franklin Brett and George D. Hall. In 1939, the family sold the estate to the Canadian government. Since the sale it has served a variety of purposes including a college and naval training facility.