New Jersey in popular fiction (Updated 5/31)

In Stephen Spielberg's 2005 remake of War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise and his family live in Bayonne. In the movie, the Bayonne Bridge is exploded.

All of Kevin Smith's films are set largely or entirely in New Jersey. The state is home to Dante Hicks, Randal Graves, Jay and Silent Bob, among other characters.

In The Family Man, Nicholas Cage wakes up one day to find that he is married and has kids, and they all live in a suburb in New Jersey. The Family Man is not to be confused with The Weather Man, which Nicholas Cage also starred in.

In The Station Agent, Finbar McBride moves into an abandoned train station in Newfoundland, New Jersey. Peter Dinklage, who plays McBride, was born in Morristown.

Cop Land takes place in the fictional Garrison, New Jersey, a small town near the George Washington Bridge, across the Hudson from New York. It was filmed largely in Edgewater.

In Being John Malkovich, after seeing the world through John Malkovich's eyes, one is ejected into a ditch beside the New Jersey Turnpike.

Jason Voorhees of the Friday the 13th movies drowned in Crystal Lake (doesn't exist) at Camp Crystal Lake, New Jersey (also doesn't exist).

In the Hellboy movie, the Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense is located in Newark. It is disguised as Squeaky Clean Waste Management Services. In the comics, the bureau is located in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Garden State was filmed in South Orange, Cranford, Livingston, Maplewood, Newark, Tenafly and Wallington. Zach Braff stars as an average New Jersey male - a disillusioned fellow who cannot seem to apply himself by fault of his own douchebaggery, but eventually comes to accept his place in the world when he realizes that suburban New Jersey doesn't suck that much in comparison to other places.

Harold & Kumar quest to a White Castle in Cherry Hill, which evidently doesn't actually exist. However, at least four White Castle restaurants exist within the region surrounding the pair's native Hoboken, including a location in Jersey City. Jersey City is also home to the original White Mana restaurant, which is considered superior to White Castle by locals. White Mana has a secondary location in Hackensack.

Incidentally, in 1978's Superman, Lex Luthor launches two stolen military ICBMs - one at the San Andreas Fault, and one at Hackensack, New Jersey. Luthor's assistant, Eve Teschmacher comments distressedly that her mother lives in Hackensack.

The Sopranos reside in Essex County, and apparently commute through Hudson County, if the landmarks in the opening sequence are any indication.

Gregory House, M.D., is a diagnostician in Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Like most middle-aged professionals in Jersey, he is a caustic son of a bitch.

The location of the town of Wellesville, the major setting in The Adventures of Pete & Pete, is meant to be ambiguous, but various visual clues reveal that it was shot in New Jersey, largely in Bayonne, South Orange and Leonia. The Starledger newspaper is advertised in various scenes, and when the family goes to the beach (where Little Pete and Artie fight the ocean), they are close enough to drive back home that afternoon.

Based on the New York skyline present in the background of the show, it can be assumed that the scaring academy in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters is in a landfill on the Jersey side of the Hudson. However, in one episode the Brooklyn Bridge is apparently visible not far away.

The now cancelled Cartoon Network series Megas XLR was set in many fictional places throughout the universe. However, each episode typically began in the main characters' home town of Jersey City. Major portions of the city are destroyed throughout the show.

The members of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force reside in New Jersey. Assuming they are in some proximity to Dr. Weird's laboratory by the Jersey Shore, they may be near the eastern seaboard themselves, possibly further to the south.

Unsurprisingly, the first superhero from New Jersey is The Toxic Avenger. However, some evidence has suggested that Gotham City may be located in New Jersey, but there is still much in the Batman comics that contradicts this.

EDIT:

Though it is never implicitly stated, Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai takes place largely in and around Jersey City.

According to Futurama, the entrance to Robot Hell is - or will be - in New Jersey. Leela disputes the believability of this fact, while Fry remains relatively unphased by it.