The middle school scenes were shot at the now-defunct Patrick Henry High School in Stockbridge, Georgia. This is the same location used for both Hawkins Middle and Hawkins High Schools in seasons 1 and 2 of Stranger Things (2016).
Brightburn is mentioned as being in Kansas - and Brandon's dad's truck license plate is Kansas-issue - which is where Kal-El landed and later grew up to become Superman.
Alliterative Naming: The protagonist's name, Brandon Breyer, follows the classic comic-book convention of alliterative names, similar to Clark Kent and Peter Parker.
In many scenes, Brandon wears combinations of blue, red and yellow, the main colors in Superman's traditional outfit; This motif was also used on the character Clark Kent in the TV series Smallville (2001).
Alternate Ending: An alternate ending was considered where Caitlyn, a character in the film, is shown in a lab having a robotic arm attached to her broken arm, indicating a darker path for her character.