Superhero Soundtracks

I don't know if any of you think about the soundtracks to superhero movies, but I sure do. That could be for many reasons...

• I've been watching (and loving) superhero movies since I was a kid.
• Music is my life. (Former Band Director, current full time composer/performer)
• Superhero movies have amazing music (mostly)
• There have been so many reboots of various franchises, so you have so many musical styles for the soundtracks to pick from. (Some better than others)
• The themes (leitmotif) written for heroes throughout film scores come back enough that you connect with them and recognize their significance. Especially when you're in your 2nd, 3rd, or 10th movie featuring those motives.

Some of the earliest themes I remember connecting with were the John Williams "Superman" film score and the Danny Elfman "Batman" music. I grew up humming and whistling them both. It was, and is a part of my musical upbringing. (Granted there was a time in late high school/early college when I became less than thrilled with the music of John Williams, but since that time, I have come to appreciate his amazing writing, and specifically his skill crafting emotional and memorable melodies.)

Once I became obsessed with comic books, Superman specifically, I kept tabs on internet forums and various sites to learn when the next Superman movie was going to come out. It would get planned and then scrapped. Then another would pop up and disappear. Finally in 2006, I got my wish and Superman Returns came out! This was before an Imax theater was in every sizable city, so I drove 2 1/2 hours to find an Imax 3D theater.

This was also before gps was on everyone's phone so I got lost in Tulsa. I gave a call to a fellow member of the U of A trumpet studio who grew up around there and with one sentence about the neighborhood I was driving through he was able to tell me exactly where I was and where to go. Thanks Kyle! 

Anyway, my girlfriend and I (now my wife) made our way into the theater, put on our 3D glasses and waited. I had been waiting 15 years for this movie. The only Superman in my life had been Christopher Reeve. I loved (most of) those movies, and when the John Williams themes started playing during the Superman Returns title sequence, I started crying. My wait was over. I was finally going to see Superman on the big screen. With over a decade of waiting and build up, I couldn't wait! Sadly, my favorite part about the film (at least at that time) ended up being the title sequence. 

After waiting 15 years for that film, I think It's been almost 15 years since I last watched it. Maybe its time for a rewatch. Maybe I'll feel differently about it this time. 

How did I get off on that tangent when the topic of this post was supposed to be superhero soundtracks?

Oh yeah... I was planning to talk about my feelings when I heard the "Man of Steel" and "Batman Begins" film scores, which was one of the first times I was aware of someone completely scrapping the themes I had grown up with to create new themes. At first I was sad that Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard had ignored the themes created for the previous movies, but the more I lived with them the more I became ok with them. I think it was because at first, it felt like they were simply ignoring the history of the characters and their music. But after spending time watching the movies and realizing that they were more reflective of the musical and cinematic world around them. Now Hans Zimmer has grown to be a composer I truly admire. He is probably also one of the reasons I've started experimenting with synthesizers.

So why do composers decide to go new directions with the music when rebooting a franchise? I feel like its for a variety of reasons:

• Times change, and music changes with it. It's the exact reason that all music doesn't sound like John Dowland or Hildegard von Bingen anymore. (Not that there is anything wrong with that type of music, I happen to love it. But as the times change, so do the styles of music being created)
• Composers don't often want to just redo other composers work. That would make them arrangers. There is nothing wrong with arrangers, I do a bit of arranging myself. But if a director wants his film score to sound like a certain composer, they can just hire that composer. Or if that composer has passed away, I'm sure you can find composers that can mimic that sound.
• New music shows that this is a new storyline in a "new world". In the time that I've been alive I have seen several different portrayals of Superman. They all tell a slightly different take. Why shouldn't their music be a little different. Christopher Reeve as Superman felt optimistic to me (for the most part) and his music felt that way too. Henry Cavill brings a more reflective - brooding direction to the character, and the music shows that. It still has moments of optimism, but the overall character of the music feels like one of contemplation. 
• And for a purely financial reason...Copyright. Everything is about money when you get down to it. I imagine that in some cases, the company producing the film would rather pay a composer to write new music and then be able to sell soundtracks, since they would more than likely own the new copyright, instead of paying the previous copyright owner a licensing fee to use the material and have to pay them for every usage. (Though in many cases, intellectual property is probably already owned by the production company who is doing the reboot. Would they still have to pay licensing?)

I don't think I can talk about superhero soundtracks without talking about the time capsule aspect of a few more recent movies. After watching the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, I had to buy the soundtracks. They were such wonderfully curated time capsules of the time Peter's mother loved, and in my opinion, it fit the movie's tone perfectly. Captain Marvel was a wonderful blast from the past of the 90's. Thor: Ragnarok had made me feel like I was the pasts expectation of the future, while simultaneously being in the 70's, 80', and far in the future.

Without the music, I would have still liked each of these movies with more traditional film scores, but because of the music attached to the movies, I loved them. 

Music adds so much to movies. Good music makes movies better. Great music makes movies unforgettable. 

We hope you enjoyed this blog post since we haven't been able to record recently, but he hope to send a new episode your way soon! In the meantime we would love to hear your thoughts!

What are your favorite superhero soundtracks? 

Do you remember the first superhero theme that you loved? 

Hans Zimmer or John Williams?

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