“The score is hyper-modern and the thematic material is also original, but it’s written in respect of the history of Kong and Godzilla,” Holkenborg tells me over a Zoom call. “When it comes to movies, Superman only dates back to ’78? While King Kong goes back to [1933] as a feature film. So I thought it was great to be mindful of that.” The composer, who worked as an assistant to Zimmer on
Man of Steel (2013) before graduating to co-composer on
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and then becoming the lone musical mind behind
Zack Snyder’s Justice League, notes that using Steiner’s King Kong theme or Ifukube’s exact Godzilla march would be no more appropriate here than putting John Williams’ beloved
Superman music over Henry Cavill.
“John Williams’ Superman theme would not necessarily, in its original form, work in
Man of Steel,” Holkenborg says, “because
Man of Steel is a more melancholic, emotional storytelling instead of being so tongue in cheek. It’s not that type of Superman. It’s very similar with
Godzilla …
That music would not 1:1 work in a modern Godzilla movie. But it’s the idea that counts.”
