BvS The Official Superman/Batman Composer Thread

[Elevator Man]

Even though it's nice to see Christopher Drake's name often mentioned for the BvS movie soundtrack up here. I seriously doubt he'll be offered. It's amazing how much his name seems to pop up on score threads to the Batman reboot and BvS. I bet it has to do with his score to TDKReturns animated movie, which I thought was great as well. Drake peaked my interest with both scores to the long forgotten Hellboy animated movies. I knew he could handle Batman, when I heard he was cast alongside Robert J. Kral and Kevin Manthei for "Gotham Knight" back in '08'. He wrote my favorite score of the 6 tales ("In Darkness Dwells"). I prefer that score over TDKT scores overall. And I've been saying that for years. It's nice to finally see people catch on to how talented Drake is up here. Better late than never.

Why does everybody discount Tom Holkenborg(aka Junkie XL) so easily? He did additional music with Zimmer on TDKR and MOS, he is also the composer for Divergent, the upcoming Mad Max : Fury Road, and was given the gig of 300 : Rise of an Empire by Snyder. Id say he's one to watch.

Well speaking for myself it's b/c I don't care for anything he contributed to TDKR or MOS, which wasn't anything worthwhile. And it's good to be friends with Zimmer and Snyder. Zimmer produced the score for "Divergent". So that's how XL got that gig. It boggles my mind why Miller would hire Junkie XL for a Mad Max movie. For Thunderdome he hired Maurice "Laurence Of Arabia" Jarre to score it. I guess the 4th movie's aiming for the Fast and Furious audience. Pity.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Did Hans Zimmer definitely rule himself out of scoring this one?

 

[BatLobster]

No, he just said he was on the fence about it because on one hand he really enjoyed working on MoS with Zack Snyder, but on the other he's not sure how he feels about having to do Batman again and that he definitely couldn't just plop his work from the Nolan movies into this movie. He's basically said that the movie would require a new Batman theme, the question is still if that's something he wants to have to do or something he'd rather pass off to another composer.

Personally? Just a thought, but if the rumors are true about Affleck taking over the solo Batman franchise, I almost feel like he should pick a composer rather than being stuck with whatever they come up with in this film.

Such is one of the many tricky aspects of rebooting Batman through a Superman movie.

 

[mclay18]

Personally? Just a thought, but if the rumors are true about Affleck taking over the solo Batman franchise, I almost feel like he should pick a composer rather than being stuck with whatever they come up with in this film.

I think that could happen. Obviously Affleck had clout when he brought in his Argo screenwriter to rework the script, who's to say he couldn't get Harry Gregson-Williams or Alexandre Desplat to score this? That's certainly possible.

Assuming that she would agree to it, it doesn't mean that others would or should, though. Just as I wouldn't ask an actor to act like someone else's interpretation of the character (even though SR basically did ).

Um, the composers following John Williams had to use his theme for the last five HP films. Christopher Young used Danny Elfman's themes in his Spider-Man 3 score, whenever they weren't using the temp track. Not every composer did that, a la the X-Men and Iron Man films. But there is precedence.

I'm pretty sure if Zimmer doesn't score this, whoever does will end up being required to use or state "What Are You Going To Do ..."? Just to musically remind viewers it is a follow-up to MOS.

 

[BatLobster]

Yeah, obviously another composer could come in an work within the framework of Zimmer's main Superman themes...it's still the same actor and same vision for the character. What was really being argued was the merit of suddenly reverting back to themes from 1978 and 1989.

 

[Fallen Angel]

I think this Batman should also have a different 'theme' from the Nolan ones, unless they're somehow implying it's the same Batman.

No one is that stupid to believe it's the same Batman from the Nolan movies.

 

[BatLobster]

They've already outright said in the press release that it's a different Batman, with quotes from Emma Thomas confirming it.

And Zimmer's already said that his TDK Trilogy work is off the table. There's no chance of any sort of vague sequel/soft reboot, and yeah- nobody would buy it anyhow.

 

[mclay18]

Yeah, obviously another composer could come in an work within the framework of Zimmer's main Superman themes...it's still the same actor and same vision for the character. What was really being argued was the merit of suddenly reverting back to themes from 1978 and 1989.

As great as Williams' score for the original Superman is, it doesn't fit the style of the reboot. At all. Had JW actually scored MOS, his theme would be darker. Something akin to his scores for War of the Worlds and Minority Report would be what he'd provide for MOS. Those are very far removed from SW and Superman as you can get.

I would like BvS to use a melding of both styles. It's been done before.

 

[mclay18]

Did Zimmer's MOS score not fit?

I liked Zimmer's main theme, but everything else was just... eh. It didn't really make me want to buy the album.

A lot of the score was mainly droning, and the same percussive drum rhythm grated after a while. I'd like whoever scores this movie drop that and concentrate on storytelling through the music. Zimmer did that with Batman Begins. Elfman did it with his Batman and Spider-Man scores. Williams did it with Superman: The Movie.

Zimmer needs to step back to recharge his batteries. Maybe lay off the superhero genre after Amazing Spider-Man 2.

 

[BatLobster]

IMO...What Are You Going to Do When You're Not Saving the World? is a great Superman theme. Not good, great. And it feels very clearly inspired by Williams' IMO, particularly Williams' Krypton theme.

The thing is, we don't really get to hear it in earnest until the very end (probably because he's not "the" Superman we know until the very end). So hopefully we'll get more of that in the sequel.

 

[Wise]

My favorite piece from MoS is the last days of Krypton.

Great stirring emotional music. Perfectly matched the visuals.

Personally I felt the main theme didn't really match the darker tone the film had.

 

[BatLobster]

It didn't, which is why I don't think it was used until the end. I do wonder if that'll just be more of the ending montage/credits theme of this franchise rather than actual score to compliment Superman in action. Either way, the theme just screams "Superman" to me.

 

[DeadPresident]

The part where Jor-El calls H'raka up until reaching the codex is truly epic. I can see where people wouldn't want "epic scale" music for the entire movie but I quite enjoyed it.

 

[NoLaNitE007]

No, he just said he was on the fence about it because on one hand he really enjoyed working on MoS with Zack Snyder, but on the other he's not sure how he feels about having to do Batman again and that he definitely couldn't just plop his work from the Nolan movies into this movie. He's basically said that the movie would require a new Batman theme, the question is still if that's something he wants to have to do or something he'd rather pass off to another composer.

Personally? Just a thought, but if the rumors are true about Affleck taking over the solo Batman franchise, I almost feel like he should pick a composer rather than being stuck with whatever they come up with in this film.

Such is one of the many tricky aspects of rebooting Batman through a Superman movie.

I would like to see a collaboration or this film.

Hans Zimmer and Trent Reznor. Zimmer can continue working on the Superman themes and score and Reznor can handle the new Batman musical elements and Lex's themes.

Zimmer should definitely stay on board to continue his great work from MOS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nas00vMIsiE

 

[BH/HHH]

I hope Zimmer does come back. I thought the theme for Man of Steel was a hell of a lot better than his Batman theme. I'm sure he could come up with something new for Batman.

 

[Elevator Man]

I would like to see a collaboration or this film.

Hans Zimmer and Trent Reznor. Zimmer can continue working on the Superman themes and score and Reznor can handle the new Batman musical elements and Lex's themes.

Zimmer should definitely stay on board to continue his great work from MOS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nas00vMIsiE

No thanks. Reznor should just stick with sound designing Fincher psychological thrillers. I don't even want to imagine what he'd come up with for any superhero movie.

 

[combocaz]

Steve Jablonsky i like the work he did with the transformer movies and enders game.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Steve Jablonsky i like the work he did with the transformer movies and enders game.

Steve Jablonsky has done a great job on the scores for Transformers especially the first and third one. Wouldn't be a bad shout that.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Assuming that she would agree to it, it doesn't mean that others would or should, though. Just as I wouldn't ask an actor to act like someone else's interpretation of the character (even though SR basically did ). And as a filmmaker, I wouldn't think that anyone worth their salt making their own interpretation would either. Best for everyone to contribute something original and unique to that film, and save homages/nods/etc. for outside of the actual storyline and main part of the film. There's plenty of opportunity for fans to listen to and watch whatever parts of stuff they like on their own time, but let the films be their own thing. It's ultimately the most respectful thing to do as well as be open to something original, and they are going to 'recall' anything, it should be because they want to for their own reasons.

When it comes to music composition, I couldn't disagree more. Music sets the tone for a film, and certain pieces stand as the tentpoles of that. Certain themes SHOULD be recurring. One of the things that made Harry Potter 4-7 stand out to me was the absence of the classic themes and motifs from 1-3, which eventually made their returns in 8.

Imagine if Williams wasn't doing the new Star Wars and the opening scrawl was to something completely different, and there was no Force theme, no empire theme (if the empire was featured), no Leia/Han theme…

Imagine TDKR without all the themes we became used to from BB and TDK.

Same goes for POTC, Spider-Man and any other series. One of the things that makes Iron Man stand out to me is the lack of a theme or recurring music. Ramin Djawadi did a BRILLIANT job establishing different themes and motifs and they were essentially tossed out the window with the next two films.

Let the new composers create new themes and new motifs for new emotions, settings and characters, but if a set of themes were previously established, it would be a damn shame to ignore them.

 

[BatLobster]

When it comes to music composition, I couldn't disagree more. Music sets the tone for a film, and certain pieces stand as the tentpoles of that. Certain themes SHOULD be recurring. One of the things that made Harry Potter 4-7 stand out to me was the absence of the classic themes and motifs from 1-3, which eventually made their returns in 8.

Imagine if Williams wasn't doing the new Star Wars and the opening scrawl was to something completely different, and there was no Force theme, no empire theme (if the empire was featured), no Leia/Han theme…

Imagine TDKR without all the themes we became used to from BB and TDK.

Same goes for POTC, Spider-Man and any other series. One of the things that makes Iron Man stand out to me is the lack of a theme or recurring music. Ramin Djawadi did a BRILLIANT job establishing different themes and motifs and they were essentially tossed out the window with the next two films.

Let the new composers create new themes and new motifs for new emotions, settings and characters, but if a set of themes were previously established, it would be a damn shame to ignore them.

Within the same franchise, I agree. Once something is rebooted however it becomes a whole new ballgame. Creating a new musical identity plays a big role in separating yourself from what you're trying give a fresh take to.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Within the same franchise, I agree. Once something is rebooted however it becomes a whole new ballgame. Creating a new musical identity plays a big role in separating yourself from what you're trying give a fresh take to.

Man of Steel is the beginning of the new franchise. If they bring on a new composer, he should keep Zimmer's themes/motifs related to Superman.

 

[BatLobster]

Man of Steel is the beginning of the new franchise. If they bring on a new composer, he should keep Zimmer's themes/motifs related to Superman.

I agree with that.

Sorry, maybe I misunderstood. The only thing I've been arguing against in this thread is bringing back the John Williams theme.

 

[AnneFan]

If Zimmer comes back, which I think he probably will, I'd like to hear those 'What are you going to do when you are not saving the World?' variations as heard in the 'Man of Steel suite'. It has a real Americana, country feel which cheers me up.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

If Zimmer comes back, which I think he probably will, I'd like to hear those 'What are you going to do when you are not saving the World?' variations as heard in the 'Man of Steel suite'. It has a real Americana, country feel which cheers me up.

'Murica! t:

 

[Bigjxxx]

Within the same franchise, I agree. Once something is rebooted however it becomes a whole new ballgame. Creating a new musical identity plays a big role in separating yourself from what you're trying give a fresh take to.

Tell that to Toho and their returning Godzilla theme after reboots.