I’m a real nerd for film music scores; they take up a substantial amount of my iPod library. Music is so emotional, that when I listen to my favorite scores I often find myself immediately transported back to the film, or to the particular period of my life when I first saw the film. What always impresses me, as someone who isn’t fluent in the language of music, is how deftly great composers can attune their styles to fit the world of the movie. Looking up the resumes of several prolific composers, almost all of them have credits that range from indies to blockbusters to animation. German composer Hans Zimmer is among those talented musicians who’s done it all. Well, almost. While Zimmer has scored several DC superhero movies — most notably Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and yes I have The Dark Knight in my collection — he drew the staff line at crossing over to Marvel, as he just discussed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast:
[From Variety via AOL]Hans Zimmer isn’t rushing to score another superhero movie any time soon. The 12-time Academy Award nominated composer previously said he “retired” from scoring superhero films in the wake of “Batman V. Superman,” and doubled down on his decision in a recent episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.
“Look, I’ve done the trifecta. I’ve done Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and Wonder Woman,” Zimmer said. “I mean, what do you want me to do? Some of the minor characters? Probably yes.” When asked if Marvel had already approached him about working on one of their films, Zimmer confessed they had, and that he’d turned them down.
“Timing wasn’t great. And really, quite honestly, I’m looking for other things right now,” he admitted. “That was very arrogant of me to say that. Kevin Feige said that to me, ‘Hans, what are you complaining about?’”
Though the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t on Zimmer’s agenda in the near future, the German composer has already scored his fair share of superhero flicks, albeit ones set in the DC Universe. Zimmer’s past credits on superhero movies include “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Man of Steel” and “Wonder Woman 1984.”
Zimmer has also composed music for Marvel heroes in the past. He scored 2014’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” and 2019’s “Dark Phoenix,” though the films were distributed by Sony and 20th Century Fox respectively. Though the films aren’t technically MCU entries, the X-Men and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man have since appeared in the Marvel universe through multiverse storylines.
Good for you, Hans, respect your integrity! Lol, I don’t really have a horse in the comic book movie race. It sounds like it all really just came down to scheduling, but the lowkey anarchist in me appreciates Zimmer even more for making it a DC vs. Marvel battle. In a playful way. I will be a grammar gremlin, though, and note that Zimmer said he’s done the “trifecta” of superheroes… and then proceeds to name four of them. But then I was sh-t at knowing which times to count out just from reading staff notes during my childhood piano lessons, to be fair. In any event, take a gander at Zimmer’s IMDb page and you’ll see he’s not short on work, and definitely doesn’t need Marvel’s patronage, thankyouverymuch. This article cited his 12 Oscar noms, but didn’t go on to say that he won two of those times: first for The Lion King, and a few years ago for Dune: Part 1. That second one is a touchy subject for me, because as much as I love Zimmer, I will maintain until I die that Power of the Dog was ROBBED by Dune in several categories that year, most especially for its original score by Jonny Greenwood. Until I die!
To end on a less-threatening note, a few of my all-time favorite scores:
-Mychael Danna for Monsoon Wedding
-Gustavo Santaolalla for Brokeback Mountain
-Alexandre Desplat for Lust, Caution
Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, IMAGO/Eibner-Pressefoto/Graf/Avalon and Getty
@Kismet…you…me…SAME❣️
Hermann/Vangelis/Glass/Nyman/Tangerine Dream/Pray For Rain/Morricine/Britell and SO MANY OTHERS 😍…My love for movie scores started in the 80s…music in movies ALWAYS plays an elemental and emotional part in my viewing…and I 💚 the immersive experience a good movie 🎶 score brings me…Zimmer’s score for MOS elevated TF outta that movie❣️
Tangerine Dream’s Risky Business score is on serious replay for me.
My favourite score is Trevor Jones’ The Last of the Mohicans
I’m into listening to music scores too.
John Williams’s score for Jurassic Park helped set the tone to make the dinos threatening. I also liked Don Davis’s score for The Matrix.
Hans Zimmer has also written a variety of music — and I really appreciate how versatile the greats are.
Don’t forget Jaws!! Sharks are soooo scary ever since 😁
One of the biggest cries I had in my life was when he said in an interview he wrote the Lion King score as a Requiem for his Dad, who passed away when Hans was a child.
I, too, lost my Dad as a child and I always struggled with that score, even without the movie, so it hit home and listening to it with his words in mind healed me.