Elfman To Bring Back Superman Theme For ‘Justice League’

Justice League will feature the classic Superman theme thanks to the legendary film composer Danny Elfman. The version of the Superman theme that Elfman is resurrecting belongs to uber award-winning film composing legend John Williams. Elfman is well known for his own body of work, which includes the iconic1989 Batman score and the scores for Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man films. Elfman spoke to Billboard about why he chose William’s iconic march (POSSIBLE SPOILERS):

‘I instated a moment of the Wonder Woman theme that Hans Zimmer did for Batman Vs. Superman, but I also had two minutes where I had the pleasure of saying, “Let’s do John Williams’ Superman.” and that for me was heaven, because now I have a melody to twist, and I’m using it in an actually very dark way, in a dark moment. It’s the kind of thing that some fans will notice. Some won’t. It’s a moment where we’re really not sure whose side he’s on.’

Elfman working on Superman seemed likely with Hans Zimmer retiring from Superhero movies and Joss Whedon taking on Justice League. Elfman worked on Avengers: Age of Ultron, and was responsible for the main theme.

Superman Lives?

There is an incredible irony here: Superman Lives! The idea of Superman being alive in Justice League is not surprising nor is someone from production speaking on it, rather it is a reminder of what could have been. A dynamic duo in their own right, Tim Burton and Danny Elfman have a rich and glorious history together and at one point Burton worked on a Superman movie: Superman Lives. No doubt had it survived we would have heard Elfman’s interpretation of the Superman theme. We covered this tortured production in our Movies That Could Have Been series, which can be read here. There is a sweet irony that now Danny Elfman gets to work with all of DC Comics’ biggest characters after being denied.

JUSTICE LEAGUE unites in cinemas on November 16.

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