Danny Elfman has confirmed that he has brought back his iconicBatmantheme forJustice League. The world practically stopped for a minute when it was announced thatDanny Elfmanwould be taking over for Junkie XL to compose the score forJustice Leagueand rightfully so. Elfman is responsible for some of the most recognizable theatrical and television scores of the last 30 years. In fact, Elfman’sBatmanscore is probably only rivaled by John Williams' score forSupermanin terms of the most memorable comic book movie score in history, so the idea of that piece of music returning 28 years later is pretty exciting.
In an interview with Reporte Indigo, Danny Elfman was asked if the iconicBatmantheme would show up inJustice League, to which the composer replied, “You will hear Batman’s theme forBatman…Batmanhas only had one theme.” This isn’t the first time that an iconic score has been resurrected by Warner Bros. as John Williams' score forSupermanmade a brief cameo inSuperman Returns. Danny Elfman is also rumored to be using the John Williams score inJustice Leagueas well.
Hans Zimmer had previously worked on the last batch ofBatmanmovies, fromBatman v Supermanto Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Danny Elfman was asked what he thought of Zimmer’s work. While complimenting Zimmer’s scores, Elfman noted that Hans never really made adefinitive theme for Batmanlike the one that he, himself composed for Tim Burton’sBatman. Elfman explains.
“Hans has done something wonderful, driven with rhythm and so on, but there has only been one theme and it is theBatmantheme… Yes, I used the theme that Hans composed for Wonder Woman, the one that he wrote originally and used a bit - maybe - from John Williams toSuperman, just maybe, we’ll have to see it.”
Hans Zimmer’s Batman scoreswere usually more atmospheric and not as bold and pronounced asDanny Elfman’s scorefor Tim Burton’s version of the Caped Crusader back in 1989.
Danny Elfman seems to and rightfully so, have a chip on his shoulder about hisBatmantheme. The composer will be using some of Hans Zimmer’s work as well as John Williams' to embrace the iconic themes for each character.Wonder Womanwill keep her theme from Zimmer andSupermanwill retain his, but they will all be filtered through the ears of Danny Elfman, which is also pretty exciting to think about how the scores will sound after Elfman is finished with them.
Justice Leagueis all set to hit theaters on November 17th, so the wait is almost over. We’ll finally be able to see Warner Bros. giant project on the big screen with some classic superhero themes courtesy of Danny Elfman, John Williams, and Hans Zimmer. Check out more about what Danny Elfman had to say about his composition work andJustice LeagueviaReporte Indigo.
