“It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Superman”
Superheros are characters that need no introduction. We are exposed to the iconic crime fighters and protectors of the people through comics, TV series, and flicks since we are little kids. We all dreamed of possessing their extraordinary superpowers, and dressed up like them for Halloween and other costume parties.
Wonder Woman’s lasso and bracelets, Iron Man’s powered armor suits, Thor’s hammer, and Green Lantern’s power ring are no match for John Williams’ brilliant heroic march (Superman, 1978). The first major superhero film featuring Christopher Reeve lives in our memories and in our hearts. Get ready to be propelled into space, and fly into a fantastic and melodic journey.
The Joker, the Riddler, Two-Face, Poison Ivy and other psychotic criminals at the Arkham Asylum are probably asking themselves “Can somebody tell me what kind of a world do we live in, where a man dressed as a bat gets all of my press?” (Batman, 1989) The Penguin, Catwoman, and Mr. Freeze will probably tell them that is hard to compete with Bruce Wayne alter ego when he is driving the Batmobile with Danny Elfman’s “The Batman Theme” soaring in the background. The dark, gothic, powerful and mysterious superhero score is truly awesome and highly memorable.
The Dark Knight again landed a great musical score in the film Batman Begins (2005). Composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard collaboration is the second best example of how two composers can complement each other (sorry Lennon and McCartney still win). The music evokes feelings of sadness, mourning, terror, tension, and provides powerful driving music for the action scenes. “Molossus” and “Antrozous” are my favorite tracks.
“In a stunning turn of events, a superhero is being sued for saving someone who, apparently, didn’t want to be saved” (The Incredibles, 2004). Michael Giacchino’s score for the animated superhero movie features lots of brass, saxophone, and 1960’s spy film nostalgia. “The Glory Days” is a perfect blend of big band jazz and classic John Barry-esque music. “The Incredits” is the best superhero score for closing credits since an amazing piano piece was used for the impulsive alter ego of Dr. Bruce Banner (“The Lonely Man Theme” by Joe Harnell from The Incredible Hulk TV series, 1977).
“Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can.” The theme song of the 1967 cartoon (re-recorded by Michael Bublé in 2002) still remains the most memorable tune for Peter Parker, despite two excellent scores penned by legendary composers Danny Elfman (Spider-Man, 2002) and James Horner (The Amazing Spider-Man, 2012).
I will also like to highlight two recent fine compositions in the Marvel superhero universe: the great epic action romp “Driving With the Top Down” by Ramin Djawadi (Iron Man, 2008), and the soaring “Captain America March” by Alan Silvestri (Captain America: The First Avenger, 2011).
Finally, let’s close with the extremely memorable “Flight of the Bumblebee” (Green Hornet TV Series, 1966), arranged by Billy May from an original composition of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. It features an amazing solo by Al Hirt, a true trumpet superhero.
Notable Superhero Scores
Adventures of Superman (TV series 1952) – Leon Klatzkin “Superman March”
Batman (TV series) 1966) – Neal Hefti “Batman Theme”
Green Hornet (TV Series 1966) – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov “Flight of the Bumblebee”
Wonder Woman (TV series 1975) – Charles Fox (music) and Norman Gimbel (lyrics)
Incredible Hulk (TV series 1977) – Joe Harnell “The Lonely Man Theme”
Superman (1978) – John Williams
Superman II (1980) – Ken Thorne
Flash (1980) – Queen
The Greatest American Hero (TV Series 1981) – Joey Scarbury
Supergirl (1984) – Jerry Goldsmith “Overture”
Robocop (1987) – Basil Poledouris
Batman (1989) – Danny Elfman “The Batman Theme”
The Punisher (1989) – Dennis Dreith
The Flash (TV Series 1990) – Danny Elfman
The Rocketeer (1991) – James Horner “To the Rescue”
Batman Returns (1992) – Danny Elfman
Batman: The Animated Series (TV Series 1992) – Shirley Walker
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (TV Series 1993) – Jay Gruska (the son in-law of John Williams)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (TV Series 1993) – Ron Wasserman “Go Go Power Rangers”
The Crow (1994) – Graeme Revell
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series 1994) – Nerf Herder
Superman: The Animated Series (TV Series 1996) – Shirley Walker
Batman & Robin (1997) – Elliot Goldenthal “A Batman Overture”
Spawn (1997) – Filter and the Crystal Method “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do”
Blade (1998) – Mark Isham
Batman Beyond (TV Series 1999) – Shirley Walker
X-Men (2000) – Michael Kamen
Unbreakable (2000) – James Newton Howard “Visions”
Smallville (TV Series 2001) – Remy Zero “Save Me”
Spider-Man (2002) – Danny Elfman “Main Titles”
Blade II (2002) – Marco Beltrami
Daredevil (2003) – Graeme Revell “Daredevil Theme”
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) – Trevor Jones
Hulk (2003) – Danny Elfman
X2: X-Men United (2003) – John Ottman “Suite from X2”
Spider-Man 2 (2004) – Danny Elfman “Main Title”
Blade: Trinity (2004) – RZA
Catwoman (2004) – Klaus Badelt
Hellboy (2004) – Marco Beltrami “Main Title”, “Fathers Funeral”
The Punisher (2004) – Carlo Siliotto
The Incredibles (2004) – Michael Giacchino
Batman Begins (2005) – Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
Fantastic Four (2005) – John Ottman
Elektra (2005) – Christophe Beck (from Buffy and Angel TV Series)
Superman Returns (2006) – John Ottman “Main Titles”
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) – John Powell
TMNT (2007) – Klaus Badelt
Spider-Man 3 (2007) – Christopher Young
Ghost Rider (2007) – Christopher Young
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) – John Ottman “Silver Surfer Theme”
Iron Man (2008) – Ramin Djawadi “ Driving With the Top Down”
The Incredible Hulk (2008) – Craig Armstrong
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) – Danny Elfman
The Dark Knight (2008) – Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard “Aggressive Expansion”
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – Harry Gregson-Williams
Watchmen (2009) – Tyler Bates “Rescue Mission”
Iron Man 2 (2011) – John Debney “I Am Iron Man”
The Green Hornet (2011) – James Newton Howard
Green Lantern (2011) – James Newton Howard “We’re Going To Fly Now”
X-Men: First Class (2011) – Henry Jackman “Magneto”
Thor (2011) – Patrick Doyle “Sons of Odin”
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – Alan Silvestri “Captain America March”
The Avengers (2012) – Alan Silvestri “The Avengers”
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – Hans Zimmer “Rise”
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) – James Horner “Main Title – Young Peter”, “Saving New York”
Man of Steel (2013) – Hans Zimmer
Chronicles of a Media Aficionado 