I have this funny ability—play the soundtrack of a film I love, and I can probably tell you exactly what’s happening in the film at the precise point of the music you’re playing. If I’m having trouble remembering a line or exchange in a movie, recalling the soundtrack at that moment always helps me fill it in. I don’t think I’m alone in this. There are lots of soundtrack nerds out there, and there are plenty of people who respond well to the auditory cues that scores provide to visual media.
Which is why there’s a tiny little aspect about the Marvel Cinematic Universe that’s driving me nuts.
The big thing that Marvel sold people on when they started back in 2008 was continuity. It was the idea that all of their films would align into one big tapestry that would eventually collide in Avenger-like majesty. It’s something that they magically managed to pull off, and that’s a large part of the reason why people come back to their well again and again.
To have so many films operating under the same banner, the same story, constancy was key. The actors were signed on for more films than practically any film series preceding it, and choices in the lineup were made based on who was most likely to be a “team player.” Norton was dropped as Bruce Banner seemingly for this very reason, and it’s clear that the vetting process has gotten more rigorous since they began. Chris Evans’ refusal to be pinned down for the same number of films has rumors flying about his replacement, and it’s already been suggested that it is more probable for Bucky or Falcon to take on the Captain America mantle than it is for Marvel to immediately recast Steve Rogers. They want fans to feel comfortable with the familiar faces they’ve gathered.
That’s the name of the game, folks—consistency. So you know what confuses the ever-loving stuffing out of me? How that same consistency wasn’t applied to their soundtracks.
We can pretend this is no big deal, but it’s just not true. Soundtracks are lifeblood. They’re a key component to emotional investment. And, more important to an entity like Marvel and their Disney overlords, soundtracks are branding. If that’s the game you’re in, they’re one of the worst possible areas of a movie empire to neglect.
What exactly do I mean by this? Well, think about some of the best blockbusters Hollywood has ever produced… practically all of them have relevant, highly memorable soundtracks. Smart directors know how essential this is; George Lucas got John Williams to write the Star Wars soundtracks by telling him “I want the best and Beethoven is dead.” He knew that he needed someone with a strong sense of storytelling through music. And Williams has penned plenty of other soundtracks that do the same job—it’s hard to think of Jurassic Park or Jaws or Indiana Jones without their soundtracks. They are a core piece of the narrative.
This is not a hard and fast rule, but it does help if you’re intending to tell one long-arcing story. The Star Trek films do not have a single set of themes, but that’s because the Star Trek films have a more episodic nature. (And putting that aside, the Star Trek television shows have instantly recognizable music cues and themes.) Also, because Star Trek is using characters that come from a different medium, different rules will apply. But anthems are important to building a mythology. And that’s essentially what superheroes are all about; they are a form of modern myth.
When you’re dealing with well-trodden character, this becomes even more essential. Both Batman and Superman have been brought to screen over and over again, and every version of them has a distinct set of music that comes along for the ride. It dictates how that particular read on the character comes off—Adam West’s Batman sounds campy, Michael Keaton’s Batman is epic and exciting, Christian Bale’s has a slow burn and an eerie quiet at times. If you don’t differentiate them, these versions runs the risk of bleeding together. And if the soundtrack isn’t strong enough, you run the risk of losing the character.
I’m not making the argument that every fan will notice this. But some fans do, and it deeply affects how they experience movies. For example: I don’t need to watch E.T. to cry. If I hear the score, I’m instantly bawling. If I don’t enjoy a film’s soundtrack, I automatically like it less. And I’m willing to bet that a larger portion of the audience is swayed by this than they think. It’s part of what makes film a unique form of visual art, the expectation that sound accompanies it, that music will play an integral role.
Some studios understand the value of keeping the music under one umbrella—the initial Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy started with composer Klaus Badelt, but they switched to Hans Zimmer for the next films. This worked out just fine for them, as Zimmer had already worked with Badelt on the Gladiator soundtrack and did a great job contributing new material whilst retaining the original themes of the first film. John Williams didn’t sign on to write the soundtrack for every Harry Potter film, but he contributed an instantly recognizable opening theme. When Williams stepped down from the films, the studio made sure they had rights to that theme, so they could continue using it in every film. It was a string they used to tie the whole series together, even through a constant shift in directing styles and cinematography.
And then we have the Marvel lineup. In which not one of the heroes has displayed a consistent theme or even soundtrack style. We’ve run the gamut of composers, heard a variety of takes and techniques. And the soundtracks have all been good, though some were much better than others. But they do not stand together as a vernacular. And that makes sense when you note that nearly every film has employed a different voice to back it up; the first Iron Man film had a score penned by Ramin Djawadi. The second was by John Debney. The third was by Brian Tyler, who, interestingly, seems to be the only one of the three to develop a central theme for the character himself (complete with the sound of metal-working and the ability to be stylized with different tempos and instrumentation).
Which brings us to another interesting issue—in movies, specific characters, locations, romances, battles (etc.) often have their own themes. Princess Leia, the Batcave, Rick and Evie, fighting zombie pirates, they all have specific themes that can be used to great effect… especially when they’re recalled. But the individual Marvel heroes do not have their own themes, or at least they don’t have ones that are ever reused. (Sure, Cap has one, but that’s a meta one used for the purpose of promoting war bonds, not an actual theme for the character himself.) It’s a shame because the reintroduction of themes usually provoke stronger emotional reactions and ties. We see this within the structure of single films all the time; the main title track also used when Charles Xavier’s team of teens are learning to use their mutant powers in X-Men: First Class is brought back and clarified when Erik Lehnsherr lifts Sebastian Shaw’s submarine from the water in an incredible show of focus and strength. Using this technique across more than one film adds more depth; hearing the theme for the Shire in the Lord of the Rings trilogy whenever the hobbits thinks of their home is a devastating move. It reminds the audience of what they’ve left behind, what they stand to lose.
So it’s odd when the mighty thunder god Thor has one theme in his first outing… and then an entirely different one in the second. In terms of overall strength, you might even say that the soundtrack for Thor: The Dark World had one up on its predecessor. But that doesn’t change the fact that the lack of overall coherency in the music is off-putting. Going forward, you might have expected to hear these themes come up and collide a little in The Avengers, that it would’ve been part of the fun, but instead the tentpole film had an entirely singular soundtrack.
As I mentioned, most of this is down to Marvel employing different composers for every project—literally none of their central characters have had their multiple films scored by the same person. The first person to make any crossover at all was Alan Silvestri, who penned the soundtrack for both Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers proper. And unsurprisingly, those soundtracks have the most in common in terms of style and pacing. But he’s not writing the Age of Ultron soundtrack. That, instead, is going to be Brian Tyler (who wrote the score for Iron Man 3) with additional assistance from Danny Elfman. An intriguing lineup for sure, but the real question that begs answering is—will the Avengers theme that Silvestri composed translate over into the second film? Because if it doesn’t, that will be just another place where the chance to create a cohesive narrative through music is dropped.
I’m not claiming that this is a quick’n’easy task; there is no way you could have just one composer constructing the soundtrack for all of these films. There are too many of them, several in production at any given time these days. But there are ways that this could be improved across the Marvel Cinematic Universe—like getting the rights to cross over certain themes film to film, the same way the Harry Potter theme was retained through their movies. And making each character’s theme consistent across the board could actually help Marvel when their actors eventually bow out and pass their roles to newcomers. Either the scores could maintain character themes to acclimate the audience to a new actor, or they could create different themes to mesh with the fresh faces. It’s a win-win, but only if there’s a tapestry to begin with.
It’s not essential to ever moviegoer, and I get that. But if you’ve got a film series that’s meant to be on par with the heavyweights—Star Wars and Indiana Jones and Back to Future and so many more—then you might want to step it up in a key place where these films have always dominated.
Emmet Asher-Perrin does find it very confusing to have two perfectly agreeable, totally different Thor soundtracks for one version of Thor. You can bug her on Twitter and Tumblr, and read more of her work here and elsewhere.
This was an interesting read, as someone who really doesn’t notice the score of a great film. One of my closest friends is a musician and studio nerd, and he’s always talking about how HP 1 and 2 are his favorites because Williams defined the magic of them.
I still have to make an effort to notice music in visual media, that’s just how I’m wired. I wouldn’t be able to point out any sounds for any MCU movie, although I’m sure a lot of it is doing its job in setting the mood I’m enjoying. It would be cool if there was that same instantly recognizable set of themes for the whole canon, and I’d wonder what you’d need to make that happen.
I agree completely.
The problem is how often the movies come out. Now, I won’t claim to know much about scoring a movie, but I’ve watched the special features on all the Lord of the Rings movies and, of course, Star Wars. It seems like it takes a long time to work out the score for a movie, pivotal scenes, character leitmotifs, and such. Now, imagine trying to get that together for two movies a year. That’s probably a bit much for one guy.
I think the answer would be to create an Avengers like team of composers who would work closely together to score their individual movies and get them to gel well when the heroes come together.
Difficult? Sure, but I remember when the idea of a shared cohesive movie universe seemed impossible. This should be a cake walk.
Agreed. Film score nerd here (224 hours of scores on the ole iTunes).
What applies to everyone, even people who may not focus as much on film music as we score nerds, is that fim is an audiovisual medium, and to maximize audience experience, emphasize a mix of strong elements. I’m tempted to think that even people who claim to think scores aren’t that big of a deal would enjoy movies more with better music and intertextuality. Often, casual moviegoers valiantly grasp at describing why they liked or disliked a movie–but they often fall short, resorting to vague claims about acting or boredom levels. Maybe better music really would be good for everyone’s enjoyment.
Thanks for posting.
Ugghh… not Brian Tyler! His work in IM3 was the most inspid scoring I’ve heard in the MCU, and IMHO he failed utterly to incorporate rock-style music to his score, like Ramin Djwadi did in the first IM.
I’d have much preferred to have Alan Silvestri again; he’s one of the few remaining composers of the School of the Leit Motiff; hey, I’d even prefer James Horner plagiarizing his own Rocketeer score :)
Having Danny Elfman MIGHT help, tho’, he gave Batman a new and iconic musical personality, and has proven to have a wide range. He might be able to spice up Tyler and provide more solid motiffs.
I think you may have put your finger on why to me the MCU isn’t quite as cohesive as other franchises to me (which maybe isn’t a bad thing; I enjoy the movies but don’t see them as a cohesive whole the same way Star Wars or Harry Potter is…they just are all different glimpses in the same story). I also have a hard time of viewing them as much more than snark and explosions (which is a perfectly good thing), with a few fun discussion points thrown in.
But, yes, music packs a huge emotional punch, and I have generally been known for my auditory memory and recall (I used to totally school people in a ‘Beatles music’ game we made up…I could identify pretty much any song in a few notes from a MIDI file). I am not a big crier or particularly emotional in my day to day life, but I am really easily manipulated by music. Even if I’m watching a movie that doesn’t particularly resonate with me, the right swell of music will bring a lump to my throat every time and make my eyes burn. It makes me kind of mad sometimes, lol.
I bawled…BAWLED…at the end of Return of the King, probably in part to the music (to this day, I can’t really listen to the Charge of the Pellenor or any of the ending tracks without chills) and I remember listening to the Revenge of the Sith soundtrack on my computer and finding myself inexplicably in tears before realizing what song I was even listening to.
I feel like the lack of shared motifs across the MCU is deliberate. There are so many movies, and though they are all tied together, they are also distinct.
I try to see them all, but for the most part I feel anyone could pick up any of the films and enjoy them on a stand alone basis. And my biggest fear here, is that the themes would become tedious, which is exactly how I felt about the original Lord of the Rings motifs being used in the Hobbit movies to generally ill effect (IMHO.) It feels so… forced. I agree that if it was done well it would be for the betterment of the films, but with so many different directors, it would be a hard sell. And a monumental task.
I mean, the themes in Captain America: the First Avenger would fall flat in Winter Soldier almost assuredly. The two films are completely different in tone and feel. The same can be said for the first Thor, which feels more fantastical, and the Dark World which has a far more scifi feel. And we’re not even getting into GotG, which easily has the best soundtrack of any Marvel movie.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t Ironman pretty consistently have AC/DC accompany his big moments throughout almost all his films? Thinking about that scene in Avengers where the PA system starts playing ‘Shoot to Thrill’ and you KNOW Stark is about to make an epic entrance.
actually, regarding Pirates, Badelt was one of Hans Zimmer’s apprentices, and IIRC Zimmer still had some advisory credit on the score (and I don’t for one second believe he didn’t hear every note of it, anyway, whatever his technical credit), so the change wasn’t as great as the name change suggests.
For the MCU, Patrick Doyle’s score for the first Thor is the only one I still listen to on its own. I certainly don’t get why Disney keeps bringing Tyler back since I find his stuff uninspired (ETA: @@.-@ *fist bump of anti-Tyler solidarity*) But it’s clearly a studio fiat to reject themes, not the individual composer or directors’ choice. Maybe for simplicity’s sake so they don’t “have” to keep using the themes for the next twenty years or however long, but in exchange also makes the scores generic. Not bad, they do the job during the movie itself, but yeah, it’s kind of a shame that they’re not more.
I think the reason the Star Trek films don’t have a consistent set of themes is because they don’t have the same composers. Every Trek film Jerry Goldsmith scored used the same main theme and the same Klingon theme, and there are a couple of other motifs used in several of them. Both of James Horner’s films used the same themes. Both of Giacchino’s films use the same themes. But every other Trek film composer did only one film each. And they didn’t borrow each other’s motifs the way the original series composers occasionally did, although they all used Alexander Courage’s main theme.
And the war bonds song is not Captain America’s only theme. Alan Silvestri gave him a very clear instrumental theme in Captain America: The First Avenger, then briefly quoted it in The Avengers. It’s a distinct melody from “The Star-Spangled Man with a Plan.”
I do agree that it would be good if the MCU films gave the characters consistent leitmotifs. That has been done on TV; when Agents of SHIELD did Peggy Carter flashbacks, Bear McCreary got permission to quote Christopher Lennertz’s theme from the Agent Carter short film — and Lennertz was then brought back to score the Agent Carter series. But it should be done for the superheroes as well. A strong theme is important for a superhero.
Leitmotifs aside, though, I feel the problem with the MCU’s scores is that they’re all very similar stylistically. They tend to have a basically generic action-movie style and their themes tend to have a pretty similar sound to me. While I would like consistent leitmotifs, I’d also like more stylistic variety between subseries. Part of the fun of leitmotifs is hearing them in different arrangements and styles.
I was never a movie score fan until I came to the MCU. The one that really kicked me off into liking scores was Thor The Dark World, then I went back through all the others to explore them (Winter Soldier is fast becoming a favourite too).
I agree there are not enough cohesive themes through all the movies. They are coming in fits and starts. For example, since Dark World they’ve started using the same music for the Marvel “Comic Flip” intro, and in the prison break out scene of Dark World (when Loki shape shifts into a guard, Sif, and Cap), there are recognizable themes for Sif and Cap.
I do hope they use the Avengers main theme for AoU – the use of the “No Strings On Me” in the trailer has left me a bit cold.
So, even though things aren’t as cohesive as score nerds might like it to be, for MCU to pull a non-scored nerd in and make one out of me they must be working their way up to it.
Oh my gods, yes! This has been bothering me for a little while, and you’ve nailed it on the head. The MCU fails almost consistently in this regard.
However – and I’m taking this with a grain of salt – Brian Tyler also did the score for the second Thor film on top of his Iron Man 3 scores (which were both solid, although the former is certainly better), and has stated of the Age of Ultron soundtrack that it will ‘incorporate motifs and themes from past movies’. I’m hoping that he will include, at the very least, the Iron Man and Thor motifs that he established in the films he has already scored.
And I feel like I need to talk about Winter Soldier a little bit. It’s by far my favorite MCU score – seriously, every track has got something – and Henry Jackman outdid himself. I will cry if Tyler doesn’t use Captain America’s theme. And Civil War had BETTER use the Winter Soldier’s, or I will be mad.
I don’t have to read all this, but I have to disagree with a part of this premise, I will read the whole thing when I get home.
BUT
If you listen closely in The Avengers, all the characters “themes” are used in the composition of the Avengers theme. I’d noticed it previously, but I never really caught on to how well it was done, until I watched The Incredible Hulk for the first time a few weeks ago, and recognized Hulk’s music in that movie, from when it was used in The Avengers.
And here’s the thing. I’m like music ignorant. My brain doesn’t process things auditoral. I can’t name a composer from hearing a few parts of the piece unless it is John Williams. People read words aloud to me, all I hear is Charlie Brown adults.
But I caught that.
So this tells me this wasn’t done with an eye towards the discerning audio connessiour, but to someone like me, who isn’t listening to the music, but just letting it flow into them. But it was done with the constancy Emily asks for in mind, IMO.
And the Winter Soldier theme is AMAZING, I love the harshness of it.
I never noticed this before, but you are absolutely right, Emily. There are very few musical connections among the Marvel movies, and not even connections from movie to movie when the same hero is featured (Iron Man 1/2/3, Cap 1/2, Thor 1/2). But I also feel that there have been few memorable themes or liefmotifs used in the Marvel movies. So even if they repeated themes from movie to movie, they don’t have a lot to work with. It makes you appreciate just how powerful a presence John Williams is in the movies that he has scored–it is not easy to create those memorable musical moments.
It may just be that I’m getting old, but I think the problem is deeper than that, in that Hollywood hasn’t produced a single iconic theme for any movie since Duel of the Fates, and the game between that and the last one before it was at least as big (Titanic, I guess.)
@14: I think Alan Silvestri’s Captain America and Avengers themes were superb. I remember quite liking one of the Thor themes too, though I’m not sure which one. But I’d say Silvestri was the best of the MCU composers so far.
Part of the issue is these movies, while part of a collective, are entirely different genres. So while Iron Man could certainly have cohesive music, The First Avengers is a period piece, Iron Man is a modern tech based action flick with comedic beats, GotG is a space opera, Winter Soldier is a spy thriller, Thor is fantasy… These all have widely different musical expectations behind them. A cohesive musical style would be innapropriate and ruin the unique feel of each individual brand.
Silvestri gave Cap a great theme in The First Avenger. For whatever reason—maybe due to the sequel’s darker tone—I didn’t hear it anywhere in The Winter Soldier, which was awfully bland I thought. Anyway, here’s Cap’s theme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrXwAeJ87Bk
And I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d still like to see that black-and-white Captain America movie. Looks like a whole lot of Nazi-killin’ fun.
@16/anthonypero: Yeah, but that’s just what I’m saying — styles are one thing, leitmotifs/themes are another. A given melody can be arranged in any style (well, except atonal, I guess). That’s part of what leitmotifs are for — to provide a consistent element that unifies a variety of different tones or styles of composition. Often if you listen to a TV series’ soundtrack, you’ll hear the same core melody being used as a driving adventure theme at one point, a goofy comedy tune at another, and a poignant, elegiac melody at still another — and then maybe hear it arranged in a pop style as source music in a party scene, say.
So yes, definitely have different styles of music, but give the characters consistent themes to provide unity across the different styles.
So, I guess what’s going on here is a rare corner of the interwebs where the discussion doesn’t center on how perfectly Marvel does everything in their shared film universe (a/k/a Phase II, a/k/a ‘the MCU’). The fact of the matter is there are folks who saw Avengers without seeing all the individual parts (and had no problem enjoying it). Yes, it does simplify things for people to know Thor has other movies but by simple ticket sales, it’s clear X number of people saw Avengers than saw either Thor I or II. This is comparable true for every other stand-alone film.
Yes, I’m not taking into account theft or legal streams, DVD sales, broadcast, etc. Yes, that might bring the numbers in some cases closer together but doesn’t in every single instance/character.
* * * * *
As to the OP point, yes this is the way some folks perceive and consume multi-media products, any discussion of the DCAU often includes comments about how well the music is used in that connected universe (for example, using a few brief notes for Superman’s theme from Superman TAS in what was an episode of Justice League Unlimited that focused on Batman, GL, Wonder Woman equally with him); this is not to mention how popular the musical (singing) episodes, especially the ones on Batman The Brave and The Bold were.
@19, I don’t know about you but the corners of the interwebs I hang out in are all about criticizing Marvel.
For making 17 movies with nothing but straight white male leads for one. 18 now actually that Spiderman bumped Black Panther and Captain Marvel(unless they cast a POC for Peter Parker).
@17 – The Captain America Theme is played lightly at the beginning of Winter soldier when Cap is running at dawn and lapping Falcon. But that is the only part I can think of off the the top of my head where it is played.
@19: My favorite bit of musical reuse in the DC Animated Universe: Superman: “Speed Demons,” which introduces the DCAU Flash, reuses Shirley Walker’s Flash motif from the 1990 live-action Flash series. Which is one of the reasons I think of that show as being set in the DCAU.
I too am a huge fan of narrative soundtracks and I always notice the absence of musical coherence. Graeme Revell’s score for the Riddick movies is a much a character in those films as Riddcik himself. In video games the soundtracks to the Homeworld games by Paul Ruskay are also important to the feel of the games and their stories; The Elder Scrolls games would be much diminished without the lush score of the brilliant Jeremy Soule, and Bioware’s epic Mass Effect series had a number of composers, but they were primarily directed by Jack Wall and Sam Hulick who saw to it that the series has a musical voice utterly unlike any other.
I love the MCU films, but you’re right that they haven’t fully crafted a meaningful musical voice across installments. And that’s definitely a lost opportunity.
Hear hear!
I believe this was driven home to me when I caught the brief Captain America nod in Thor: the Dark World’s score (at about the 3 minute mark in the track, “An Unlikely Alliance”). When Loki appears as Cap, a stanza or two of the Captain America theme plays. It made the cameo all the better, but…what’s Loki’s theme sound like or anyone else’s?
On the other hand, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, et al only required their composers to tackle one genre. There are such disparate styles already in the MCU, and, hopefully, that will only increase. Imagine the potential for sonic mishmash! I’m picturing Clint’s theme involving a calliope and… very sharp percussion. No, it doesn’t mesh well with Iron Man’s clanking & brass, Thor’s Wagnerian chorus, Cap’s snare drum or the electronic scream that’s the Winter Soldier’s theme. I have no idea what Natasha’s theme is nor Bruce’s or Falcon’s, but they’d have to be pretty miraculous to not make things sonically worse. That’s before we add in Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Spidey, Ant Man, the four Guardians of the Galaxy, etc.!
(As an aside, while having distinct themes is great, I remember wanting to MURDER after a few billion repetitions of the Harry Pottery theme. HYDRA uses it to break enemy spies.)
Isn’t much of the problem with the consistency of the score a problem caused by the director? I’m not sure who does the hiring when it comes to music on a film, but I’ve seen and read account after account of directors making the composer change music, give input on the feel, mood, tone of the score.
Obviously James Gunn understood the importance of Star Lord’s mix tape and used that to drive the film. The rest of “the score” is understated, and even non-existent to many listeners because the soundtrack, consisting of the mix tape, is so important to the story.
Any inconsistency for the scores in the rest of the MCU can most likely be blamed on the directors. Thor/Thor Dark World different directors. Directing change from Cap to Winter Soldier. Directing change from Iron Man 2 to Iron Man 3. As directors, these guys have their own vision for the movies and will provide their input ot the composer, and if it’s not to their liking, it will be snuffed out or changed.
However, I’m sure some composer would love to get a one time deal to compose all the MCU movies. Job for life. Although I’m pretty sure that because of filming timelines this logistically impossible.
Obviously music is important from a story telling standpoint. One of the most effective scores, for me personally in sci-fi, was for Tron:Legacy. There are few films so absolutely driven by the film score as this one. That’s not to say other films don’t have great soundtracks–they do. Anyone will recognize the importance of Williams in the field of Hollywood. Especially with Spielberg. E.T., Jaws, Sugarland Express, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Empire of the Sun, Always, and more. I’m sure I forgot something in their collaboration . . .
Two words: Michael Giacchino.
Finally, I have found someone like me.
I have the same affect as you do whe listening to movie soundtracks.
I do not totally agree with you. Eventhough each of almost every characters in the MCU lack their own themes, there are cues that make them recognizable and there are main themes applied to each movie which is common. What I’m trying to say is that those main themes do remind me of those characters in action, but they just need core themes like Iron Man and Thor which are given by Brian Tyler.
Well, if we were to get soundtracks only from our latest composers, the problem could have been fixed. Brian Tyler had made scores for Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World and The Avengers: Age of Ultron and he had said in an interview that he wishes to make a soundtrack universe. I wish that he will be in charge of many Phase 3 movies. Tyler Bates’ work on Guardians of the Galaxy is also spectacular. If he was to score the sequeal, that would be great. Henry Jackman is a talented composer. He did a great job for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and if I’m not wrong that there’s still no one in charge of Captain America: Civil War soundtracks, I would like Henry Jackman to do it again.
(This is my choice of composers: Iron Man, Thor, Hulk(possibly): Brian Tyler; Captain America and members which were SHIELD agents: Henry Jackman; Anyone outside the Earth: Tyler Bates. It bugs me a bit that Marvel continues to hire new composers to score their new movies like they casted Christophe Beck, the 8th composer in MCU, to score Ant-Man)
There may be many people disagreeing with me but each person commonly doesn’t have the same thought as another.
@24/Monkat: Again, though, you’re confusing theme with style. A theme isn’t defined by the instruments it’s played on, but by its melody. A given leitmotif can be arranged for any instrument or combination of instruments. For instance, Shirley Walker’s Superman: The Animated Series theme was normally arranged for orchestra, but in the episode “Livewire,” when he confronted a radio DJ turned supervillain, the episode had a hard-rock score that featured the same Superman theme arranged for electric guitar. Same motif, two radically different musical styles. It’s the recurring melody that provides unity across the different styles and situations in which it’s used.
@24, I too love the small Cap leitmotif in Thor:TDW “Unlikely Alliance”. Thor’s seems to be the brassy Asgard. However Loki’s theme from Lokasenna repeats (in small part) almost every time Loki enters or is the major topic of discussion. I get a visceral thrill hearing it.
Ironically enough, this is why I left watching Pacific Rim with a bit of frustration. I love the film to bits and the soundtrack is great, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Ramin Djawadi’s score is what his work on Iron Man could (and should) have been. When I heard Brian Tyler’s Iron Man 3 score some time later I was genuinely thrilled that Tony Stark finally had a proper theme.
It’s also really encouraging to hear that Tyler will be using previous themes established – including Silvestri’s brilliant work on the first Avengers and Captain America – and to work on carrying that identity moving forward.
My perspective on this phenominon mostly comes from anime, where a lot of my favorite music in general ends up being the opening/ending themes due to the way they can inform the tone of an entire series and reenforce it regularly, and power-up/melancholy themes, which tend to be both memorable and emotionally powerful to a scary extent.
I’ll also note just how important the score of Guardians of the Galaxy was to its branding. That movie would have made perhaps half the money it did without that music subplot.
Great read! It is so nice to know there are kindred movie score spirits out there who share my thoughts.
I truly was disappointed at the first Avengers soundtrack. I have always loved Silvestri’s work but I had greatly anticipated hearing some kind of merger of the music from all the movies. It seemed like such a great creative opportunity that was wasted.
I’ve read that Brian Tyler intended to do just that with Ultron. And I hope he does. And I’m curious to see what Elfman adds to it.
I agree the Marvel movie scores have been mostly forgettable, which is a real missed opportunity by Marvel. The best thus far are (not counting GoTG which was mostly a soundtrack, though the music helped make the movie): Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor – with me enjoying parts of Avengers and Iron Man 3. Not having continuity across movies has been frustrating and leaves a tool in the toolbox that could be better used to create familiarity and emotional resonance to their movies. Let’s hope they do better with their future movies (the hiring of Alan Silvestri across several films is a good start),
This was a really interesting read which was able to finally define for me why I so enjoy the latest 2 Captain America soundtracks far above any of the other Marvel tracks. I fell in love with the Winter Soldier soundtrack when it first came out, and have listened to it so much that I can name any of the tracks and where they place in the movie, but I haven’t even made it through all of The First Avenger soundtrack yet. Why? It doesn’t have the continuity. It’s a great soundtrack, but for me, it’s not Captain America. When I found out Henry Jackman was composing Civil War as well, I was incredibly relieved. And I wasn’t disappointed: the character’s themes from Winter Soldier hold over quite remarkably, most noticeably the Winter Soldier’s haunting theme. But Captain America’s theme is noticeable, as is Falcon. I really hope that they keep Black Panther’s theme in his confirmed movie, because I love it so very much. Thanks for a great read I will definitely be sharing!
I can see that I’m pretty late to the discussion, but I’m going to defend the MCU. I will confess that I didn’t start truly listening to scores until after I had seen the Avengers, but I agree with several of the people in this thread in that the movies are too diverse. It would be way too hard to try combining all the different themes and genera in each film, because it would end up disjointed and painful to hear. I personally enjoy listening to all the different themes and the creativity that the composers have put into making each film unique, and I wouldn’t go back and change a thing for the world.
I do, however, appreciate the references to previous composers dropped by Brian Tyler, Danny Elfman, and Henry Jackman in their scores (Cap’s theme in Thor: The Dark World, Cap’s, Iron Man’s, and Thor’s themes in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Cap’s original theme in Captain America: The Winter Soldier). I’ve noticed that Cap’s original theme is the most frequently repeated and have come to the conclusion that the repetition is intentional- that, musically, they are using Cap as the backbone of the MCU, and rightly so. I don’t see that changing at least until after Avengers: Infinity War, which Alan Silvestri is also scoring.
But keep in mind, characters change, and the Thor franchise is the perfect example of that. A lot of people say that the Thor movies are the weakest of all the movies, but I see it in a different way- Thor is just the character that changes the most. I do think that Thor: The Dark World could have used a little less Loki (don’t get me wrong, I love Loki), and a little more character development in the Malekith department. But Brian Tyler’s score just about balances out the lack in the storyline with his stunning themes and I think it gets along pretty well. In the long run, I think that having multiple composers brining unique takes on each movie was the right thing for Marvel to do, however much people complain about it.