When it comes to the last decade or so, scoring a superhero film seems like a thankless job. With so much time and money being invested into the tentpole extravaganza that is a Marvel or DC movie, producers can sometimes avoid taking risks with the score, a creative component that, despite its omnipresence, is seen as secondary. Thankfully, for the aurally inclined, this doesn't always hold true.
Despite a newfound love of soundtracking, used to awesome effect in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and the Guardians of the Galaxy films, there have been a few modern superhero scores that have also stood out. And for the viewers that want the grand hero entrance, there are always the classics.
The Rocketeer (1991) - James Horner
Rising strings can be a useful instrument to evoke flight in a musical score, which James Horner uses to great effect in a movie about a rocket-powered hero. His score sounds like the best of old Hollywood, swooning romantic strings, dramatic beats accentuated by jarring brass, and creeping woodwinds that add mystery to the affair.
This stylistic approach matches eloquently with The Rocketeer's World War II setting and acts as a musical declaration of the stoic, old-fashioned values of the Greatest Generation. Whether he's fighting the Nazis--led by a Bond-era Timothy Dalton--or rescuing his glamorous girlfriend--played by a Career Opportunities-era Jennifer Connelly--the Rocketeer is a pure Hollywood hero.
X2: X-Men United (2002) - John Ottman
2002 feels like centuries ago when it comes to comic book films. It might be hard to imagine, but there was a time when Marvel was close to shutting its doors forever--even filing for bankruptcy in 1996--and with the lukewarm response to its first X-Men film (Fox produced), Marvel IP really needed a win. Along came X2 and its bold score.
With pleasant hints of the theme from the original X-Men animated series, the theme for X2 eschews the grandiose orchestral strings usually associated with most comic book movies and moves with a seriousness and ferocious complexity that reminds the audience that this is a film that's more about flawed human beings with superpowers than superheroes.
Eternals (2021) –Ramin Djawadi
An underrated score in an underrated movie, Ramin Djawadi's score for Eternals is, similar to the film itself as it is ethereal, sprawling, and layered. In a movie featuring 10 heroes and spanning not only countries but centuries of earthly experience, there is a lot of narrative ground to cover. In this way, the score does not disappoint.
Global influences abound; there are Middle Eastern string sections, Celtic melodies, and Wagnerian crescendoes of pure power. There are also moments of quiet--as Debussy said, "music is the space between the notes"--drawn out to a slow, pensive crawl that is the ideal personification of the film's lead, the empathic, human-loving Eternal, Circe.
The Avengers (2012) - Alan Silvestri
One of the few standout scores from the last decade-or-so of Marvel films, Silvestri's theme for The Avengers is filled with all the pomp and circumstance that one would expect from a team of the world's greatest heroes. It's almost as if Kevin Feige instructed the composers of other Marvel films to play it safe so as not to overshadow this grandiose score, almost ensuring that the sum of the whole would be greater than the sum of its parts.
With an instantly recognizable motif that can be found laced throughout several films in the MCU, The Avengers theme is very much the sound of Marvel. With the end of the Avengers arc in Avengers: Endgame, audiences are eagerly awaiting what the next sound will be.
Spider-Man (2002) - Danny Elfman
Generally known for his dark, Bernard Hermann-influenced motifs, there was initial curiosity--or skepticism--on how Danny Elfman would treat the cheerful, NYC-loving, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. All doubts would be extinguished upon the movie's arrival. The score's sweeping strings and choir-powered crescendo are a perfect accompaniment to Spider-Man gracefully swinging from building to building, eventually perching himself at the pinnacle of the highest skyscraper.
However, it's the moodier elements that are the true revelation. They speak to the almost crippling self-doubt that Peter Parker faces every day and to the guilt that will never go away. Elfman's score embodies the idealism of Spiderman: romance laced with sadness.
Joker (2019) – Hildur Guðnadóttir
It might be a bit of a stretch to call Joker a superhero movie, but it's by no means a stretch to add Hildur Guðnadóttir's phenomenal score on this list. Her choice of using monotonic elements to portray Arthur Fleck's sad, overbearing loneliness is a masterclass on sparseness. It's as if Phillip Glass and Danny Elfman had a minimalist, goth baby of a score; Guðnadóttir's low, drawn-out cello strings sound like a depressed yawn, both a cry for help and the exhaustion of a loner who's just tired of their lot in life.
Mirroring the film's narrative, Joker's score becomes louder and more forceful, as the orchestra seems to overwhelm the solitary cello, just as Arthur's demons begin to overtake him.
The Crow (1994) - Graeme Revell
Blending jazz and electronica with orchestral and guitar elements, Revell creates a soundscape that's not only perfect for the film, but for the time period when it was released--nothing says early '90s like a saxophone solo. The story of The Crow is inherently a tragedy, and its score captures all of the loneliness and sadness of its "hero."
The orchestra plays barely above a whisper, and there are no romantic strings or grand trumpets. This is a revenge tale, and there is nothing romantic or grand about revenge. Just the dirty, moral decay of the film's urban setting, displayed elegantly by the score's tonal grittiness, and the desire of the protagonist--Brandon Lee in his last role--to purify it through unfettered violence.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017) - Mark Mothersbaugh
Mark Mothersbaugh, of Devo fame, brings his '80s synth-pop sensibilities to one of the more iconic films of the MCU. Much like Thor: Ragnarok's director Taika Waititi does for the film series, Mothersbaugh separates himself from a pack of mundanity when it comes to Marvel film scores--The Avengers being the exception--with his sonic synth-scape.
Uniquely original, his score blends elements of Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, and ABBA, to help bolster Waititi's '80s-centric vision of the film, a kind of Xanadu-meets-Flash Gordon-meets-short-haired Chris Hemsworth. This artistic convergence is best displayed when Thor, Valkyrie, and Bruce Banner are eluding the Grandmaster's forces on their way to the Devil's Anus.
Batman (1989) - Danny Elfman
There is perhaps no greater moment in comic book cinematic history than the opening sequence to Tim Burton's Batman. As Danny Elfman's gothic masterpiece builds with moody ferocity, the audience follows the outlines of what's soon to be revealed--in triumphant fashion--as the bat symbol. This was the moment when viewers were introduced to what a superhero film could be (powerful, dramatic, and full of its own style), owing not the least bit to the combined artistic vision of both director and composer (with a hat tip to Frank Miller).
This was not going to be Adam West's Batman nor would it follow in the steps of Richard Donner's Superman film series. This would be a comic without camp. This would be the Batman that generations would grow to know and criminals would grow to fear.
Superman (1978) - John Williams
Eking out Elfman's Batman theme is John Williams' equally fantastic theme for Superman. While both have legitimate claims for this spot, their styles couldn't be more different. Whereas the former's dark strings and low bass matches its hero perfectly, the latter's brazen brass lends itself nicely to the bold, unequivocal heroism of the Man of Steel.
Its trumpets carry a certain regality--befitting for the strongest of Earth's heroes--and the score's soaring strings and lightness of tone lifts the audience as if they were flying right alongside the titular hero. And as it transitions to its softer, more romantic elements, John Williams' score shows off all the complexities of Superman and Clark Kent, the über-powerful demi-god with Midwest humility, and proves why it's the best of all time.