As one of Hollywood's most prolific movie composers, it is surprising that Hans Zimmer has not composed a movie in the MCU, but there are a few reasons why. The Academy Award-winning composer is no stranger to Marvel movies, having composed for both The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. However, he has never composed for an MCU movie, for a few stylistic, production-related, and potentially personal reasons.
Hans Zimmer is the influential composer behind many Hollywood juggernauts including The Dark Knight trilogy, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and a handful of DCEU projects, including Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The world-famous composer is famous for collaborating with director Christopher Nolan, scoring many of his films, including Inception and Interstellar. Zimmer is one of the most recognized film composers, standing alongside the likes of John Williams and Danny Elfman.
Zimmer has likely never composed a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie because he has worked so frequently with DC comics and Warner Bros on the DCEU in the past few years. As Marvel's direct competitor, it makes sense that composing themes for the likes of Captain America, Doctor Strange, or Spider-Man soundtracks might be seen as a conflict of interest to the owners of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Zimmer has composed three DCEU movies, most recently leading on Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984. He is clearly aligned with DC, so it makes sense that he hasn't collaborated with Kevin Feige, Disney, and Marvel Studios.
Fatigue from composing superhero films may also be to blame for Zimmer's lack of involvement in Marvel projects. The composer made clear that following Batman v Superman, he would retire from composing for superhero movies. However, he later retracted this statement and went on to compose Dark Phoenix and Wonder Woman 1984. Zimmer now appears to be interested in composing for superhero movies again, so there is a chance he could work on one of Marvel's MCU Phase 5 movies in the future.
It is worth noting, however, that Zimmer's work has technically featured in an MCU movie. Spider-Man: No Way Home reuses the work of James Horner, Zimmer, and Danny Elfman to accompany the return of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire as their versions of Spider-Man. Zimmer's Electro score briefly plays when Jamie Foxx returns as the villain, meeting Tom Holland's Peter Parker for the first time.
Still, MCU movies may also not be such a good fit for Zimmer's style. In movies like Dune and Interstellar, Zimmer implements less traditional compositions that favor long, droning scores that are perfect for more artistic blockbusters. His superhero scores are equally unique, as the soundtrack of The Dark Knight trilogy, with its brooding melodies and quiet piano moments, may not suit the tone of upcoming MCU movies. Whatever the reason, Hans Zimmer has yet to join the MCU, but perhaps the right project could one day change that.
