The newly released, Zack Snyder's Justice League, contains a score written by original composer, Tom Holkenborg. Holkenborg returns with a completely fresh pallet, having scrapped all previous work he had done on the film’s music. Considering he had finished half of the score back in 2017, the decision to start from scratch certainly seems a drastic one and deserving of a reason.
After Snyder left the production of Justice League in 2017, following the sudden death of his daughter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Joss Whedon swooped in to complete his vision. Snyder, however, was not the only person to be replaced during this post-production rejig, as Whedon employed film music superstar, Danny Elfman, to rescore the film. Holkenborg, better known by his stage name, Junkie XL, has worked with Snyder on his previous superhero movies including Justice League precursor, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He is quickly becoming a well-known, blockbuster name, with other credits including, 300: Rise of an Empire, Divergent and Deadpool. An online campaign to revive Snyder's vision for the film, along with Holkenborg's score, began after Whedon's Justice League tanked in the box office and left fans craving Snyder's unique touch.
In a recent roundtable interview, captured and published by Comic Book, Holkenborg reveals that his decision to wipe the slate clean was due to multiple factors. When listening to his original score from 2017, he could not help but be reminded of an upsetting time for himself and the rest of the team. It's also important to note that the Snyder Cut is being released four to five years after production started, and Holkenborg felt that his original score does not aptly reflect his current musical capability and wanted to provide Snyder and the fans with the best he had in him. He explained:
I thought I grew so much as a composer in the last four or five years, working with all these great directors — Robert Rodriguez, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, George Miller, Tim Miller — that I really thought when I saw the film that Zack was editing now demanded the best of what I potentially had to offer.
Holkenborg had six months to write a brand new four-hour original score, involving previously conceived musical ideas by his mentor and partner, Hans Zimmer, from the first two movies in the Snyder-helmed DC trilogy, along with brand new ones. Holkenborg's process was a very free one due to the particular and somewhat unusual circumstances of the film's release. He went on to explain:
[Snyder said] 'Keep in mind when you start that the shackles are off.' Which basically meant that whatever my vision, together with Zack, was going to be the final vision and there was no interference of studio and producers on this particular film. Which, as some of you know, is extremely unique.
While the Whedon Cut and Snyder Cut both follow the same basic plot, the Snyder Cut makes changes and adds scenes, which provide the necessary context that Whedon was missing. And while Elfman's score was in no way a bad one, Holkenborg's return to the project allowed Snyder to release a film more faithful to his original vision involving Holkenborg's electrifying rock score in all its glory. Zack Snyder's Justice League is now available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: Comic Book