Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer has already given audiences his version of the Batman theme for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, and was recently tasked with doing so again for Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Many people (including myself) wondered how Zimmer would leave his past work with the Bat behind and compose an entirely new piece of music for Snyder’s version of the Caped Crusader, and now we have our answer: he won’t.
Don’t worry, Zimmer is still very much attached to compose the score for Batman V Superman. Instead of doing the whole thing, however, he’s just going to work on the Superman aspects of the score. For the Bat’s music, he’s enlisted the help of Junkie XL. It’s a clever way to sidestep his fears of “betraying” his past work, and something he speaks of in length in a new interview with Spinoff Online:
“You know something? I have agonized over [the music]. I agonized over it, so much so that finally, I went, I don’t want to betray what Chris, James Newton Howard and I did. And so I asked Zack [Snyder] if it would be OK if I called a friend in. And I’m going to be working with Junkie XL, who really is a great friend. He just finished the Mad Max score. I said to him, ‘You take care of Batman. I’ll do the other guy.’ And Zack loved that idea. It’s a way out.”
This won’t be the first time Junkie XL (a.k.a. Tom Holkenborg) has worked with Zimmer, or the first time he’s collaborated with the acclaimed composer on a Batman movie. The two actually worked together on The Dark Knight Rises. He’s also composed the score for several recent blockbusters, including 300: Rise of an Empire, Divergent, and Mad Max: Fury Road. In other words, Batman’s new theme is in good hands.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters on March 25th, 2016. Tell us, are you happy to hear that Junkie XL is now on board? Sound off below!
