Why Hans Zimmer has never scored a Marvel movie: “Very arrogant of me to say that”
Is there anyone more iconic working in movie soundtracks today than Hans Zimmer? Probably not. Even if he had only ever done the jaw-dropping music for the cornfield scene in Interstellar, he could have sat back, lit a cigarette, called it a day there and still be renowned as one of the world’s best. But he didn’t. In a double Academy Award-winning career, he has composed soundtracks for over 100 films, including scores as memorable as Gladiator, Inception and The Dark Knight, putting him right up there alongside the legendary John Williams.
His work with Christopher Nolan over the past 15 years has led to some of the most epic cinema moments in history, quite aside from making heart-racing ‘BWAAAAAA’ sounds almost ubiquitous in pretty much every action film trailer ever since.
While he may be known these days for working on the most seismic films in history, the current Head of Film Music at Dreamworks didn’t always move in such star-spangled circles. He started out playing keyboards for a few bands in London in the 1970s before going on to write jingles for TV ads and (brilliantly) composing the theme tune for daytime mums’ favourite game show, Going for Gold with Henry Kelly.
Things changed when he landed the chance to write the music for Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman’s mega-hit Rain Man in 1988. That film became the year’s highest-grossing movie, landing four Academy Awards and earning him a nomination for his soundtrack work. Over the next four decades, the films he worked on got bigger and bigger in scale and finally earned him Oscars for The Lion King and Dune.
Now, when one thinks of big-budget superhero movies it’s likely to be with a Hans Zimmer soundtrack in mind as the German genius has penned scores for three Batman films, Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel, and a web-slinger in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Given that kind of provenance, you might assume that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would have come knocking by now to grab Zimmer by the Thanos glove and force him to pen a soundtrack, perhaps for an Avengers film? Well, you’d be half right. He has indeed been approached, but has so far resisted the temptations of Tony Stark and gang, although he definitely isn’t closing the door on the idea.
When asked by movie buff Josh Horowitz if he had been tapped up by the MCU, Zimmer revealed, “They have, they have, but the timing wasn’t great. Quite honestly, I’m looking for other things right now”.
Those other things are likely to include the forthcoming Apple TV epic series Chief of War starring Jason Momoa, which Zimmer has composed the theme for. The sprawling show tells a bloody story of the unification of the Hawaiian islands as the indigenous people fight desperately against colonisation. With some calling it the next Game of Thrones, Zimmer’s score is bound to be a stirring and memorable one.
And if he were to be tempted into the world of MCU, it would have to be for a main character, as he explained: “I mean, look, I’ve done the trifecta. I’ve done Batman, Superman, Spiderman… So, where do you go from there? What do you want me to do? Some of the minor characters? [Laughing] OK, so that was very arrogant of me to say, but actually Kevin Feige [Marvel Studios President] has said that to me, ‘Hans, what are you complaining about?’”
One project it may well be worth keeping an eye on Zimmer for is the forthcoming James Bond reboot. Zimmer scored 2020’s No Time To Die, and given his close ties to director Denis Villeneuve who was just announced to be helming the much-awaited 26th instalment, could there possibly be a dream partnership in the making to honour the return of 007? Only time will tell.
