Batman vs. Superman marks director Zack Snyder’s first collaboration with acting talent like Ben Affleck (playing Batman), Gal Gadot (playing Wonder Woman), and Jesse Eisenberg (playing Lex Luthor), but the filmmaker’s crew behind the camera features more familiar names to the Snyder world of cinema. That includes the movie’s co-writer David S. Goyer (Man of Steel), director of photography Larry Fong (300, Watchmen), and production designer Patrick Tatopoulos (300: Rise of an Empire, which Snyder co-wrote and produced), among others.
There’s been some doubt, however, surrounding the return of Man of Steel composer Hans Zimmer on the sequel, mostly due to the Oscar-nominee saying that he’s not sure he should be involved on the project. The simple explanation is that Zimmer also scored Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, so he’s had additional reason to be concerned about repeating himself in Batman vs. Superman – seeing how Affleck’s Caped Crusader is expected to be quite different from Christian Bale’s (and thus, his musical theme ought to reflect that).
At the same time, though, neither Snyder nor anyone else associated with Batman vs. Superman has expressed any real strong doubt about Zimmer coming back into the fold. Which is to say: now that we have confirmation that Zimmer’s return is happening, it’s not a huge surprise.
Zimmer is currently working on the score for Nolan’s sci-fi tentpole Interstellar (which releases later this year), but he informed Digital Spy that Snyder has asked him to come back for the Man of Steel sequel – a request that Zimmer seems happy to oblige, despite his own concerns about the task ahead of him. Nonetheless, Batman vs. Superman is still just over two years away (if not further), so there will be plenty of time for Zimmer and Snyder to brainstorm what sort of leitmotifs would be most befitting characters like Batman and Wonder Woman, as they are presented in this film:
We’ve already had a couple of chats, and once I finish the movie that I shall not talk about [a.k.a. 'Interstellar'] I will probably head over to where Zack is shooting his movie and just hang out a bit and see if we can come up with any ideas.
The multi-Oscar-nominee Zimmer has produced many a memorable and/or iconic theme over the course of his career, though sometimes his film scores can be noticeably derivative of his previous work (arguably, his efforts on The Lone Ranger being a recent example); that he’s more conscious about the need to be innovative with his Batman vs. Superman compositions, however, should only provide Zimmer with additional incentive to fashion something impressive, like (again, arguably) he managed with his Man of Steel score:
That’s my problem, that’s my dilemma. I don’t want to betray, if that’s the right word, the Dark Knight movies. That was Christian [Bale], it was Christian’s role.
It’s not just that it was nine years of our lives, so you want to stay honest and honourable to that period. So it’s really about, ‘Is there something else I can find that I haven’t tapped into?’ Which I don’t know until I sit down with Zack.
Man of Steel, in part through Zimmer’s drum-tastic score, established the feel and vibe of Snyder’s take on DC’s comic book legends, so that will help provide a perimeter for the sandbox in which the composer and director play on the followup. Then again, with Batman vs. Superman being in a good position to open the floodgates for future DC films (see: Justice League), maybe that’ll encourage Zimmer and Synder to work outside the box on this particular comic book movie blockbuster – much like Zimmer apparently has on his latest superhero project Amazing Spider-Man 2, which he worked on alongside Pharrell Williams.