Hans Zimmer Retires From Superhero Scores in The Wake of BATMAN V SUPERMAN

The aural landscape of Warner Bros. and DC's superhero movies is going to come from a different source in the coming years.

In an interview with the BBC (via The Playlist), composer Hans Zimmer has announced that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was the last superhero film for which he'll provide the score:

"I did Batman Begins with Chris [Nolan] 12 years ago, so The Dark Knight Trilogy might be three movies to you, to me it was 11 years of my life, then I did [Man of Steel], then I did this one. I might as well say it: I have officially retired from the superhero business. It's just me. This one was very hard for me to do, to try to find new language."

Zimmer worked on the score with JunkieXL, and from the sound of this interview, it seems as if the only reason he took this job was because of that collaboration. The only moments of the score that really stood out to me among all of the bombast were the callbacks to Zimmer's work on the Man of Steel score and Wonder Woman's theme that blared when she first shows up in costume. It's gotta be tough to come up with new ways to put a spin on costumed heroes like that, and while his loss will surely be felt in upcoming films, hopefully it'll pave the way for someone else to come in and really make an iconic, John Williams-esque theme for these movies that's instantly recognizable. Even Marvel Studios haven't really been able to master that quite yet.

Plus, that should give Zimmer more opportunities to dive into other work, and maybe span different types of films and genres. I think his work on the score for Rango is under-appreciated, and maybe this freedom will creatively inspire him to take on projects he may not have otherwise.

Meanwhile, the composer will be going on tour next month and hopefully adding U.S. dates to that tour before too long.