Academy Award winning composer Hans Zimmer has crafted original themes for both Batman and Superman, working on Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy and Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, but at this time he doesn't know if he will be the one writing the music when the two legendary comic book characters come together in Snyder's Batman vs. Superman, set to hit theaters in 2015.
Speaking with Collider, Zimmer revealed that he has not yet decided if he wants to come back and compose a score for the new film and that it will at the very least take a meeting with the director to convince him to do so. While not conflicted about the Superman side of the story, having already created a new theme for the character this past summer, it's dealing with the Caped Crusader again that has him vexed. Said Zimmer,
“It’s creating a bit of a problem in my head right now. Quite honestly, I’ve gotta sit down with Zack and have a chat with him about what he’s trying to do because what I don’t want to do is go back to that well. It’s a different Batman; Christian Bale and what I did with Chris, that needs to have its autonomous life. I don’t want to go and now appropriate that and put that into the other Batman.”
An equally daunting task was put in front of him when he was asked to write the music for Man of Steel, as he had to compete with Superman's original theme written by John Williams back in 1978. At the time Zimmer made doubtful statements similar to the one above, saying, "I’m not thinking of rewriting Beethoven’s ninth either. It just sounds like a thankless task, you know?" Of course, he eventually signed on anyway.
While Zimmer may not end up being the one that writes the new Batman theme, he did praise the casting of Ben Affleck in the role. Asked for his opinion of the new Dark Knight, Zimmer said,
“He’ll be a really good Batman. It’s really quite simple, the man isn’t a fool and he’s not gonna set himself up for a fall. He’s a great filmmaker in his own right, he really is… I think he’s become a much more astute actor and I think he’ll make a great Batman, I think he knows exactly what he’s doing. So do I think it’s a good idea? Yes, I think it’s a good idea. I think he’s great casting.”
In addition to Affleck, the untitled Batman/Superman movie will also bring back Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburne. Production is aiming to start up at the beginning of next year, schedule to be released by Warner Bros. on July 17, 2015.
