Marvel Studios is arguably the most successful movie studio at the moment when it comes to a ratio of hits and misses. All of their films are commercial hits, and nearly all of them receiveat leastwarm reviews, save for aThor: The Dark Worldhere orThe Incredible Hulkthere. They’ve now become a well-oiled machine, launching multiple mega-blockbusters each year, but there’s one key area in which Marvel Studios has been lacking for a long time: memorable film scores.
It’s not that Marvel movie scores are bad.Patrick Doyle’s score forThoris perfectly acceptable, andTyler Bates’ work on theGuardians of the Galaxyfilms definitely gets the job done. It’s just that the scores lack that extra something that creates a lasting memory. You know them when you hear them, but without a cue it’s hard to remember exactly what each Marvel score sounds like.
There have been a couple of outliers.Alan Silvestricrafted probably the most memorable theme of the MCU so far withCaptain America: The First Avenger, and he put together a solid theme forThe Avengersas well. But beyond that, the MCU has struggled—and not for lack of trying. They even broughtDanny Elfmanin at the last minute to help punch up the score forAvengers: Age of Ultronalongside composerBrian Tyler, and in my interview with Tyler he revealed that Marvel Studios headKevin Feigeis ahugenerd for movie scores. There’s a desire to make something great from all involved.
Finally, though, it feels like the MCU has turned over a new leaf. The last few Marvel movies have actually featured scores that were not only memorable, but also kind of bold and ambitious. It arguably began withMichael Giacchino’s score forDoctor Strange, which offered a very different kind of flavor to the MCU toolbox.
Giacchino then returned to Marvel to compose the score forSpider-Man: Homecoming, a tall order given thatHans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, andJames Hornerhad all already taken a stab at the webslinger in previous films. But just asHomecomingitself found a fresh take on Peter Parker, Giacchino also crafted a new and exciting score that mirrored the playful nature of the titular hero and—gasp—gave us a memorable theme worthy of humming in the shower.
Then Marvel Studiosreallyramped it up a few notches withMark Mothersbaugh’s wild, dynamicThor: Ragnarokscore. Mothersbaugh was handpicked by directorTaika Waititi, and the formerDevofrontman’s sensibilities meshed perfectly withRagnarok’s goofy style. Mothersbaugh admittedhe was directly influencedby the complaints that Marvel scores all sound the same, and the result is a score that is heavily electronic yet kind of insane in nature, pulling deeply from that 80s aural landscape to glorious results.
And Marvel’s most recent effort,Black Panther, continues this trend.Ryan Coogler’s bold, substantial take on Wakanda is complimented by a wonderfully African score fromLudwig Goransson, who utilizes African instruments to thrilling results. But the score is also dynamic, bringing in a modern hip-hop influence that directly mirrors the contrast between the film’s African hero T’Challa and African-American antagonist Killmonger. Thematically the movie digs deep into the difference between the African experience and the African-American experience, and the score does the same. https://www.youtube.com/embed/WMFAsidiQfc
So what changed? Why did Marvel all of a sudden find a way to make memorable scores? Primarily I think the missing ingredient was ambition. The scores for films likeCaptain America: The Winter SoldierandAnt-Manget the job done, but they’re not exactly pushing the medium in intriguing ways.
The other contributing factor may have been the dissolution of the Marvel Creative Committee. This was a group of creatives who gave notes and thoughts on Marvel productions, and included folks likeAlan Fine,Dan Buckley, andJoe Quesada. Stories swirled that this Creative Committee—which was put in place by Marvel chairmanIke Perlmutter—was a source of continued frustration for some of the filmmakers and producers, and their notes directly contributed toEdgar WrightleavingAnt-Man. The group was disbanded in 2015, which means the final films they oversaw wereCaptain America: Civil Warand possiblyDoctor Strange.
There does seem to be a direct correlation between the dissolution of the Marvel Creative Group (and simultaneous move of Kevin Feige away from Perlmutter’s purview, where he no longer had to report to the eccentric billionaire) and an expansion of ambition in Marvel Studios’ output.Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2is a movie that essentially has no plot;Thor: Ragnarokis a trippy road comedy; andBlack Pantheris an incisive, thematically rich story about the African-American experience.
These are bold films, and in addition to taking story and tone in ambitious directions, the scores followed suit. And as a result, we’ve finally arrived to a place where Marvel Studios movies—without doubt the most popular films of the current era—have quality film scores to match.
