While Hans Zimmer is perhaps best known his terrific work with Christopher Nolan, including “The Dark Knight” trilogy, lately, he’s been kind of down on superhero movies. Two years ago he (prematurely) declared his retirement from the genre, only to wind up returning to work on Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice.” Even then, that didn’t stop Zimmer from critiquing the picture, noting that Ben Affleck’s performance lacked the pain found in Christian Bale’s turn as Bruce Wayne.
It might seem like a petty shot from Zimmer, but the composer wants superhero movies to step up their game, and make him feel inspired to contribute to them. In a new interview with The Daily Beast, the composer expresses regret about his flippant remarks and offers a bit more context regarding his feelings on superhero flicks.
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“Ron Howard, who is a wise and measured friend, very quietly said to me, ‘Hans, you should never say these things,’ ” Zimmer said. “‘You should always say, what about if a great script comes along?’ Which is really the truth. If a great story comes along, of course you’re gonna say yes. But the whole point is not to say I don’t want to do superhero movies anymore. The whole point is, I want to reinvent superhero movies.”
Indeed, one could argue that Zimmer blazed a path that others would follow with his work on Nolan’s Batman, and he does recognize the influence those scores have had.
“It’s weird because when we did ‘Batman Begins‘ and ‘Dark Knight,’ we in a strange way had more freedom because nobody was doing superhero movies,” he added. “So we invented a new style for it. And then, of course in a funny way, that style sort of seeped into other territories.”
Candid words from the rare composer who can also call himself a rock star (he played Coachella). Thoughts? Let us know below.