Draft:Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Three

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Development[edit]

Film soundtracks[edit]

Title U.S. release date Length Composer(s) Label
Captain America: Civil War (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) May 6, 2016 1:09:09 Henry Jackman Hollywood Records
Marvel Music
Doctor Strange (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) October 21, 2016 1:06:28 Michael Giacchino
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Original Score) April 21, 2017 0:43:34 Tyler Bates
Spider-Man: Homecoming (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) July 7, 2017 1:06:40 Michael Giacchino Sony Masterworks
Thor: Ragnarok (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) October 20, 2017 1:12:52 Mark Mothersbaugh Hollywood Records
Marvel Music
Black Panther (Original Score) February 16, 2018 1:35:07 Ludwig Göransson
Avengers: Infinity War (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) April 27, 2018 1:11:36 Alan Silvestri
Ant-Man and the Wasp (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) July 6, 2018 0:56:13 Christophe Beck
Captain Marvel (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) March 8, 2019 1:07:28 Pinar Toprak
Avengers: Endgame (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) April 26, 2019 1:56:00 Alan Silvestri
Spider-Man: Far From Home (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) July 2, 2019 1:19:43 Michael Giacchino Sony Classical Records

Captain America: Civil War[edit]

The Russo brothers confirmed in August 2014 that Jackman would return to score Captain America: Civil War.[1] In July 2015, Jackman noted the industrial elements of his Winter Soldier suite from the previous film was an indication of what the new score would sound like, but did caution that "it's just a jumping off point since the Russos are looking for something new—similar with a twist."[2] Once Jackman read the script for the film, he realized that the "movie tonally was so different to the second one ... it's sort of half Captain America, half an Avengers film in a way" and so Jackman ultimately wrote a much more symphonic and orchestral score than he did for Winter Soldier. This culminates in the final fight between Captain America, Winter Soldier, and Iron Man, the music for which Jackman described as "somewhat operatic and ... almost classical in its style ... some of the harmony and the orchestration really does get quite classical."[3]

Concerning the central conflict of the film, Jackman found that he was in "constant danger of tipping it too much" and pushing the audience to one side or the other, so he composed a new main theme for the film to represent that Civil War, which he called "a generic theme to balance everything out",[4] and "a narrative theme toward which all the characters can gravitate. It wrapped them all up and it helped to bind the movie together rather than do endless disparate themes."[5] The second major theme in the film is a thriller theme, that appears whenever the central mystery surrounding several character's pasts and Zemo's plan is teased or explored. It consists of a flute motif tied to the Winter Soldier's Russian handlers and a rising adagio that represents Zemo's twisted determination, and was inspired by the works of Jerry Goldsmith.[6] Of the character themes from previous films that Jackman did use, "where appropriate",[5] he evolved them to fit the tone and style of the new score. Captain America's theme could not be too prominent or heroic, as that would suggest that he was the hero of the film when the Russos were trying to create an ambiguity surrounding the main conflict—this does change throughout the film though, becoming more heroic when Captain America "turns out to be right all along". For the Winter Soldier, Jackman took a "rising string rhyme" that was buried underneath "the chaos and the industrial stuff" in the end of the character's suite from The Winter Soldier, and developed that into a much more symphonic theme for the character, in keeping with his much more human portrayal in this film.[6][7]

Jackman also wrote motifs for the major characters introduced in the film: Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Zemo.[3] Spider-Man's motif has a small arc to match that character's few appearances, being introduced very gently as the "somewhat confused, slightly tender" Peter Parker first appears, followed by "the seed of his heroism" when he is recruited for the Avengers, and finally a "full-blown version" plays when he fights alongside the other heroes.[8] For Black Panther, Jackman used a combination of African woodwind instruments whenever the character talks about his ancestors, while muted trombones "brought his character into the grandeur of the symphony orchestra, but there's a slightly vengeful, serrated sound to muted trombones if you pick the right kind of mood". Zemo's personal theme was performed on "a lot of these rather unusual tuned bells" that gave him an "otherly sound", as well as a cimbalon to represent his Eastern European roots.[3]

Doctor Strange[edit]

Having known Kevin Feige for some time, Michael Giacchino spent years working with him on potentially scoring one of Marvel's films. When he heard of development on Doctor Strange, Giacchino was particularly interested in working on the film, feeling that it would have more of an independent film feel than other Marvel films. He contacted Feige, "and that ball just rolled very quickly downhill, and I was on" the film.[9] Giacchino revealed his involvement with Doctor Strange in May 2016.[10] Director Scott Derrickson called the score "magic in the literal sense of the word" and said that Giacchino "is doing what good scorers do, which is he is not just creating music that supports the images, he's adding a third thing to the movie. It becomes something new with his music in there that it didn't have with temp music."[11]

For the score, Giacchino felt no pressure to align his music with the style or tone of previous MCU films, and "in fact they encouraged me to go in my direction, so there were never any handcuffs put on me." In regards to the title character, Giacchino felt the key "was getting inside of him—not worrying so much about the magic stuff, more just thinking about who he was as a person, what he lost and then how that loss affected him. For me it's a very sad story, and a lot of the music has this very melancholy feel to it."[9] To particularly differentiate the score, and help create a "mystical mood", Giacchino used a harpsichord and an electric sitar.[12]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2[edit]

Bates was confirmed to be returning for the second Guardians film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, in August 2015,[13] and began composing by that December for Gunn to once again film to.[14] On using this technique again on the sequel, Bates said, "We've gone even further down that road ... I would rather establish the DNA of our music prior to post-production when everything's so frenetic so that we can work on themes and establish melodies that are original to the film."[15] Bates reprises his theme for the Guardians.

Spider-Man: Homecoming[edit]

While promoting Doctor Strange in early November 2016, Feige accidentally revealed that Giacchino would be returning to compose the score for Spider-Man: Homecoming. Giacchino soon confirmed this himself.[16] Giacchino reprises Silvestri's Avengers theme.

Thor: Ragnarok[edit]

By August 2016, Mark Mothersbaugh was set to score the third Thor film.[17] Mothersbaugh reprises Patrick Doyle's themes from Thor and Brian Tyler's themes from Thor: The Dark World and Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as Joe Harnell's "The Lonely Man" theme from The Incredible Hulk series.

Black Panther[edit]

Wanting to put a "personal stamp" on Black Panther and differentiate it from other MCU films, director Ryan Coogler looked to bring back several of his previous collaborators to work on the film, including composer Ludwig Göransson, whom he had worked with on Fruitvale Station and Creed.[18] The film's score would later go on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.

Avengers: Infinity War[edit]

Silvestri announced in June 2016 that he would be returning to score Avengers: Infinity War.[19] Initially, Silvestri had reservations about writing the film's score, feeling it would be difficult to collaborate with two directors and work towards a single vision. During their first meeting, Silvestri discussed reprising themes from characters throughout the series; having last worked on The Avengers in 2012, many characters had received new themes and motifs since then. Ultimately, Silvestri and the Russo brothers opted not to reprise most of these themes, feeling it would make the score too distracting. Nevertheless, Silvestri reprised Göransson's theme for Black Panther when the Avengers head to Wakanda,[20] and went on to reprise numerous character themes in Endgame, including those for Captain America, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel.

Despite not reprising many themes, Silvestri does bring back several of his own original motifs. Perhaps the most notable is his Avengers theme, which was used extensively in the film's marketing. The theme is reused sparingly in the film, typically during major moments such as Captain America's return in "Help Arrives" and Thor's arrival in Wakanda in "Forge". Silvestri also reprised his theme for the Tesseract, which was used numerous times in Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers. In Infinity War, the Tesseract motif is repurposed into a theme for the Infinity Stones in general. Silvestri initially considered making separate themes for each stone, but repurposed the original theme instead. The theme returns numerous times in the score, such as in "No More Surprises", "Family Affairs", "A Small Price" and "Morning After". A brief statement of Silvestri's original Captain America theme is reprised at the end of "Field Trip".

Silvestri introduced several new themes for the film's score, most notably a theme for Thanos. Rather than create a bombastic, evil theme for Thanos, Silvestri instead composed a dark, brooding theme that's first introduced in "Travel Delays", and is woven through the rest of the score as a texture to establish Thanos's threat. The theme also bears slight semblance, perhaps in its instrumentation, to Loki's theme from The Avengers.[21]

Ant-Man and the Wasp[edit]

In June 2017, Reed confirmed that Beck would be returning to score Ant-Man and the Wasp.[22]

Captain Marvel[edit]

In June 2018, Pinar Toprak announced that she would score Captain Marvel, the first female composer for the MCU.[23] Toprak reprises Silvestri's Avengers theme.

Avengers: Endgame[edit]

Silvestri announced in June 2016 that he would be returning to score Avengers: Endgame.[19] The score for Endgame would become the first Avengers film to reprise the established themes for Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and Ant-Man. "More Problems", a track from Pinar Toprak's Captain Marvel score, was reprised for when Danvers destroys Thanos's ship. As he did with Infinity War, Silvestri reprised the Infinity Stones motif in "The How Works", "So Many Stairs", "In Plain Sight" and "Gotta Get Out". The thematic material in "No More Surprises" from Infinity War is reprised in "I Figured It Out" to depict the relationship between Tony and Morgan Stark. Silvestri reused significant parts of Infinity War tracks "A Small Price", "Even For You" and "Morning After" in Endgame tracks "Destiny Fulfilled", "Not Good" and "Gotta Get Out", respectively, to mirror Gamora and Black Widow's sacrifices. A dramatic variant of "Porch", the violin piece from the end of Infinity War, plays as Thor leaves Thanos's homestead to depict how Thanos's victory remains.[24]

In addition, Silvestri reprises various themes from The Avengers as well. Parts of "A Promise" are repurposed in "One Shot". The ending of "Don't Take My Stuff" is repurposed in "I Can't Risk This", when Future Cap fights Past Cap. Black Widow's motif, which debuted in tracks such as "Red Ledger", "Interrogation" and "A Little Help", is briefly reprised for the opening of "I Was Made For This" as the team mourns Black Widow. In addition, the opening of "I Was Made For This" is repurposed from "They Called It"; the motif first played when the Avengers mourned Phil Coulson, and returns when they mourn Black Widow. The ending of "I Got A Ride" is reprised in "Portals"; the track traditionally plays during a long take of the Avengers fighting. Parts of "Seeing, Not Believing" are reprised during the final battle in the track "Get This Thing Started". "The One", which plays when Iron Man takes the Infinity Stones, reprises the theme from "One Way Trip" when Iron Man releases the nuke in space. Another portion of "One Way Trip" is reused when Thanos's army disintegrates.

Silvestri reworked numerous tracks from Captain America: The First Avenger. The "Captain America Main Titles" are reprised in "Perfectly Not Confusing", when Tony returns Cap's shield. Parts of "Invasion" and "VitaRays" are reprised in "Tunnel Scape" and "I Can't Risk This". The ending of "Factory Inferno" plays when Cap grabs Mjolnir, and the first half of "Motorcycle Mayhem" plays when Cap wields Mjolnir against Thanos; both reprises are contained in the track "Worth It". Silvestri also reprised "This Is My Choice" when Cap passes on his shield and mantle to Sam Wilson.[25]

Spider-Man: Far From Home[edit]

In October 2018, Giacchino was confirmed to return to score Spider-Man: Far From Home.[26] As he did with Spider-Man: Homecoming, Giacchino reprises Silvestri's Avengers theme twice in the score. He also reprises the Homecoming Spider-Man theme, which has been modified to sound more heroic and represent his growth as a hero.[27] Giacchino also reprised his Iron Man theme during a conversation between Peter and Mysterio. This marks the second time that an Iron Man theme has been reprised in an MCU film – the first was in Avengers: Age of Ultron, when Brian Tyler reprised his Iron Man 3 theme.[28]

Giacchino wrote new themes for S.H.I.E.L.D. (which bears slight semblance to the Avengers theme), Mysterio, and the romance between Peter and MJ. Mysterio's theme bears semblance to the Doctor Strange theme, which Giacchino also wrote. The instrumentation of the theme is also similar.[29] The theme is reprised many times in the score in a heroic context, but eventually becomes more bombastic and malevolent after Mysterio's intentions unfold.

Compilation albums[edit]

Compilation albums of Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Three
Title U.S. release date Length Label
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) April 21, 2017 (2017-04-21) 51:59 Hollywood Records
Marvel Music
Black Panther: The Album February 9, 2018 (2018-02-09) 49:12 Interscope Records
Top Dawg Entertainment
Aftermath Entertainment

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2[edit]

Gunn said he felt "a little pressure" in creating the Awesome Mix Vol. 2 mixtape for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 "because so many people loved [the first film's soundtrack] and we went platinum and all that other stuff. But I feel like the soundtrack in the second one is better,"[30] with all of the songs chosen and built into the script by June 2015.[31] In January 2016, Gunn revealed that he had chosen an additional Bowie song to appear in the film, but had cut the original scene it was featured in. The inclusion would have made Bowie the only artist to be featured on both mixtapes. With Bowie's death that month, Gunn hoped to find a way to include the chosen song elsewhere in the film as a "fair and appropriate" way to honor him, as Bowie was one of Gunn's idols.[32] Gunn described the soundtrack as "more diverse" than that for the first Guardians, which had "a bunch of songs that maybe you heard but didn't know the name of the song–you didn't know the name of the singer. In this one, we have some really incredibly famous songs and then some songs that people have never heard."[33]

Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar produced and curated Black Panther: The Album.

Black Panther: The Album[edit]

Kendrick Lamar produced the film's curated soundtrack, along with Top Dawg Entertainment founder Anthony Tiffith. It was the first MCU soundtrack to "integrate multiple original recordings created specifically for the film".[34] Black Panther: The Album was released on February 9, 2018.[35]

Singles[edit]

Singles of Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Three
Title U.S. release date Length Artist(s) Label
"Guardians Inferno" April 21, 2017 (2017-04-21) 3:19 The Sneepers and David Hasselhoff Hollywood Records
Marvel Music
"All the Stars" January 4, 2018 (2018-01-04) 3:56 Kendrick Lamar and SZA Interscope Records
Top Dawg Entertainment
Aftermath Entertainment
"King's Dead" January 11, 2018 (2018-01-11) 3:50 Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake
"Pray for Me" February 2, 2018 (2018-02-02) 3:31 Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd

Guardians Inferno[edit]

All the Stars[edit]

King's Dead[edit]

Pray for Me[edit]

Reception[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Burlingame, Russ (August 25, 2014). "Exclusive: Captain America 3 Directors Talk Villains And Who Is Returning". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  2. ^ Almalvez, Lawrence (July 21, 2015). "'Pixels': Hear Tracks From the Soundtrack Early (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 24, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Roberts, Shelia (May 10, 2016). "'Captain America: Civil War' Composer Henry Jackman on the Process of Scoring a Marvel Movie". Collider. Archived from the original on May 12, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  4. ^ Lam, Steve (May 12, 2016). "Interview With "Captain America: Civil War" Composer Henry Jackman". Bam!Smack!Pow!. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Minow, Nell. "Interview: Henry Jackman, Composer for "Captain America: Civil War"". Beliefnet. Archived from the original on May 22, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  6. ^ a b The Music of Captain America: Civil War with Composer Henry Jackman. SoundWorks Collection. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  7. ^ Morales, Wilson (May 19, 2016). "Composer Henry Jackman On The Music For Captain America Civil War". blackfilm.com. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  8. ^ "Settling the Score: Music of Captain America: Civil War". D23. May 10, 2016. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Bond, Jeff (December 18, 2016). "'Rogue One' Composer on Filling John Williams' Shoes, Pleasing Marvel Franchise Fans". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 20, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  10. ^ Giacchino, Michael [@m_giacchino] (May 6, 2016). "Things are about to get, well... really STRANGE. @scottderrickson @Marvel" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Foutch, Haleigh (July 27, 2016). "'Doctor Strange': Scott Derrickson Says Benedict Cumberbatch is Killing It with Test Audiences". Collider. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  12. ^ Burlingame, John (January 4, 2017). "Michael Giacchino Caps a Busy Year With 'Rogue One' Score". Variety. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  13. ^ Cabin, Chris (August 20, 2015). "'Guardians of the Galaxy 2': Tyler Bates Will Return to Score Sequel". Collider. Archived from the original on August 20, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  14. ^ Damore, Meagan (December 4, 2015). "James Gunn Pushes For More Gamora Merchandise, Talks "Guardians Vol 2"". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  15. ^ Ratcliffe, Amy (April 5, 2016). "Avengers, Guardians, and Iron Man Composers Discuss Creating Superhero Music". Nerdist. Archived from the original on May 8, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  16. ^ Elderkin, Beth (November 6, 2016). "Michael Giacchino Confirms He's Scoring Spider-Man: Homecoming". io9. Archived from the original on November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  17. ^ Gonzalez, Umberto (August 22, 2016). "'Thor: Ragnarok': Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh to Compose Score (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  18. ^ Buchanan, Kyle (April 18, 2017). "You're Not Ready for Black Panther's Stunning New Spin on Superhero Movies". Vulture. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  19. ^ a b Burlingame, Russ (June 6, 2016). "Avengers Composer Alan Silvestri To Return For Infinity War". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  20. ^ Reynolds, Jeremy. "Here's why the music in Marvel superhero movies is so forgettable". post-gazette.com. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  21. ^ Burton, Bryon (April 26, 2018). "'Avengers: Infinity War' Composer Had Tough Time With One Scene in Particular". hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter.
  22. ^ Reed, Peyton [@MrPeytonReed] (June 24, 2017). "Is christophe beck coming back? Oh yes!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ Burton, Byron (June 14, 2018). "'Captain Marvel' Enlists Pinar Toprak as Composer". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  24. ^ "Soundtrack review: Avengers: Infinity war (Alan Slivestri – 2018) – Soundtrack dreams". soundtrackdreams.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  25. ^ Prickett, Calvin (April 28, 2019). "Avengers: Endgame – 6 Key Tracks From The Film's Staggering Soundtrack". moviemarker.com. Movie Marker.
  26. ^ "Michael Giacchino to Return for 'Spider-Man: Far From Home'". Film Music Reporter. October 10, 2018. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  27. ^ "Spider-Man: Far from Home: Michael Giacchino's Score Has Started Surfacing Online". ComicBook.com.
  28. ^ Shabat.mp5. Spider-Man: Far From Home - All MCU Themes Callbacks. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ "Listen to Michael Giacchino's Spider-Man: Far from Home Score". Collider. June 27, 2019.
  30. ^ Crossan, Ashley (April 14, 2015). "'Guardians of the Galaxy' Director James Gunn Says Sequel's Soundtrack 'Is Better' Than the First". Entertainment Tonight. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  31. ^ Keyes, Rob (June 3, 2015). "'Guardians of the Galaxy 2' Has Fewer Characters, One New". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 5, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  32. ^ Every, Max (January 11, 2016). "James Gunn Says David Bowie Was Under Consideration for Guardians 2". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  33. ^ Peters, Megan (December 12, 2016). "Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Soundtrack Is More Diverse According To James Gunn". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on December 14, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  34. ^ Sodomsky, Sam (January 4, 2018). "Kendrick Lamar Producing, Curating Black Panther Soundtrack Album". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  35. ^ "Everything we know about the Marvel superhero film 'Black Panther'". USA Today. January 15, 2018. Archived from the original on January 15, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
This page will be placed in the following categories if it is moved to the article namespace.
Categories:
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Music_of_the_Marvel_Cinematic_Universe:_Phase_Three&oldid=1193991968"