The music of Superman 2025.
Reconciling with decades-old expectations.
Members of my family and I went to see the new Superman movie last night. I think it was good and maybe even great, but I need to see it again to make sure, and here’s why.
MILD SPOILER ALERT- While I don’t give away any plot details, if you want to go into the movie completely clean, read this later.
When the first Richard Donner/Christopher Reeve Superman movie came out in 1978, I was a young “dreamer teen” at the very center of the target demographic, and LOVED it. Looking back at that time, the hook used by marketing to get people excited was clearly fixed on Superman being the first superhero movie to use “Star Wars-level” visual effects. In fact, the grabber line for TV commercials was simply “You’ll believe a man can fly”. And I did.
However, while the visual effects were indeed impressive and allowed me to suspend my disbelief, this is not what I (and maybe most) remember. What has stayed with me for nearly 50 years is the incredible performance of Christopher Reeve, and the music of John Williams. So powerful was the score to Superman that it became the leading character for me, and when I finally got to hear and see Maestro Williams conduct an LA Phil performance of the theme in an encore just a few years ago, I was completely overcome with emotion- even more than when I heard the Star Wars Main Title (really!).
It was against this backdrop that I watched the first trailers for Superman 2025, and became truly excited and hopeful as I heard the iconic John Williams themes being quoted (very modernized, but they were there). James Gunn understands! Superman IS truth, justice, the American way, and the music of John Williams!
So last night we sat in the theater (yes, pre-opening night) and watched what I think was a pretty incredible movie (my son LOVED it and my daughter did not fall asleep). But among all the cameos I won’t spoil now, the one I waited on the edge of my seat for was the return of the triumphant Superman theme. And 2 hours later, I was still waiting.
Now in all fairness to composers David Fleming and John Murphy, the music of Superman 2025 was really good, AND, many original John Williams Superman themes were quoted throughout. I am sure the task of bringing the music of Superman forward to the modern era while respecting its essence was daunting, and I may very well look back on the result and consider it masterful. BUT, all the way through to the final credits I was waiting for “da dada da dada, ddddd da dada da dada” and the theme to explode in its full majestic form, but it never came to be. Tantalizingly close, but never fully there.
So we left the theater well after midnight with my son bouncing, my daughter concealing a smile, and me feeling just a bit empty and uncertain. Which is why, now that I can let go of the hope for a special musical cameo, I need to see Superman again and give it a fair shake. As I said, I think Superman 2025 was really good, and might even be great. I will let you know…
POSTSCRIPT: I’m now about 18 hours removed from settling in to watch Superman and listening to the soundtrack as I type this. Free of my expectations, this is REALLY REALLY GOOD, moving to heavy rotation, and I am now more motivated than ever to see the movie again! Congratulations to composers David Fleming and John Murphy for what I can now see is a masterful bridging of the James Gunn tone/style and the iconic Superman music of Maestro John Williams.
POSTSCRIPT 2: I just finished listening to a fantastic episode of The Score podcast featuring Superman composers David Fleming, and now have a profound respect for the work they did balancing vintage and vanguard in the Superman 2025 soundtrack. This is well worth the listen:
Funny, what upset me most about the 70s Superman movies was the way the actors bent their back knee when flying. I was a flying purist back then and nobody portrayed it properly! But you’re right. The characterization was bang on, the settings were magnificent for the time, and John Williams’ amazing score resonates to this day!
Cut to 2025 and this was the first movie I bought tickets to see on opening night, in an actual theatre, with an IMAX screen. The movie had its obvious choppy bits (I read the original composite was 4 hours long, so edits were responsible for most of the chop). But the big scenes were the big scenes. I loved the argument over what “doing the right thing” really meant. I loved that Superman gave hope to everyone he met, even in their final hours. I also loved the flex that he saved a squirrel—because he’s that invincible—and it’s not a difficult feat for him to slip that in. James Gunn’s (David Corenswet) Superman would have taken the Star Trek Kobayash Maru test and found a way to save everyone. “No win situation” is not in his vocabulary.
About the only plot point I couldn’t rationalize in my head is how advanced Kryptonian robots couldn’t recover the damaged parts of the message from Kal-el’s parents, but somehow Lex and his tech linguists could? And the world believed his translation? Talk about being a master media manipulator!
Welcome to Substack, Paul. I’m glad we stayed in touch through all these means over the decades. Take care!