Henry Cavill Compares Hans Zimmer and John Williams’ Superman Themes

The Superman films are lucky to have not one, but two legendary composers in John Williams and Hans Zimmer who have produced themes for DC’s most famous superhero—and Justice League star Henry Cavill agrees. With Justice League composer Danny Elfman bringing bits of the classic John Williams theme back in the new DC team-up film, Cavill’s version of the Man of Steel will now have been identified on screen by both iconic scores.

During Justice League’s press tour, Cavill spoke with Fox 5 and addressed his admiration for both musicians and their work.

“The Hans Zimmer score is so ingrained in my psyche now, and the emotions I felt while making [Man of Steel], the emotions I felt for the character and the emotions I felt while watching those trailers when they were happening was enormous. And so, that score holds something very special for me and always always will,” Cavill says. Of course, we hear a bit of Zimmer’s now-familiar score in the most recent trailer for Justice League, but we also know that references to John Williams are engrained in the music as well. Cavill continues: “At the same time the John Williams score is incredibly powerful, it’s a character all to itself, and to have both of those…I mean it’s genius. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.“

As the architect behind this mixing of themes, composer Danny Elfman is no stranger to not only DC superheroes. In addition to adding hints of John Williams’ classic Superman music, Elfman will also be bringing back his own Batman theme for the film. Elfman previously teamed up with credited Justice League co-writer Joss Whedon on Avengers: Age of Ultron, mixing new themes from himself and co-composer Brian Tyler with the original Avengers theme from Alan Silvestri.

While DC’s recent films have struggled to gain the same critical appreciation of Marvel Studios, the DC films thus far have consistently produced some far more memorable and themes. Many still have the rocking electric cello-heavy theme for Wonder Woman stuck in their heads, originally conceived by Zimmer and Junkie XL for Dawn of Justice, and carrying over to Harry Gregson-Williams’s Wonder Woman score. By tying characters with their own distinct themes, these films are able to form their own distinct identities, and create motifs that reoccur over several different films.


Elfman’s approach to referencing the classic Superman and Batman scores is quite different from the direction Zimmer took with the previous films. When working on Man of Steel, Zimmer actively strayed away and avoided the iconic John Williams theme to create something of his own, and upon being assigned Batman v Superman theme, Zimmer brought in Junkie XL to create a Batman theme different from his own theme in The Dark Knight trilogy. While Zimmer has the constant fear of repetition, Elfman embraces the nostalgia. Regardless of which themes we may find the best, we can remain grateful that Justice League celebrates all of the musical work we’ve loved for decades.