Danny Elfman will use John Williams’ classic Superman theme in Justice League

One of the most classic superhero films has to be Richard Donner's Superman. Not only did it make us believe that we were watching a comic-book come to life, it laid the groundwork for the future of cinema. Part of that is the great directing, acting, and of course, John Williams' iconic score. It's unforgettable and I can personally hear it in my head right now, it defines Superman!

When Zack Snyder gave us his take on Superman in 2013, he brought in Hans Zimmer to do the score and he gave us a very different, yet incredible Superman theme. It's great for its own reasons and that score will never fail to give me goosebumps but there's no comparing it to Williams' theme.

With that said, Danny Elfman has revealed to Billboard he will be incorporating it in the upcoming DC ensemble film, Justice League. It won't be 100% the same as Williams' score, it'll be used during a dark moment in the story where "we're really not sure whose side [Superman's] on." Which means Superman may potentially be evil when he's resurrected in the film.

"There are a few little fan moments. I instated a moment of the Wonder Woman theme that Hans Zimmer did for Batman Vs. Superman, but I also had two minutes where I had the pleasure of saying, “Let’s do John Williams’ Superman.” and that for me was heaven, because now I have a melody to twist, and I’m using it in an actually very dark way, in a dark moment. It’s the kind of thing that some fans will notice. Some won’t. It’s a moment where we’re really not sure whose side he’s on.

The people at DC are starting to understand we’ve got these iconic bits from our past and that’s part of us, that’s part of our heritage — we shouldn’t run away from that. Contemporary thinking is, every time they reboot something, you have to start completely from scratch — which, of course, audiences will tell us again and again, is bullshit. Because the single-most surviving and loved theme in the world is Star Wars, which they had the good sense to not dump for the reboots. And every time it comes back, the audience goes crazy."

Elfman's approach is smart and is a great way to pay homage to the past, especially given the fact that he has a long history of working on superhero films like Spider-Man and even Tim Burton's Batman. When asked about what it was like to return to DC, Elfman gave an enthusiastic response.

"It was great. It was like I never left because I’m using the same thematic material that I used back then. It never actually went away [Laughs.] It just was great fun."

Justice League hits theaters on November 17th, 2017.