Article by Adam Poncharoensub
While the world is ready to ring in the New Year, ready for us all to put this wretched year behind us, Batfans have something else to look forward to. In early 2021, we’ll be able to finally see what Justice League was supposed to be. Seemingly confirmed by Zack Snyder, we’ll finally see the #SnyderCut in March 2021. While we await its premiere, Snyder has been out doing press to promote it (Does it really need it?). In one of those interviews, Snyder treated everyone to a short tease of the Junkie XL score for the #SnyderCut.
JXL is back
As we all know, the production of Justice League was very turbulent. The reception to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice caused Warner Bros. to course-correct their slate of DC live-action movies. JL received most of their attention. One of those corrections was to remove Tom Holkenborg, known professionally as Junkie XL, as the composer for JL. WB replaced him with legendary composer Danny Elfman and JXL’s score was scrapped. Make no mistake though, Elfman’s score was totally passable, but there was definitely a tonal shift from BvS. (However, we did get a wonderful JXL-produced Gary Clark Jr. cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together.” It’s not much, but it’s something.)
As you all should know, Elfman is a very prolific, beloved film composer known for Tim Burton’s Batman and its sequel, Batman Returns. (So it did make some sense to bring him on-board. WB was just playing it safe, it seems.) Junkie XL originally partnered up with Hans Zimmer to score BvS.
Though BvS was a divisive movie for various reasons, one of the more well-received aspects of the movie was its score. I mean, that’s what gave us Wonder Woman’s theme. Need a refresher? Check it out below:
The tribal drums and the searing guitar riff are so fitting of the warrior princess, going so far as to hype you up to face Doomsday yourself. No? Just me? Okay.
It’s time to rock out.
And in case you didn’t know, Junkie XL is returning for the #SnyderCut. In an interview with TheFilmJunkee, Snyder teases a short clip of Junkie XL’s score and it is glorious. Check it out below:
As a fan of hard rock and metal, the distorted, dirty guitar riffs are right up my alley, and I’m so excited. For me, I was already on board for a JXL-scored Justice League movie featuring the Bats, mostly because of his Mad Max: Fury Road. The dude knows how to create gritty, pulse-pounding modern film scores that you can jam to. As with anyone, you can be in the mood for a beautiful sweeping orchestral score a la John Williams, but sometimes, you just wanna rock out, right?
Accordingly, Justice League: The Director’s Cut hits HBO Max in March 2021.