The first trailer for James Gunn’s Superman has dropped, meaning we now know how the superhero movie might sound via the teaser’s score.
Music has been a big part of the success of the Superman movies, some of which chart high on our list of greatest superhero movies. Maestro John Williams created the iconic score for the 1978 movie, and director Richard Donner knew he was onto a winner, spreading it liberally throughout the film.
Superman’s memorable theme was used again in the three sequels, while Bryan Singer employed John Ottman to write his Superman Returns score in 2006, which also utilized Williams’ work.
Zack Snyder went in a different direction on Man of Steel, with Hans Zimmer crafting emotional music for the movie. But now it sounds like James Gunn and one of his longtime collaborators are going back to the Williams well for the new Superman movie.
Who is the Superman composer?
The composer of James Gunn’s Superman is John Murphy, who previously worked with the director on The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Born in Liverpool, Murphy is a self-taught musician whose big break came when he wrote the scores for Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch for Guy Ritchie. He then worked with Danny Boyle on 28 Days Later and Sunshine, while he also wrote the score for Michael Mann’s Miami Vice.
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He’s no stranger to superhero scores either, because as well as Suicide Squad and GOTG 3, Murphy also wrote the music for Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass, and the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
Murphy was announced as the Superman composer in February 2024, while in December, Gunn revealed to The Wrap that the film “will include nods to John Williams’ classic Superman theme while creating something new.” And we got to hear that something new for the first time in the new trailer.
As for additional music, Gunn added that his Superman won’t have the same kind of jukebox approach that underpinned the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, stating: “It’s not a soundtrack, so it’s not about the songs. It’s much, much more of a score film.”
Superman hits screens worldwide on July 11, 2025. Head here to find out why the new Superman trailer is dividing fans, or here for details of the main Superman cast.
