A couple of years ago, composer Hans Zimmer announced that was retiring from scoring superhero films with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice having been his last one. Zimmer’s comic book movie credits include the scores to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, Man of Steel and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and now he is apparently coming out of his superhero ‘retirement’ to work on the score for the latest X-Men film, X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
The news came from Evan Peters, who has played Quicksilver in the X-Men films since Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Appearing on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Peters talked about the film’s production and working with Simon Kinberg, who is making his directorial debut with Dark Phoenix, and let the Zimmer news slip at one point, stating that:
“The set was actually very tame. Simon directed this one, and came in very prepared, very professional. It was a different energy on set and everything got done like clockwork. It was very seamless. Everybody was a little bit more level-headed, so it was a very pleasurable, light experience. I think the film is gonna be incredible. Hans Zimmer’s scoring it—I don’t know if I was supposed to say that or not. Simon has surrounded himself with incredible people, and Simon knows this world better than anybody, so it was just cool to see him—he’s so happy and in his element in that world, and also being able to direct and guide everybody in this way. I was very happy for him and I think it’s gonna be great.”
Zimmer’s latest work outside the superhero genre has been Nolan’s WWII film Dunkirk and Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, with the former nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Zimmer will also be returning to the Pride Lands for Jon Favreau’s live-action The Lion King, having scored the original animated film in 1994.
After the X-Men team is dispatched to space for a rescue mission, a solar flare hits the X-Jet and the surge of energy ignites a malevolent, power-hungry new force within Jean – the Phoenix.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is set for release on November 2nd, 2018. Simon Kinberg is directing a cast that includes franchise veterans Michael Fassbender (Magneto), James McAvoy (Professor X), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler) and Evan Peters (Quicksilver) alongside new additions Jessica Chastain and Lamar Johnson.
Originally published January 25, 2018. Updated April 19, 2018.
