Having spent a large portion of his career penning scores for superhero blockbusters, composer Hans Zimmer has announced that he is retiring from the business. The business, that is, of scoring for the cape.
After his latest piece for the Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Mr. Zimmer feels that his sonic compass should point elsewhere. With 12 years under his belt, writing music for the Batman Begins trilogy, Man of Steel and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to name a few, it's time for him to quit the business.
In an interview, the composer remarked:
"Oh, I might as well say it. I have officially retired from the superhero business. It's just me. I started to find... This one was very hard for me to do. To try to find new language. To try to find ... I did it in collaboration with a friend of mine, Tom Holkenborg [Junkie XL], who just did the Mad Max movies, and we've been friends forever. That was very important, to have another voice in here."
Perhaps he's exhausted from his own prolificacy, and that would make sense given his longstanding career with the format. However, this decision could come as a response to recent criticism over how the audio in the Batman vs. Superman movie was mixed. Some have gone so far as to say the dialogue over the music is practically "inaudible."
But Mr. Zimmer had a retort to the "Is that on you?" accusation as well:
"No, I don't have control over it. Nobody sets out to make an incomprehensible movie. When we mixed the film, we mixed it to the highest possible standard and we could hear every word.
"That doesn't mean every cinema has the same speakers. So what's our choice? To create towards the lowest common denominator or tell people, 'Make your sound systems better'."
Whatever the reason may be, Hans Zimmer is steadfast in his announcement to retire from the score-making business. Hopefully he will continue to pen music for other films, just not ones featuring a masked avenger.
Check out his latest score below in the meantime.
