• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Superman

To me, Williams score is specific to Christopher Reeve's Superman. It worked well in Smallville because that was a television show and it made a point of making nods to the earlier movies. It doesn't work for Cavill's Superman which is a very different take--and including it in future film score projects would similar to Superman Returns. It just wouldn't work. This takes nothing away from the brilliance of Williams' score and does not diminish his status as being one of the greatest composers.

The Trek themes are different, because Trek is about more than a single character or a single ship--it is about the universe in which the shows and movies are set. I enjoy how both Goldsmith's and Courage's themes have been reworked over the years.

I think the Williams theme is the defacto Superman theme just as the Monty Norman/John Barry James Bond theme is to that character.
 
I agree. The Williams theme has now shown up in the Reeve universe, Smallville, the Arrowverse, Justice League, and Black Adam. At a certain point a theme becomes recognized as the theme, despite it's original use. That doesn't mean it has to be used, but it shouldn't be a surprise when it is. :)
 
Yeah, at this point the Williams theme has been used in:
  • Superman: The Movie
  • Superman II
    • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
  • Superman III
  • Supergirl (1984)
  • Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
  • Superman (1988 animated series)
  • Smallville
  • Superman Returns
  • Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Superheroes Unite (2013)
  • Justice League (2017 edit)
  • Arrowverse: Crisis on Infinite Earths
  • Black Adam
To say nothing of the numerous covers, re-releases, and uncountable concert performances by numerous orchestras across four decades.

The John Williams Superman theme is an enduring, iconic classic that has transcended the 1978 movie it came from.
 
Yeah, at this point the Williams theme has been used in:
  • Superman: The Movie
  • Superman II
    • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
  • Superman III
  • Supergirl (1984)
  • Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
  • Superman (1988 animated series)
  • Smallville
  • Superman Returns
  • Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Superheroes Unite (2013)
  • Justice League (2017 edit)
  • Arrowverse: Crisis on Infinite Earths
  • Black Adam
To say nothing of the numerous covers, re-releases, and uncountable concert performances by numerous orchestras across four decades.

The John Williams Superman theme is an enduring, iconic classic that has transcended the 1978 movie it came from.


The Supergirl TV series never got to use the theme but made their own instead.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, at this point the Williams theme has been used in:
  • Superman: The Movie
  • Superman II
    • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
  • Superman III
  • Supergirl (1984)
  • Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
  • Superman (1988 animated series)
  • Smallville
  • Superman Returns
  • Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Superheroes Unite (2013)
  • Justice League (2017 edit)
  • Arrowverse: Crisis on Infinite Earths
  • Black Adam
To say nothing of the numerous covers, re-releases, and uncountable concert performances by numerous orchestras across four decades.

The John Williams Superman theme is an enduring, iconic classic that has transcended the 1978 movie it came from.
I think the LEGO Batman Movie used it as well when he visits Superman at the Fortress of Solitude.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sci
2PNs6c7.jpg
 
In that case Lena Luthor is mine all mine

Superboy 1988 is not appreciated, because it'd mostly crap.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

We were drooling over Lana from 1988.

I haven't seen Lena from Smallville around in a while anywhere else, but you're probably thinking about Lena from Supergirl.
 
Last edited:
Superboy 1988 is not appreciated, because it'd mostly crap.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

We were drooling over Lana from 1988.

I haven't seen Lena from Smallville around in a while anywhere else, but you're probably thinking about Lena from Supergirl.

That's exactly who I was thinking of
 
I love the Superboy TV show.

Between it and Adventures of Superman, I sometimes wonder if 30 minutes isn't the ideal length for a Super-show. Get in, get out, no B-plots, no bullshit.

(I kid, somewhat. That kind of format doesn't really suit modern viewing sensibilities. But it's true I enjoy the efficient simplicity of those older series.)
 
I love the Superboy TV show.

Between it and Adventures of Superman, I sometimes wonder if 30 minutes isn't the ideal length for a Super-show. Get in, get out, no B-plots, no bullshit.

(I kid, somewhat. That kind of format doesn't really suit modern viewing sensibilities. But it's true I enjoy the efficient simplicity of those older series.)
Don’t worry. With the ever increasing ad space, 30 minutes within an hour slot will get here eventually. :shrug:
 
When I was growing up Marvel and DC Comics thought filled only 17 out of 32 pages with actual comics stories, which they ocassionally had the chutzpah to call ''book-length.''
This was primarily in the 70s, which was a rough time for the industry and each company faced serious financial constraints. People complain about inflation today but it was, in most ways, harder on the 70s than now.
 
Yeah, at this point the Williams theme has been used in:
  • Superman: The Movie
  • Superman II
    • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
  • Superman III
  • Supergirl (1984)
  • Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
  • Superman (1988 animated series)
  • Smallville
  • Superman Returns
  • Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Superheroes Unite (2013)
  • Justice League (2017 edit)
  • Arrowverse: Crisis on Infinite Earths
  • Black Adam
To say nothing of the numerous covers, re-releases, and uncountable concert performances by numerous orchestras across four decades.

The John Williams Superman theme is an enduring, iconic classic that has transcended the 1978 movie it came from.


I find John Williams' theme more iconic than the 1978 movie. But . . . Warner Bros and Gunn need to find a new composer and a new theme. Why is that such a problem? What is this need to cling to the past?
 
You'd think they might have realized offering less while charging more is a quick way to drive off more of their once-loyal readerships.
The cycle of inflation then was quite vicious. Keep prices down, lose the company. Charge enough to pay employees, have to cut something else (pages). If they’d been doing it independently of the economic situation, then I’d have little sympathy. But I remember those days and it was quite difficult—and the comics industry didn’t have the deep pockets to weather the storm they have now (the Big Two, at any rate—it’s always been a challenge for the smaller imprints). Even with the cutbacks, many titles were canceled. And it happened across industries.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top