Once upon a time, Junkie XL — real name Antonius Holkenborg — was slated to write the score for Warner Brothers’ Justice League. After director Zack Snyder left the project due to a family emergency, Junkie XL was replaced by the Grammy-winning Danny Elfman (Batman).
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In a recent interview that was posted to Reddit, Junkie XL spoke to the situation for the first time. While he’s not allowed to say all too much, it has been one of the first times the composer publicly opened up about being removed from the project.
“Let me just give you a simple answer: of course,” Holkenborg responded when asked if he had planned to reuse themes from earlier DCEU projects. “I can’t dive too deep into it because at a certain point, Joss [Whedon] took over from Zack [Snyder] and he wanted a slightly different approach so obviously he went in a different direction.”
Holkenborg has been a long-time collaborator of Snyder’s and A-list composer Hans Zimmer. Snyder and Holkenborg first worked together on 300: Rise of an Empire before joining forces with Zimmer on Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Holkenborg is also created with creating the theme for Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman.
“As my mentor Hans Zimmer told me: you haven’t made it in Hollywood as a composer until you get replaced on a project. So I guess I finally graduated this week,” Holkenberg previously said via Twitter. “It pains me to leave the project, but a big thanks to Zack for asking me to be part of his vision, and I wish Danny, Joss and Warner Bros. all the best with Justice League.”
Elfman took over scoring duties on Justice League based on a recommendation from The Avengers alum Joss Whedon, who happened to work with the composer on Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Age of Ultron. In addition to a Grammy win, Elfman has been nominated four times for an Academy Award. Elfman’s been a long-time collaborator with genre films, with credits in the genre going as far back as Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 for Sony.
Were you hoping to hear what Junkie XL had in mind for the Justice League score? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Upcoming DC films include Aquaman on December 21st, Shazam! on April 5, 2019, Joker on October 10, 2019, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on Februarhy 7, 2020, and Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020.
