The Suicide Squad Composer John Murphy Breaks Down His Bombastic DC Comics Score

Last weekend saw the release of The Suicide Squad, the newest and one of the most buzzed-about [...]

By Jenna Anderson

Last weekend saw the release of The Suicide Squad, the newest and one of the most buzzed-about films in the DC Extended Universe. The film, which spotlights an eclectic roster of DC Comics villains and antiheroes on a violent trip to the island nation of Corto Maltese, boasts an all-star cast and crew, who worked both in front of and behind the scenes to bring the blockbuster to life. Among them is composer John Murphy, who crafted the saga's unique, punk rock score. Murphy is no stranger to composing memorable film scores, including 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Kick-Ass. But with The Suicide Squad, Murphy's talents are being presented to a whole new audience, many of whom have already taken to social media to share their love for some of his compositions.

Just before The Suicide Squad's debut, ComicBook.com got a chance to chat with Murphy about his work in the film. We spoke about his approach to the themes of some of the film's standout characters, his collaborative process with Gunn, and more.

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ComicBook.com: I know that you were at the premiere of The Suicide Squad a couple of days ago earlier this week. What was it like to see it with an audience and in a theatrical setting, especially considering all the ways that the movie came together over the pandemic?

John Murphy: It was amazing because, if ever there was a movie that has to be seen on a big screen, this is it. And it was great to sort of see everybody again, because I wasn't there for the mixing of the music. It's always a bit terrifying as the composer, when you go to see the movie and you think, "I'm going to have to music too quiet." or [something]. So you don't really know. You do the job, and the director signs off and loves everything, but you never know till you get there. And the music was so loud. As soon as that first track came in, it was like, "Wow, they really went for it." So that was fantastic.

But the really cool thing is just watching it for the first time as an audience, just [as] yourself watching it going on. The work's done. The hassle's over. The stress is over. There's no more things to worry about. I can actually just sit and watch this now. And it's just such a great movie. I mean, it's bonkers, but it's so entertaining and I didn't really appreciate it properly until I just sat there and just watched it as if I'd just bought the ticket. And what was lovely was — I had my daughter with me. She's 14 and she loves this kind of stuff. She loves all of James movies, and she loves this whole genre. So kind of seeing it through her eyes as well, it was really special for me.

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What was it like being approached by James? I know he's mentioned on social media that he was a fan of your work beforehand, so I was curious how you got brought on the project.

Well, it just came out of the blue. I'd been told that there was going to be a phone call from James, so I was pretty blown away anyway. And when I spoke to him, [it was] probably the most passionate phone call I've ever gotten. And it's funny because he kind of went into it and then he started telling me about the movie and I would've just said, "Yeah. I'm in." But he's so infectious. I mean, what came across to me, the first time I spoke to him, was just [that] this guy is a fan. He loves these characters. He's part of this world. He really is the real thing.

So, it all happened quickly. And then I flew to Atlanta a couple of days later and met with him and met with the producers. I was always supposed to be there for the afternoon, but I ended up staying for three days. So I got to go on the set and met a lot of the people, and you could tell that the vibe was fantastic and it was loads of fun. It just had that feel [that] everyone was having a good time. So there was no question in my mind. There was no way I was going to turn down a James Gunn movie. There was no way I was going to turn down this movie. So, it was a big yes.

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I loved reading about your process a little bit, and how much you used guitar in crafting the sound. What was most important to you in determining the sound for the overall movie?

Well, the very first conversation when I got to Atlanta was — we were talking about the tone, because you don't get into details at that point. And the thing we both kept coming up with as we kind of shouting over each other, excited, was the word "attitude." Whatever we did, it's got to have attitude. If we're going to scare them, let's scare them with attitude. It's got to be its own thing — which, to a composer, is the best thing you can hear, because you don't want to come in to something, and work so hard as you do when you write a movie score, and play safe. We didn't want to be movie composers to play safe.

So when you've got somebody who's literally telling you to go for it and "Let's try stuff out." "Nothing's off the table." It's inspiring. And so, knowing what a brave director he is anyway, it kind of sets the bar. You don't come in feeling your way, you come in kind of from there and going, "Well, I'll show him what attitude is." You want to go at it full tilt from the get-go. So, that was the main thing. Whatever we did, we wanted it to be unique, its own thing, and it had to have attitude. So that was my mantra.

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What was the collaborative process like with James? Because I know how much music is important to him when he's writing his scripts, and how he works in needle drops. So I was curious about balancing your score with the needle drops and with just the overall tone of the film.

I think with James, I mean, what's obvious in all of his movies is he loves music. To him, it's an intrinsic part of the storytelling. And a lot of movies are made and then it's an afterthought of "We need a song here, we needed a song here." There's none of that with him. The songs are actually in the script as you're reading the script, which is amazing. So I knew what all these songs were going to be. There was all these little signposts. So that really helps.

And, I think, because he was in a band too, and I didn't come through music school. I was a guitarist in a punk band. That's where I started, and then I ended up being a session player and going on tour and making records, and then I kind of fell into doing movies as a songwriter to begin with. So my dialogue is very being in a band, and so knowing that he was also in a band and knowing that he was a big punk fan. It was very comfortable. There was none of that, "Oh my God, I'm going to get found out here," which happens with me. So it was very comfortable and very easy and right from day one. It was a real collaboration. He trusted me to come up with whatever ideas I wanted to come up with, and he said, "Just go with your gut. Throw them at me, and then we go to work." And that was kind of how it was. There was no big rule book from him or no big scheme. It was just, "Give me your best shot, and then we'll work from there." And so that's how it was.

And I was worried that I wouldn't be able to have a dialogue with him, because of the whole COVID thing and he was busy. But whatever I sent to him, I'd get a response within twenty minutes. Sometimes, he'd be shooting and I was literally thinking, "Hasn't he got better things to do right now than [answer me?]" And he was like, "Great. Love that one. Not that one. Let's do that one, but make the end bigger." It was like this really kind of fluid, exciting, collaborative process. And knowing that he understands music, and knowing that he knows his films so well, he was like the kind of guardrail. So it made it easier for me to just send them some crazy that I thought, "No director's going to go for." But he was like, "Yeah, that's good, but let's put it in that scene." So it just let me run riot a bit, because I knew he would always pull it in and he would see the bigger picture. It was great.

I mean, I've got to be honest. He was dreamy to work with. Loads of fun. He's a really cool, funny guy, and it really was an eye-opener that you can sort of have this much fun writing music for a movie. Because sometimes it's just hard work, but it was great. I can't say too many cool things about James.

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Were there any surprising influences over the course of creating the score, of something that you wouldn't have expected to influence it, but it did?

I think what happened was there are certain expectations with — broadly speaking — a superhero movie. Even though it's a James Gunn superhero movie, there's still expectations that when you get to the end, there's going to be the big orchestra and the big Gothic choir and all that kind of stuff. And I was looking forward to doing that when we got there. But what was interesting was that, even though we were building the score up to that, and I knew I wanted to start with this kind of punky vibe because at the beginning of the movie, these characters are very [much at] war, and there's nothing noble about most of them, and they're kind of scumbags. So I knew I could start with that war sound and then work my way up to it.

But when we were figuring out which of the characters were going to have their own standalone themes, what became interesting was — James was okay with completely dipping out of the score to do that, which then allowed different influences to come in. So we had the shape and the crescendo of the score, which naturally became more orchestral and more Gothic. But within that kind of shape, I basically had free rein with some of the vignette pieces to just do whatever style was good for that character in that moment.

So you had Polka-Dot Man, I was trying to think, "What can I do that's going to give him his own sound?" He's quite different from the other characters, and he's got these different powers. He's got this inter-dimensional power. And then I just had the thought of, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a really kind of cheesy, but sweet, 1973 kind of Moog thing going on?" And I've got a big old Moog here, so I thought "Let's try it." That sound has got nothing to do with the rest of the score, and we never hear it again, but I tried it and James loved it.

And then we got to King Shark, and you had this beautiful vignette, which comes right in the middle of a big action sequence. And then, suddenly, you've got this big shark in Bermuda shorts wandering round an aquarium looking for friends, and it's all sad. So I thought, "Well, let's try some really sweet, lo-fi little '60s guitar with a little voice [singing]." That's crazy and it's got nothing to do with the rest of the score, and again, he loved that.

That just allowed all of these vignette pieces to just be their own things. So, that allowed all the influences to come in. It was crazy how we shaped the score, but if it works, who cares?

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It absolutely works. I know for me, the Ratcatcher piece, every time I hear that or think about that, it stands out.

That's a really good example. Me and James are both Ennio Morricone fans. I mean, for me, Ennio is like the God. He is the cinema to me. And Ratcatcher was, especially, a very important character, because she's carrying a lot of the heart and the emotion. A lot of the main undercurrent themes of the movie are to do with redemption and family, so I knew that was a big character for James. So, I thought, "What do I really want to hear when I'm watching this heartfelt, beautiful character?" And I thought, "Well, let's try the beautiful sad strings with the simple acoustic guitar." And I sent a really rough demo over to James, thinking I was going to add more things on top, and there was a countermelody and there was other stuff. And he was like, "No, it's perfect. Just leave it like that."

And we tried to incorporate that theme in other places, but at that point it just felt out of place. I think, by definition, a theme is something that recurs. But most of those themes for the characters, they never come back again. They just have their moment in the sun and that's it. But he was totally cool with that. He was just like, "No, it works beautiful there. Let's just have it there."

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Are there any vignettes or themes that are your favorite in particular?

I think I like the King Shark one, just because it's such a crazy scene where it happens, in the middle of all these buildings. The soldiers are turning up, and there's bombs going off, and you've got this big shark just wandering around, dancing with little fish. It's just hilarious. I think, to take a scene that is so surreal and then kind of juxtapose that with a sort of tune that has nothing to do with the movie or sharks. It's just this little tune. That kind of stuff I love. I always love it when there's a surprise in a movie with the score. I just love that stuff. So that would probably be my favorite, the little "la, la, la" thing for King Shark.

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What would you say surprised you the most while you were working on the score for The Suicide Squad?

I mean, I don't just want to say what a good vibe it was, because that's kind of sounds like I'm kind of dissing every other movie I ever did. But I think, because I was expecting ten times more pressure and ten times more expectation, because it's James Gunn and it's this big movie. I think I was going into it bracing myself. So for me, the biggest surprise was how easy it was, to be honest. Even though we all worked our asses off. I think the feeling where I got to the end and I still loved the movie by the end. That's hard, when you're sitting with something for so long, especially if you're redoing a scene two or three times. It stayed fresh right to the end. I don't want to say I could have done it all over again straight away, because I couldn't have, but there was none of that wear and tear that happens. I got to the end and I just wanted to watch it then. That was probably the biggest surprise.

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You said you had such an amazing time on this project. Would you be willing to work with James again, or potentially work on another project in the DC Universe? Because I know I, personally, would love to see your kind of creative approach to so many different characters in that universe.

Yeah, I'd love to. I'd never really done a superhero film before. I mean, we'd done Kick-Ass, but that was kind of, in a way, a piss-take of superhero films. It was, by definition, someone trying to be a superhero, so that was very ironic and black humor. I kind of dipped my toe in a little bit, but I think having done one now, I feel like I've got the chops now, finally. I would love to do it, because when you do something with that scale, you feel lifted by it. You want to get in earlier, you want to work later. Because you feel that wonderful scale of like, "This is big movie sh-t. It's fantastic. So, yeah, I would absolutely. I mean, I'd do anything with James. I'd do a home movie if he wanted me. But yeah, that genre, now I've done it, I would absolutely do [again]. And I'd be a bit wiser for it too, I think.

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The Suicide Squad is now available both in theaters and on HBO Max.

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