Why Is James Gunn Using Different Versions of the John Williams Superman Theme?

James Gunn’s Superman movie will debut in theaters on July 11th, 2025, marking the proper debut of the DCU after its animated series lead-in Creature Commandos. Gunn’s Superman movie draws from several influences, including Christopher Reeve’s Superman, with Gunn bringing back John Williams’ Superman theme song in a strategic new way. The first trailer for Superman provided sounds from the movie’s score, which includes some noticeable implementation of the John Williams’ Superman theme. However, rather than being a direct recreation of the Williams theme, Gunn’s use of it for Superman might be the best way to bring it into a modern adventure with the Man of Steel.

The John Williams Superman Theme Is Iconic (But Simply Copy & Pasting It Doesn’t Work)

1978’s Superman: The Movie brought the Man of Steel to life as he never had been before, and kicked off the modern superhero movie genre with it. That status has also elevated Williams’ Superman theme to be effectively synonymous with the character in virtually every medium. However, even with a theme as iconic as Williams’ Superman score, simply applying it to a modern Superman movie isn’t enough to make it resonate with audiences in a non-Christopher Reeve context.

This was seen in 2006’s Superman Returns, which retained the Williams theme and acted as a modern continuation of the first two Christopher Reeve Superman films. Unfortunately, Superman Returns didn’t land with the impact Warner Bros. was hoping for, exemplifying the complexity of recreating nostalgia for Christopher Reeve’s Superman in a modern era. 2017’s theatrical cut of Justice League made an even more historic folly of trying to retrofit the Williams’ theme as part of the movie’s infamous reshoots and re-working, and the far stronger reception to Zack Snyder’s Justice League shows that the Williams’ Superman theme can’t simply be reverse-engineered to fit any Superman movie or show.

The Superman TV series Smallville probably handled the Williams theme the best of any modern adaptation of the Man of Steel: While having its own theme and soundtrack, Smallville integrated the Williams theme more selectively at a few key points in the show, specifically in Christopher Reeve’s appearances as Dr. Virgil Swann in Season 2, and in the Smallville series finale when Tom Welling’s Clark Kent finally becomes Superman. Meanwhile, if its inclusion in the Superman trailer is any indication, it would seem that Gunn’s use of the Williams’ ‘Superman theme is following the Smallville playbook.

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Gunn’s Superman Movie Is Putting A Modern Spin On The John Williams Theme

The trailer for James Gunn’s Superman film includes recognizable chords from the Williams’ Superman theme, but it doesn’t try to directly replay it – and in fact significantly re-imagines it. The theme heard in Gunn’s Superman trailer includes a guitar version of the chords from the Williams theme, along with a more traditional orchestral score alongside it.

Moreover, Gunn’s Superman trailer music also includes some surprisingly heavy and mythic-sounding orchestral work reminiscent of Hans Zimmer’s Man of Steel theme. In all, the Superman trailer makes clear that Gunn’s film and the score for it take a degree of influence from Christopher Reeve’s Superman and John Williams’ Superman theme, but not to the extent of simply transplanting it into a modern Superman film.

Why Gunn’s Reworked John Williams’ Superman Theme Could Work

As previously stated, past attempts to simply drop the Williams theme into a modern Superman adaptation have largely fallen flat. Even still, that doesn’t change the iconography of the theme itself and how cherished it is within Superman fandom. With the past failures of overtly utilizing the Williams theme in contemporary Superman films, Gunn’s more calculated approach could actually be the one to pull it off. Compared to the blunt instrument the Williams theme ended up being in Justice League 2017, Gunn’s more subtle use of it and especially its punk rock re-imagining presents the theme as something new, but still iconic; enduring in its core themes, even as the times (and sounds of music) change.

Bringing the Williams’ Superman theme out of the Christopher Reeve Superman era doesn’t have a long track record of success, but Gunn’s reworking of it for his Superman movie might finally be what was needed to do the trick if it balances the new and the classic well.

Superman will be released in theaters on July 11, 2025.