Music of Superman


The various film and theatre appearances of the Superman character have been accompanied by musical scores.

''Superman''

The score for the 1978 film Superman, composed and conducted by John Williams, was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, with John Georgiadis as concertmaster. Recording took place on July 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14; September 9–11; October 6, 15, 24, 31, and November 4, 1978, at the Anvil Studios in Denham, Bucks, England. Source music was recorded on July 17. The recording engineer was Eric Tomlinson, assisted by Alan Snelling. The score was orchestrated by Williams, Herbert W. Spencer, Alexander Courage, Angela Morley and Arthur Morton. The music editor was Bob Hathaway, assisted by Ken Ross.
Williams's "Superman Theme", which is first heard during the opening credits to the film Superman, has been reused as the opening music for every Superman film except for Superman III, in which Ken Thorne employed a lighthearted, somewhat comical cue to represent "the streets of Metropolis". It is also referenced in Jerry Goldsmith's score to the 1984 film Supergirl during a scene in which the title character sees a poster of Superman.
In the 2017 film Justice League, Danny Elfman reused Williams's Superman theme, as well as his themes from Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns for the new incarnation of the character. Blake Neely, the composer for the Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths", incorporated the march theme and "Can You Read My Mind?" with Brandon Routh reprising his role as the Superman of Earth-96.
In the 2019 film Shazam!, a rendition of Williams's Superman theme was played during Superman's appearance at the end of the film.
In the 2022 film Black Adam, a rendition of Williams's Superman theme was heard in a mid-credit scene featuring actor Henry Cavill as Superman, rather than Hans Zimmer's Man of Steel theme. Cavill noted that Williams's theme is immediately recognizable to audiences around the world.
A reimagined version of Williams's theme was used to promote James Gunn's 2025 film Superman, the first film of the DC Universe. Gunn later confirmed that the theme would also be included in John Murphy and David Fleming's score of the film itself, as a tribute to when he first heard it as a child.

Leitmotifs

  • "Superman Fanfare" is a short harmonic-based motif, played just before the "Main Theme", or as a standalone when Superman appears in a quick-cut on-screen. It is also restated many times in the "Superman March".
  • "Superman March" or "Superman Main Theme" is used over opening and closing credits. It consists of two sections, an "A" theme which is the main part of the melody and a "B" theme which is a bit lighter in mood and which often connects the "March" to the "Fanfare".
  • "Can You Read My Mind" or the soaring "Love Theme" is typically used when Lois and Superman find themselves alone together. A portion of this theme is introduced as an interlude in the midst of the "Superman March". Lyrics for the melody were written by longtime John Williams collaborator Leslie Bricusse, for the purpose of having a song during the film's extended "flying sequence". Margot Kidder, who plays Lois Lane, speaks the lyrics in the film, but cover versions of the song have been recorded by Maureen McGovern, Shirley Bassey and others.
  • "Krypton fanfare" is used as the viewer zooms in on Krypton, and again with the self-construction of the Fortress of Solitude.
  • "Krypton crystal" motif or the "Secondary Krypton" motif is a mysterious-sounding theme associated with the physicality of the planet Krypton, both the crystals sent by Jor-El to Earth with his son and the radioactive kryptonite which is deadly to Superman.
  • "Personal" motif is a melody related to the duality of Superman and Clark Kent which musically connects the "Fanfare" to the "Love Theme".
  • "Smallville" or "Leaving Home Theme" is an Coplandesque, Americana melody used during the Smallville sequences which in some ways is a simpler or undeveloped version of the March's "A" theme. It bears a similarity to a theme written by John Williams for the 1972 John Wayne western film The Cowboys.
  • "The March of the Villains" or "Lex Luthor theme" is a comedic Prokofiev-inspired march associated with the villain Lex Luthor and his henchman Otis.

    Concert suites

These are regularly performed in symphony and pops concerts, including those by composer John Williams, and have also been featured in re-recordings for various CD compilations.
  • "The March of the Villains".
  • "Love Theme from Superman".
  • "Theme from Superman". This suite includes "Superman Fanfare", "Superman March" and the "Love Theme".

    Soundtrack releases

Warner Bros. Records

December 20, 1978: 2-LP set from Warner Bros. Records.
This album was released on CD in 1987 and is still in print, but it is missing the tracks "Growing Up" and "Lex Luthor's Lair". The Japanese issue, which was released in 1990, presents the full program, but is out of print and rare.

Varèse Sarabande re-recording

1998: 2-CD set from Varèse Sarabande Records.
This release is a re-recording of Williams' score, conducted by John Debney and performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, including the first release of additional music from the film in any form. As detailed in the liner notes, the project was hampered when it was discovered that the existing scores and parts for the Superman: The Movie score had been lost. When extensive efforts to locate them failed, a team of orchestrators reconstructed the music from John Williams' 8-12 stave composer sketches; thus there are subtle differences which may be noted in a number of the cues when compared to their original counterparts.
The tempo of the cues in this re-recording are generally rather slower than in the original recording, possibly because the recording was made in the highly resonant acoustic of Glasgow City Hall.

Rhino Records

February 15, 2000: 2-CD set from Rhino Records.
This release combines the master for the original album with what were believed at the time to be the only surviving elements to reconstruct the full length of the original Williams recording. This release went out of print in 2005, but may still be available online through many internet music services.

Film Score Monthly

February 29, 2008: part of Superman: The Music 8-CD set from Film Score Monthly.
This release restores the complete score from newly discovered high quality original masters and includes previously unreleased material. Discs 1 and 2 of this 8 disc set present music from the film. Additional material is presented on disc 8.

La-La Land

February 22, 2019: 3-CD set from La-La Land Records.
For the 40th anniversary of the film's release, La-La Land Records released this 3-CD version of the complete score. In the intervening years between the release of the Film Score Monthly 8-CD set and this release, the original 24-track tapes from the recording sessions had been found, with La-La Land Records using these tapes as the source of the remaster. The result is increased dynamic range compared to previous releases. In addition, a new alternate version of "The Fortress of Solitude" was included on Disc 2 and a reconstructed and remastered version of the original album on Disc 3.
Unlike the prior Rhino Records release, this version of the soundtrack did not include any of the source music cues. Those cues were made available in La-La Land Records' 2018 combined release of Superman II and III, on Disc 2.

''Superman II''

The score was composed, orchestrated and conducted by Ken Thorne. Because of budget restrictions, the score was recorded by an orchestra of contract players rather than the London Symphony Orchestra. Recording took place on March 25–27, 29; April 17, 18, 25; and May 2, 1980, at CTS Studios in Wembley, Middlesex, England. The recording engineer was John Richards, assisted by Tim Pennington and James Abramson, and the music editor was Bob Hathaway.

[Leitmotif]s

Composer/arranger Ken Thorne was mandated to reuse the first film's themes for Superman II. He based the music for the Kryptonian villains on the Williams material associated with Krypton and the Fortress of Solitude. He also added a descending three-note motif for the villains and a briefly heard ominous melody associated with General Zod.

Soundtrack releases

Warner Bros. Records

1980: Single LP from Warner Bros. Records.
This album and the original album for Superman III were combined for an out-of-print Japanese CD release.

Film Score Monthly

February 29, 2008: part of Superman: The Music 8-CD set from Film Score Monthly.
This release restores the complete score, which is presented on disc 3 of the 8 disc set, with additional music presented on disc 8.

La-La Land Records

October 30, 2018: 3-CD set from La-La Land Records.
This release is presented on discs 1 and 2 of this 3-disc set, with source music from Superman, Superman II and Superman III filling the rest of disc 2, and the score for Superman III on disc 3.

''Superman III''

The score was composed, orchestrated and conducted by Ken Thorne. Recording took place on February 14–16; March 7–9 and 18, 1983 at CTS Studios in Wembley, Middlesex, England. The recording engineer was John Richards and the music editor was Bob Hathaway.

[Leitmotif]s

was given a freer hand in the scoring of Superman III in accordance with the series' change in direction and more comedic tone. His new thematic material consisted of related themes for Gus Gorman and a general theme for computers, plus an ominous "Supercomputer" theme heard in the latter part of the score. Thorne also supplied a love theme for Lana Lang and Clark Kent, based on a melody written for the film by Giorgio Moroder. Lois Lane's theme is not present in the score because she only appears in the film briefly.