“Missed Connections:” Music in Narrative Continuity of the

“Missed Connections:” Music in Narrative Continuity of the Marvel Cinematic

Universe (2008 –2016)

by

Bryce N. Biffle, B.M.

A Thesis

In

Musicology

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty

of Texas Tech University in

Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for

the Degree of

MASTER OF MUSIC

Approved

Dr. Thomas Cimarusti

Chair of Committee

Dr. Angela Mariani

Dr. Peter Martens

Dr. Robert Peaslee

Mr. Robert Weiner

Mark Sheridan

Dean of the Graduate School

August 2016

© 2016, Bryce N. Biffle

Texas Tech University, Bryce Biffle, August 2016

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This document would not have been made possible without the support and

guidance of my Masters thesis committee. The dedication of Dr. Thomas Cimarusti,

Dr. Angela Mariani, Dr. Peter Martens, Dr. Rob Peaslee, and Mr. Rob Weiner to

affirming my enthusiasm in this project.

Eternal gratitude to my friends and colleagues in the film scoring industry for

taking time out of their incredibly busy schedules to “talk shop.”

Thanks abound to my friends and colleagues who bring out my best as a

musician and scholar; not to mention tolerating the countless evenings of film scores /

movie soundtracks projected at full volume from the confines of my room.

Thanks Mom and Dad for everything. The trips to the symphony hall, the

various instrument lessons, all those movies you to which you ever took me, the travel

that broadened my sense of the World; thanks for all of it. This document would not

be possible without the past 25 years of fostering my interests and supporting my

musical development.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................... ii

ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... iv

LIST OF MUSICAL EXCERPTS ....................................................................... v

LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................. vi

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

AND TOPICS IN FILM MUSIC (INTRODUCTION) ..................................... 1

Introduction to the MCU ................................................................................... 1

Film music topics and scholarship .................................................................... 7

Literature review ............................................................................................. 14

Topic overview / Methodology ....................................................................... 22

II. MELODIC LEITMOTIFS OF THE AVENGERS .................................... 24

The Music of Iron Man/Tony Stark ................................................................ 24

Iron Man (2008) ........................................................................................ 25

Iron Man 2 (2010) ..................................................................................... 29

Iron Man in The Avengers (2012) ............................................................. 30

Iron Man 3 (2010) ..................................................................................... 29

Leveling the playing field: Iron Man 3 (2013) and in Avengers: Age of

Ultron (2015) ........................................................................................... 30

The Music of Captain America/Steve Rogers ................................................. 35

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) ............................................ 36

Captain America in The Avengers............................................................. 41

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and beyond ....................... 42

Post-Avengers thematic unity .......................................................................... 47

III. SOURCE MUSIC IN THE MCU ................................................................ 58

“I am Iron Man” .............................................................................................. 60

“The Star Spangled Man With A Plan” .......................................................... 65

IV. HEROIC HARMONIES .............................................................................. 68

V. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................ 84

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 87


v

Abstract

The official tagline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is “Everything is

connected.” Films recounting the heroic exploits of Iron Man, Captain America, and

their fellow Avengers are all set in the same shared universe taken from the pages of

Marvel Comics. While the film series’ visual aesthetic, recurring characters, shared

locations, and interweaving plot points (sometimes spanning both the film and

television incarnations of the MCU) exhibit explicit visual and narrative continuities,

the orchestral-based original film scores for the series lacks cohesive musical

identities, leitmotifs, as heard in other blockbuster franchises such as Star Wars,

Jurassic Park, or The Lord of the Rings. Iron Man’s musical identity was conceived

by five different composers over the course of the films from Iron Man (2008) leading

up to Captain America: Civil War (2016). The same issue pervades the Captain

America series in which Alan Silvestri’s ideas for the character as heard in Captain

America: The First Avenger (2011) and The Avengers (2012) went largely unutilized

in the subsequent films Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Avengers:

Age of Ultron (2015).

Upon a more concise musical examination, however, patterns in melodic

contour, orchestration, harmonic content, and the functionality of popular (source)

music in the series exhibit a sense of musical unity despite lack of concrete leitmotivic

lexicon. Primarily focusing on the films featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Ant-

Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Avengers, this in-depth study into the

music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe seeks to present ways in which music

establishes narrative continuity outside of the norms established by Wagner and later

John Williams. Many of the musical examples therein offer the first musical analysis

of the music of the most financially successful film franchise of all time.


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LIST OF MUSICAL EXCERPTS

Ex. 1 Williams: "The Force Theme" from the Star Wars saga ............................ 2

Ex. 2 Wagner: Das Rheingold, Act I, scene 2, “Entry of the Gods into

Valhalla”.. ................................................................................................... 3

Ex. 3 Djawadi: “Themes” from Iron Man (2008) .............................................. 25

Ex. 4 Beethoveen, Wagner, and Williams: “Heroism in music” ........................ 27

Ex. 5 Debney: “Iron Man heroism” from Iron Man 2 (2010) ............................ 29

Ex. 6. Silvestri: “Iron Man theme” from The Avengers (2012)…………………30

Ex. 7 Tyler: “Theme” from Iron Man 3 (2013) ………………………………..33

Ex. 8 Djawadi, Debney, Silvestri, and Tyler: Iron Man melodic

comparisons .............................................................................................. 34

Ex. 9 Silvestri: Themes from Captain America: The First Avenger

(2011) ........................................................................................................ 38

Ex. 10 Copland and Silvestri melodic comparisons ............................................. 40

Ex. 11 Copland: Excerpt from from Appalaichan Spring .................................... 40

Ex. 12 Jackman: “Taking a Stand” from Captain America: The Winter

Soldier (2014) .......................................................................................... 45

Ex. 13 Silvestri and Jackman: Captain America melodic comparison ................ 47

Ex. 14 Silvestri: “Theme” from The Avengers (2012) ......................................... 49

Ex. 15 Elfman: "Heroes” from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) ......................... 50

Ex. 16 Bates: “Guardians Theme” from Guardians of the Galaxy

(2014) ....................................................................................................... 51

Ex. 17 Beck: “Theme from Ant-Man” (2015) ...................................................... 52

Ex. 18 Silvestri's Avengers motif in Guardians (Bates), Ant-Man

(Beck), and Iron Man 2 (Debney) ............................................................. 54

Ex. 19 Melodic comparisons between Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” and

Ramin Djawadi’s Iron Man (2008) “heroism” theme............................... 62

Ex. 20 Silvestri: Avengers motif and chord progression ...................................... 69

Ex. 21 Tyler: “Theme” from Iron Man 3 (2013) .................................................. 70

Ex. 22 Elfman: “Heroes” from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) ......................... 72

Ex. 23 Beck: “Theme from Ant-Man” (2015) ...................................................... 72

Ex. 24 Bates: “Guardians Theme” from Guardians of the Galaxy

(2014) ....................................................................................................... 74

Ex. 25 Djawadi: “Iron Man heroism” from Iron Man (2008) .............................. 75

Ex. 26 Silvestri: Captain America: The First Avenger (overview of

quartal and quintal harmonies) .................................................................. 77

Ex. 27 Jackman: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (overview of

quartal and quintal harmonies) ................................................................. 78

Ex. 28 Doyle: Thor (2011) and Tyler: Thor: The Dark World (2013) ................. 80


vii

LIST OF FIGURES

3.1 Lyrical analysis of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” as heard in Iron

Man (2008). ................................................................................... 62

3.3 Lyrics from “Star Spangled Man With A Plan” from Captain

America: The First Avenger .......................................................... 66

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

AND TOPICS IN FILM MUSIC

I’d love to be able to have audiences see a film with the music. Then see it a

second time with the music turned off. And then see it a third time with the music

turned on again. Then they’d get a much more specific idea of what the music does for

a film. – Aaron Copland, American composer (1900-1990)1

This study into the musical fabric of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (2008 –

current) will explore ways in which music – at both the diegetic and non-diegetic

level(s) – underscores and contributes to the film universe’s implied onscreen

narrative continuity despite the series’ non-adherence to systematic leitmotivic unity.

Through thorough musical analysis in conjunction with adherence to established

theoretical models in film/film music studies, one can contend that recurrent musical

phenomena such as melodic contour, harmonic content, and narrative applications of

diegetic/source music in the MCU form their own unified musical aesthetic(s) apart

from leitmotif-oriented approaches evident Star Wars or the live-action Tolkien

Middle-earth cinematic properties.2

Leitmotifs are musical gestures which aurally represent (or embody) characters,

places, objects, and ideas. The Wagnerian leitmotif – once synonymous with the lofty

operatic exploits of tragic heroes and mythical forces – is now an applicable model

used by film composers as musical signifiers within modern cinematic myths

recounting the adventures of (but not limited to) Jedi knights, hobbits, boy wizards,

1 Rodger Hall, “An Interview with Aaron Copland,” Film Music Magazine, vol.19, no. 25, 13 April.

2000. 2 The six feature films split between The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) and The Hobbit trilogy

(2012-2014); all directed by Peter Jackson.


2

and comic book superheroes; contemporary popular culture’s own pantheon of gods

and goddesses. Leitmotifs are musical gestures which aurally represent (or embody)

characters, places, objects, and ideas In film, especially in episodic film series

featuring multiple recurrent characters and locations, these musical “light motives” aid

the implied visual narrative’s continuity by building a musically congruent

connectivity.

Many of the most culturally popular and financially successful film franchises

use these leitmotifs including Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Star

Trek, and James Bond. For Star Wars, Williams’ leitmotif for the Force (see Example

1) undergoes numerous variations in order to accentuate the films’ particular narrative

demands ranging from the pensive intimacy underscoring Jedi Master Yoda’s death in

Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) to tragic, operatic grandeur as heard

under the destiny-changing lightsaber battle between former friends Obi-Wan Kenobi

and Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) at the climax of Star Wars - Episode III:

Revenge of the Sith (2005).

Example 1. Williams: "The Force Theme" from the Star Wars saga.5

5 Author’s personal transcription

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUrMdI-YJk


3

The idea of a melodic idea undergoing thematic transformations in order to

address narrative development is also observable in Wagner’s numerous leitmotivic

ideas in Ring cycle. For instance, the melody representing the Gods’ dwelling of

Valhalla (see Example 2) as presented in Act 1 of Das Rheingold reappears to

underscore that particular locale’s destruction in the final immolation scene of

Götterdämmerung. The same theme also appears intermittently throughout the course

of the four-opera cycle, such as in Die Walküre when Wotan (“King” of the Gods)

appears disguised in a mortal human form. Even though the audience does not see the

grandeur of Valhalla they infer (somewhat unwittingly) a component of that location

in the conveyed onstage narrative.

Example 2. Wagner: Das Rheingold, Act I, scene 2, "Entry of the gods into Valhalla"6

These musical ideas, for either George Lucas’ mystical Force or Wagner’s Valhalla,

are unwavering over the course of their respective epic sagas. Regardless of where or

when in the narrative, the leitmotif acts as a narrative anchor enabling the audience to

identify (often subconsciously) a particular recurring idea in the films’ overarching

plots. The MCU, beginning with Iron Man in 2008, has largely disregarded recurring

leitmotifs for the central heroic figures of that particular cinematic universe. Ramin


https://youtu.be/IbmrT1_ndBI?list=PL66781E476D3C88A1


4

Djawadi’s thematic material for Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) as devised

for Iron Man does not reappear in any capacity in John Debney’s score for Iron Man 2

(2010). Debney’s material for the character in Iron Man 2 was completely disregarded

by Alan Silvestri’s Iron Man-related material devised for The Avengers (2012) and

Brian Tyler’s subsequent contributions for the character as heard in Iron Man 3 (2013)

and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Though Tony Stark/Iron Man are recurrent

characters within the narrative connectivity of the MCU (appearing in six of the series’

films), there is no singular melodic idea associated with the character. The same can

be said for Iron Man’s fellow Avengers: Alan Silvestri’s material for Captain America

as featured in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and reused in The Avengers

goes largely ignored in Henry Jackman’s scores for the Captain America sequels (The

Winter Soldier [2014] and Civil War [2016]). None of Craig Armstrong’s musical

material written for The Incredible Hulk (2008) underscores the Hulk/Dr. Bruce

Banner story arcs explored in The Avengers (scored by Alan Silvestri) or it’s “Age of

Ultron” sequel (scored by Danny Elfman and Brian Tyler) nor do Patrick Doyle’s

Thor (2011) themes reappear in the titular character’s role in The Avengers or Thor:

The Dark World (2013) sequel. Unlike the thematically unifying dramatic works of

Wagner or Williams, the musical continuity within the orchestral underscores of the

Marvel Cinematic Universe, and superhero films overall, has been far less concrete.

Musical inconsistencies are prevalent in many of the top box office franchises.

In the superhero genre, Hans Zimmer completely disregarded thematic material

previously established by James Horner for The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) in favor

of a new musical ideas as heard in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Both films also


5

forego any musical references to the preceding Spider-Man films directed by Sam

Raimi as scored by Danny Elfman and Christopher Young. Similarly, despite

occupying the same timeline, the X-Men film franchise, which began in 2000, failed

to carry musical ideas between seven feature films until John Ottman reused his “X-

Men theme” as originally written for X2: X-Men United (2002) twelve years later in X-

Men: Days of Future Past (2014).7

John Williams’ leitmotifs established for Voldemort in the first three Harry

Potter feature films were completely replaced by subsequent composers’ material over

the course of the series’ five subsequent films. Steve Jablonsky’s scores for the live

action Transformers series fail to reuse numerous themes from the first film in the

franchise (Transformers [2007]) despite the repeated returns of numerous characters

over three subsequent films in 2009, 2011, and 2014. In The Lord of the Rings trilogy,

Howard Shore replaced Enya’s love song for Arwen and Aragorn from The

Fellowship of the Ring (2001) with his own harmonically similar counterpart for The

Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003); the same fate befell the “Song

of the Lonely Mountain” penned by folk singer Neil Flynn for The Hobbit: An

Unexpected Journey (2012) to be replaced by a melodically similar idea by Shore for

the two subsequent Hobbit films. As it was written for Star Wars’ 1980 sequel The

Empire Strikes Back, Williams’ “Imperial March” (Darth Vader’s Theme) is absent

from Episode IV (A New Hope) in 1977, but present in Episodes I-III (“prequels”

7 X-Men (2000) - music by Michael Kamen, X2 (2002) - John Ottman, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) –

John Powell, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – Harry Gregson-Williams, X-Men: First Class (2011)

– Henry Jackman, The Wolverine (2013) – Marco Beltrami, and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) –

Ottman.


6

released in 1999, 2002, and 2005), Episodes V-VI (the “Original [Star Wars]

Trilogy”), and most recently in Episode VII (The Force Awakens).

It should be noted, however, that certain parameters certainly justify a composer’s

choice to deviate from leitmotivic material previously established by a franchise’s

preceding composer(s). This phenomenon is prevalent amongst the film series

associated with DC Comics’ Superman and Batman, whereas the familiar narrative

material differs stylistically between preceding film adaptations. The orchestral

Gothicism utilized by Danny Elfman for Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992),

as well as Elliot Goldenthal’s similar (yet melodically different) material for Batman

Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1998) was supplanted by the modern,

electronically-driven sounds of Hans Zimmer for the revitalized version of Batman in

Batman Begins (2005) and its two Dark Knight sequels. Apart from characters’

established comic book names, Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” movies have no

direct narrative connections to 1990s Batman films. Aesthetically, the two Batman

series’ differ in the latter’s depiction of a believable, contemporary world in favor of

the earlier Tim Burton pictures’ embrace of comic book kitsch. The Wagnerian

bravura of Elfman effectively accentuates a romanticized film-world emulating (and

acknowledging) the campy absurdity of the original Batman comics’ tropes (i.e.

saving a damsels in distress, cartoonish villains talking in puns, the ridiculous amount

of gear within Batman’s gaudy utility belt, etc.), but how would the same John

Williams variety fantasy / action-adventure function in a feasible, realistically

presented universe exploring philosophical and cultural parallels of the real world and

its evils therein? The brooding suspense and industrial driving nature of Hans


7

Zimmer’s music (in collaboration with James Newton Howard on Batman Begins and

The Dark Knight, 2008) for the Nolan-directed trilogy accentuates that series’

portrayal of a realistic Batman modern day issues such as domestic terrorism, political

and economic corruption, the abuse of power, and the implications of what truly

differentiates “good” from “evil.” The same instance can be observed with Superman

in Man of Steel (2013), in which Hans Zimmer again chose to not directly reference

any previous music associated with the hero.

Film Music:Topics and Scholarship

In film scholarship, sound is broken down into two (2) categories: diegetic and

non-diegetic. Diegetic sounds in film are those heard within a scene experienced by

characters such as birds chirping, honking traffic, or music heard through a radio.

Non-diegetic sounds such as character narration are heard by the audience, yet not

experienced by individuals in the narrative itself. Diegetic music in a film would

consist of a character singing a song or playing an instrument on screen, while non-

diegetic music is the background musical score. Sound can also shift between diegetic

and non-degetic labels, such as when a popular song is introduced underscoring a shot

which cuts to a scene in which that particular song is playing from an on-screen

source. Such ideas are highlighted in in great detail by Aaron Copland’s 1940 essay on

film music as well as in Claudia Gorbman’s Unheard Melodies.


8

Copland contends that music’s role in film is defined by the following:8

1. Creating a more convincing atmosphere of time and place.

2. Underlining psychological refinements—the unspoken thoughts of a

character or the unseen implications of a situation. Music can play upon

the emotions of the spectator, sometimes counterpointing the thing seen

with an aural image that implies the contrary of the thing seen.

3. Serving as a kind of neutral background filler.

4. Building a sense of continuity.

5. Underpinning the theatrical build-up of a scene, and rounding it off with a

sense of finality.

Claudia Gorbman draws from Copland’s criteria in her own work on the subject.

Gorbman’s own approach is far more thorough, featuring more criteria by which

music can function in a film’s narrative. Whereas Copland, as a composer, placed

emphasis on the inherent musical factors in film scoring, Gorbman’s seven “rules” for

“music’s narrative functions in film” are thus as recounted by David Neumeyer in his

essay “Tonal Design and Narrative in Film Music:”9

1. Invisibility: Instruments, performers, for background music must not be

seen.

2. "Inaudibility:” Music should not put itself forward in the viewer/listener's

attention

3. Emotion: Music signifies emotion (polarities are established on this basis:

reason/emotion, reality/fantasy, male/female, etc.).

4. Narrative cueing: Characterization of time, place, groups; illustration

(mickey-mousing); subjectivity (point-of-view); establishment of mood,

("overall" scoring).

5. Formal and rhythmic: Defines or supports shape and time continuity

articulation by frame (main-, end-title cues), or by sounding coincident

with a scene, or by bridging over gaps between scenes.

6. Unity: Music supports narrative unity, especially through thematic

relationships.

8 Tony Thomas and Aaron Copland, Film Score: The Art & Craft of Movie Music. (Burbank, California:

Riverwood Press, 1991), 3. 9 David Neumeyer, "Tonal Design and Narrative In Film Music: Bernard Herrmann's A Portrait Of

Hitch and The Trouble With Harry." Indiana Theory Review 19 (1998): 99.


9

7. "Breaking the rules:" Any of the previous rules may be broken in the

service of one of the others.

Though the film industry and film scoring practices have drastically changed

since Copland’s career in Hollywood, the composer’s prose is still pertinent in modern

film music studies10. Modern film scores still follow these conventions to some extent.

“Creating a more convincing atmosphere” refers to music, both diegetic and non-

diegetic, establishing an appropriate atmosphere. Amadeus (1984) establishes its

respective Eighteenth century Viennese locale through the copious usage of period

music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his contemporaries. Composers will often

incorporate world instruments or non-western scales to compliment a film’s locale as

James Horner did with bagpipes for Scotland in Braveheart (1995) or as Ennio

Morricone accented the parched, unforgiving West with the sound of a harmonica in

Once Upon a Time in the West (1969). Furthermore, film composers may give

fictional worlds their own musical vocabulary as John Williams did with the Cantina

Band music in Star Wars (1977) or Jerry Goldsmith’s music sung and performed by

mythical creatures in his rejected score to Legend (1985).

Many, but not all, musical choices in film are intended to reflect, complement,

or juxtapose ideas suggested on the screen yet not directly addressed as Copland states

in his second point in which “Music can play upon the emotions of the spectator,

sometimes counterpointing the thing seen with an aural image that implies the

contrary of the thing seen.” Stanley Kubrick’s films contain many anachronistic uses

of music that conflict with presented imagery or ideas such as in A Clockwork Orange

10 Copland wrote seven film scores between 1939-1949 including Of Mice and Men (1939), The Red

Pony (1949), and The Heiress (1949). The later won Copland an Academy Award.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORpIfsPa1TY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyvzfyqYm_s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6PDcBhODqo


10

(1972) where on a non-diegetic level - Classical repertoire by Beethoven and Rossini -

refined lofty art music of the Western canon -underscores disturbingly violent or

sexual acts. Diegetic musical juxtapositiong can be encountered in one of the film’s

pivoltal scenes in which the central character gleafully sings “Singing in the Rain”

(from the eponymous musical film) before gang raping a woman as her disabled

husband looks on helplessly.

Of utmost pertinence to film series with multiple entrees featuring numerous

characters and places is music’s ability to “build a sense of continuity” as Copland’s

fourth point reads to scoring films. Film series have traditionally maintained musical

continuity across individual chapters through observing conventions of the Wagnerian

leitmotif. As Richard Wagner (1813-1883) utilized melodies representing narrative

components in order to establish a unifying aesthetic across his four-part Ring cycle,

film composers throughout the late twentieth century and into the modern age use

reoccurring musical ideas to forge a sense of episodic connectivity.

The film scores of the Marvel Cinematic Universe draw predominantly from

two separate methodologies in film scoring codified as the traditionalist school

spawned of Western classical music and the progressive, modernist “school” spawned

from connections in electronic and contemporary new age genres. The traditionalist

approach is anchored by the lineage of such influential film music figureheads as Max

Steiner (1888-1971), Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975), and John Williams (b. 1932),

whose memorable, leitmotif-driven scores for such films as Gone with the Wind

(1939; Steiner), Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958; Herrmann), and E.T. (1982;

Williams) serve as notable examples of the style. The (often) Neo-romantic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmeLmt1q7j4&list=PL5cFZkDxOCyihZxQjcBgosYrIRnJlwlHh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmeLmt1q7j4&list=PL5cFZkDxOCyihZxQjcBgosYrIRnJlwlHh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMKoTxXHRCQ&list=PLqATQfy7DOpHxg2MXyNgCpEP6IJ4uSRic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qr25F9t6Es

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lOqqHNMRZ4&index=15&list=PLqATQfy7DOpFo9D3MIYWdXU7MufydEiyQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx7NiJHIlGs


11

approaches of these composers and their contemporaries were a product of their

respective conservatory level educations in the Western classical tradition, often under

tutelage of esteemed composers of the late nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.

Younger or currently active proponents who gained prominence in post-Star Wars

“New Hollywood” include Basil Poledouris (1946-2004), Howard Shore (b. 1946),

Alan Silvestri (b. 1950), James Newton Howard (b. 1951), Danny Elfman (b. 1953),

Thomas Newman (b. 1955), Michael Giacchino (b. 1967), and the late James Horner

(1953-2015) of Titanic and Avatar fame. Many credit Williams’ scores for Jaws and

Star Wars, attached to the most popular, highest grossing films at the time, for

reinvigorating an interest in the Neoromantic orchestral film score in a period when

Hollywood showed heightened interest in marketable soundtrack albums of popular

music in order to appeal to younger audiences.

The newer progressive and “eclectic” style is widely associated with Hans

Zimmer (b. 1957) and his contemporaries, many of which were his protégés at his own

studio, Remote Control Productions based in Santa Monica, CA. 11 Zimmer’s

computer-reliant style has aesthetic roots in the pioneering electronic film music of

Giorgio Moroder (b. 1940) and Vangelis (b. 1943), whose harmonically

“unadventurous,” yet revolutionary “melodic use of synthesizers” for such Oscar-

winning scores as Midnight Express (1978; Moroder) and Chariots of Fire (1981;

Vangelis) effectively showcased the growing technology’s ability to render dynamic,

self-generated tones capable of functioning in place of a traditional orchestral

11 Emilio Audissino. John Williams's Film Music: Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the

Return of the Classical Hollywood Music Style. (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press,

2014).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voytGLvtsy0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voytGLvtsy0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4i2xOBJR8M&index=3&list=PL3YPwDXT3Pk0yQftOq2WlymgcGUTEMB5g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npu_TGv3DYU&list=PL9O1jvDYep9DRLzwWgNQdgs9hL4XtiZ14


12

Hollywood score.12 Since the 1980s, synthesizers have enabled novice musicians to

singlehandedly write, perform, produce, mix, and record film scores despite their lack

of classical training in orchestral writing. Drawing upon harmonic simplicity taken

from pop and new age music, the minimalistic rhythmic repetitions heard in electronic

dance music (EDM13, synthpop, techno, house, etc.), as well as heavy Metal,

progressive rock, Hip-Hop, and now dubstep, Zimmer and his co-collaborators have

“cultivated a hybrid electronic-orchestral aesthetic that uses a range of analog and

digital oscillators, filters, and amplifiers to twist and augment solo instrument samples

into a synthesized whole.”14

In the early 1990s, Zimmer and company set the precedent for action film

scoring in such scores as Backdraft (1991), Crimson Tide (1995), and The Rock (1996)

with their extensive utilization of synthesizers and drum machines, minimalistic

ostinati, and electronically augmented acoustic, orchestral forces which continue to

permeate his “personal” style, albeit less melodically motivated, as evident in his

scores to The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), and Interstellar (2014). This

style is often imitated by countless other composers in the scoring of action films as

heard in the Transformers series scored by Steve Jablonsky (b. 1970), four of the

seven Fast and the Furious scores by Bryan Tyler (b. 1972), Tron: Legacy (2010)

scored by French EDM duo Daft Punk, and recently Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

12 Cooke. A History of Film Music. 467-477. 13 Acronym for Electronic Dance Music. 14 Benjamin Wright, Danijela Kulezic-Wilson, and Randolph Jordan, "Sculptural Dissonance: Hans

Zimmer and the Composer as Engineer," Sounding Out, July 10, 2014, section goes here, accessed July

09, 2016, https://soundstudies.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/sculptural-dissonance-hans-zimmer-and-the-

composer-as-engineer/?iframe=true&preview=true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIcUxfzy8_U&index=12&list=PLczFyaI8DEzibJOOuJKgauvQ5o0DnkkyE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLDcbicHh2s&list=PLczFyaI8DEzj378Do6Zk49dCO4_OQIFxu&index=9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV1767i8X4Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9pYjnh3a08&index=17&list=PLFA8BC10FB73B2477

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLdFNLH-xQM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yGboYlPwyw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8rfPZeUmlc&list=PL1hzAXm9t98qmjAYohHKBxMYmmMo8u_uv&index=10


13

scored by Tom Holkenborg (b. 1967) often referred to by his stage name of Junkie

XL. This aesthetic has been met with a great deal of criticism by critics and industry

professionals. Some question the artistic integrity of such scores, many of which are a

product of multiple ghostwriters, orchestrators, and arrangers “who really [write] the

score” anonymously under a particular composer’s moniker as pointed out by Oscar-

winning (traditionalist) composer David Raksin (1912-2004) in David Morgan’s

Knowing the Score. 15 Others have criticized Zimmer and company’s apparent “self-

plagiarism16,” to the point where “most [action] movie scores sound the same.”17All

the original scores of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, draw from both schools of

thought. There is an explicit use of leitmotifs for various characters, even if some of

these melodic ideas themselves are not reused consistently throughout the franchise.

These ideas can be manipulated in order to address the narrative demands of a

particular scene, such as a minor-keyed somber variation to convey a character’s

hopelessness or defeat, a fragmented incarnation capturing a character’s movements

within a frenetic action of a chase sequence or fight scene, or a purposefully kitsch

rendition of an otherwise sonorous, lofty theme meant to elicit a humorous, perhaps

tongue-in-cheek, mood.

While the topic of musical functionality amongst comic book movies may

seem to be an incredibly broad topic considering the breadth of such properties in the

15 David Raksin, "End Titles," in Knowing the Score: Film Composers Talk about the Art, Craft, Blood,

Sweat, and Tears of Writing Music for Cinema, comp. David Morgan, 1st ed. (New York: Harper

Entertainment, 2000). 93. 16J. Bryan Lowder, "Is Hans Zimmer, Movie Composer Extraordinaire, Repeating Himself?," Slate

Magazine, November 05, 2013, section goes here, accessed July 09, 2016,

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/11/05/hans_zimmer_scores_the_same_does_movie_compo

ser_repeat_himself_audio.html. 17 Raksin, "End Titles," in Knowing the Score. 96.


14

superhero film genre, this study will only concern itself music associated with and

appearing in the twelve films taking place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as

produced by Walt Disney Studios under the Marvel Studios moniker. These

productions are limited to the following list of films:

1. Iron Man (2008) – Music by Ramin Djawadi

2. The Incredible Hulk (2008) – Music by Craig Armstrong

3. Iron Man 2 (2010) – Music by John Debney

4. Thor (2011) – Music by Patrick Doyle

5. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – Music by Alan Silvestri

6. The Avengers (2012) – Music by Alan Silvestri

7. Iron Man 3 (2013) – Music by Brian Tyler

8. Thor: The Dark World (2013) – Music by Brian Tyler

9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) – Music by Henry Jackman

10. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – Music by Tyler Bates

11. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – Music by Danny Elfman & Brian Tyler

12. Ant-Man (2015) – Music by Christophe Beck

13. Captain America: Civil War (2016) – Music by Henry Jackman

Literature review

If one was to take interest in film music fifty years ago they would be

challenged to find print sources pertaining to criticism, analysis, or history of the art

form. Unlike academia’s wide embrace of Western art music or world musics, film

music was (and still is to some extent) viewed as somewhat of a bastardized art. Igor

Stravinsky’s sentiments on writing music for films are made quite clear in a 1946

essay on the subject in which he voices his discontent with “film people” [filmmakers]

and their “mistaken notion that music, in ‘helping’ and ‘explaining’ the cinematic

shadow-play, could be regarded under artistic considerations. It cannot be.”18 Though

numerous prominent twentieth-century composers in the Western canon including

18 Igor Stravinsky, “Part I: Igor Stravinsky on Film Music." The Film Music Society. October 10, 2003.

Accessed October 15, 2014.


15

Sergei Prokofiev, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Aaron Copland embraced the

medium, critics and academics outside of the industry19 were less inclined to consider

film scoring as an art unto itself with its own conventions and functions separate from

Eduard Hanslick’s notions of absolute music.20 “Hollywood composers,” as Emilio

Audissino writes in John Williams’ Film Music: Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost

Ark and the Return of the Classical Hollywood Musical Style, “[are] often attacked

and blamed for their lack of originality and for over-popularizing art music in their

compositions.”21 The entire eighth chapter of Audissino’s book is dedicated to the

criticisms held against John Williams’ lucrative career as a film composer and the

nature of his music, yet such sentiments shed light into prejudices held against “movie

music.” Though film scoring incorporates various practical ideas taken from the

Western canon, music’s function in film differs from the conventions of academic

music written for the concert hall.

In order to greater understand musical functionality within films, one must

familiarize themself with seminal works of film music scholarship. Such works offer

not only the history, theory, and criticism of music written for Hollywood, but also

introduce topics pertaining to the motion picture industry over all. Royal S. Brown’s

Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music (1994) provides a thorough

introduction to film music theory. The author Brown, taking lead from Claudia

Gorbman, contends that music in film is “dramatically motivated” in order to

19 The film scoring industry often colloquially referred to as “The Business” by industry professionals. 20 Absolute music – “Music for the sake of music.” 21 Audissino. John Williams's Film Music. 134.


16

“heighten the significant moments” – to impact the audiences’ emotional investment.22

These “significant moments,” writes Brown “often reveal themselves within a

narrative structure,” ergo, the type of music associated with these narrative phenomena

are coined by the author as “narrative film music.”23 The first chapter functions as a

literature review in its own right, drawing from previously established theoretical

models established in film music scholarship as well as literary theory. Apart from his

efforts to examine film music’s functional conventions, Brown makes a point to

explicitly recount “the musical properties of the films score and its relation to so-

called classical music” and the “nature and significance of diegetic source or source

music in the cinema.”24 The book’s only shortcoming is the author’s apparent bias for

Classical Hollywood era films from the late 1930s through the 1960s, whereas this

into the Marvel Cinematic Universe of the twenty-first century draws from filmic

conventions introduced in the post-Vietnam War “New Hollywood” era exemplified

by the popular cinematic spectacles of Steven Spielberg (Jaws) and George Lucas

(Star Wars). 25

Though Brown places emphasis on Hollywood classicism, other authors have

(thankfully) successfully covered film music theory and criticism in contemporary

contexts. Three such publications include Mervyn Cooke’s A History of Film Music

(2012),26 Richard Davis’ Complete Guide to Film Scoring (1999),27 and Hearing the

22 Royal S Brown, Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music. (Berkeley, CA: University of

California Press, 1994). 15. 23Ibid. 24 Ibid. 37 25 Cooke. A History of Film Music. 455. 26 Ibid 27 Richard Davis. Complete Guide to Film Scoring: The Art and Business of Writing Music for Movies

and TV. (1st ed. Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 1999).


17

Movies: Music and Sound in Film History (2010) co-authored by James Buhler, David

Neumeyer, and Rob Deemer.28 All three texts offer historical insight into film music

as well as concise overviews concerning the business of film scoring, commonly

practiced conventions, the function and methodology behind using source music, and

copious anecdotes from prestigious composers and filmmakers. Whereas Brown’s

“Overtones…” is saturated with philosophical approaches focusing predominantly on

theory, these aforementioned sources forsake academic jargon, and present clearly

formulated methodological ideas while still familiarizing the reader with practices in

film making and function of musical underscore. Davis’ book is the least lengthy;

often opting to solidify his assertions with quotes from film composers, and the later

portion of the book includes interviews with numerous film composers some of whom

(including Alan Silvestri and Danny Elfman) have penned music for comic book-

oriented films covered in this study. Cooke’s “History” book focuses primarily on the

topic’s history, linearly tracing film music’s emergence in silent cinema through

conventions associated with the modern era. Of particular importance to this thesis’

topic are the book’s final three chapters covering “Popular music in the cinema”

(Chapter 10), “Classical music in the cinema” (Ch. 11), and “State of the art: film

music since the New Hollywood” (Ch. 12), the latter of which places emphasis on

practices and methodology of music associated with Hollywood blockbuster

franchises and the globalization of popular culture. The Buhler text is particularly

useful in its proposed methodologies for analyzing the relationships between drama

28 James Buhler and David Neumeyer. Hearing the Movies: Music and Sound in Film History. (New

York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010).


18

and sound. Hearing the Movies provides multiple approaches in how to present film

music analysis including copious diagrams, musical examples, and incredibly

thorough shot-by-shot analysis whilst tying in narratology and film aesthetics in order

to demonstrate the how/why/when such examples “work” within the confines of the

cinema.

As music theorists by profession, Buhler and Neumeyer are able to present

ideas of harmony and musical form correlating to narrative devices and visual

elements. Both individuals’ efforts in film music scholarship have a profound impact

on the way I listen to film scores and watch films, and their numerous essays on the

subject introduce pertinent ancillary ideas from which one can draw from to present

their own analyses. Such essays include “Diegetic/Non-Diegetic: A Theoretical

Model”29 and “Tonal Design and Narrative In Film Music: Bernard Herrmann's A

Portrait Of Hitch and The Trouble With Harry”30 both by David Neumeyer, as well as

“The non-diegetic fallacy: film, music, and narrative space” by Ben Winters31. These

essays devise ideas in which music’s function in a film’s narrative can transcend its

diegetic and non-diegetic classifications. In film, diegetic sounds are perceived by

characters on screen while non-diegetic sounds are perceived only by the audience.

The “Diegetic/Non-Diegetic” article is particularly useful in its efforts to relate

musical diegesis to narratology. Neumeyer, quoting Claudia Gorbman, notes: "Once

29 David Neumeyer, “Diegetic/nondiegetic: A Theoretical Model,” Music and the Moving Image 2

(2009): 26–39. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/musimoviimag.2.1.0026. 30 Neumeyer, "Tonal Design and Narrative In Film Music: Bernard Herrmann's A Portrait Of Hitch and

The Trouble With Harry.” 87-123.

https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/3563/NeumeyerTonalDesignV19.pdf?sequen

ce=1&isAllowed=y 31 Ben Winters, “The non-diegetic fallacy: film, music, and narrative space,” Music & Letters 91

(2010): 224–244. Accessed November 2, 2015. http://oro.open.ac.uk/29647/2/15A73DFF.pdf


19

we understand the flexibility that music enjoys with respect to the film's diegesis, we

begin to recognize how many different kinds of functions it can have: temporal,

spatial, dramatic, structural, denotative, connotative - both in the diachronic flow of a

film and at various interpretive levels simultaneously."32 Neumeyer correlates

Gorban’s ideas to the proposed “fantastical gap,”33 or "the border region [that] is a

transformative space, a superposition, a transition between stable states.…

[M]ovement through the gap between diegetic and non-diegetic … takes on great

narrative and experiential import. These moments do not take place randomly; they are

important moments of revelation, of symbolism, and of emotional engagement within

the film and without.”34 Ways in which I will apply these assertions will be further

covered in the methodology section below.

At the time of this writing there are relatively few score-specific publications

(studies into individual film scores); however, the ones that do exist are incredibly

useful. Such print sources as Doug Adams’ comprehensive guide to The Music of The

Lord of the Rings Films (2010)35 and Janet K. Halfyard’s Danny Elfman’s Batman: A

Film Score Guide (2004).36 Adams’ work is a catalogue of the numerous leitmotifs

Howard Shore composed for The Lord of the Rings trilogy covering the orchestration,

narrative functions, and presentation within the films. Much like in Neumeyer’s

Hearing the Movies, Adams discusses ways in which instrumental timbres in film

32 David Neumeyer, “Diegetic/nondiegetic: A Theoretical Model,” 30. 33 Ibid. 34 Ibid 35 Doug Adams, The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films: A Comprehensive Account of Howard

Shore's Scores, (Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Music, 2010). 36 Janet K Halfyard, Danny Elfman's Batman: A Film Score Guide. 1st ed. (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow

Press, 2004).


20

scores can convey narrative devises via the instrumental “connotations inherited from

opera, operetta, melodrama, program music, and so forth.”37 For example, the musical

identity for the hobbits and their pastoral, rustic Shire home is often played on the

penny whistle which carries connotations to the folk musics associated with Gaelic

and Celtic traditions. Halfyard’s Danny Elfman’s Batman: A Film Score Guide

provides a thorough analysis into Danny Elfman’s score for Tim Burton’s Batman

(1989) including a biographical overview of the composer (up until 2004), his

compositional approach, aesthetic quality of the music, recounts of the score’s

production and an in-depth case study into the score relative to the film. Though

Batman is a property of Warner Bros’ DC Comics rather than Marvel, this guide (and

other books in the series) presents unprecedented commentary on an individual film

score and, when considering that Elfman has “scored more comic book films scores

than any other Hollywood composer,”38 the material is essential in approaching any

study into superhero/comic book film music. This author’s inquiry for academic

research papers, theses, and dissertations relating specifically to superhero film music

yielded few reputable (let alone competent) results. The sole doctoral dissertation

bearing any usable information relative to the topic is Matthew David Young’s

Musical Topics in the Comic Book Superhero Film Genre submitted at the University

of Texas at Austin in 2013. 39 Young covers music featured in the first slate of MCU

37 Buhler and Neumeyer, Hearing the Movies: Music and Sound in Film History. 66. 38 Halfyard, Danny Elfman's Batman: A Film Score Guide, 23. 39 Matthew Young, “Musical Topics in the Comic Book Superhero Genre,” (PhD diss., University of

Texas at Austin, 2013).


21

films ranging from Iron Man to the first Avengers, yet largely ignores the narrative

applications of source music as discussed in this study.

As mentioned before, the majority of these scholarly and critical sources make

a point to introduce/utilize film studies terminology. Due to this, an extensive

bibliography of film studies books would be superfluous and the recent nature of the

MCU films covered (2008 – 2015) leaves the franchise absent from a majority of the

existing literature. Furthermore, a considerable number of the journal compilations

covering superhero films focus on sociological, philosophical, and political topics are

inapplicable to this predominantly music-oriented thesis. Some understanding was

needed of the superhero / comic book genre, as the musical analysis herein correlates

to observable trends in the genre and iconic characters taken from the pages of Marvel

Comics. The two sources of such included Sean Howe’s Marvel Comics: The Untold

Story (2012)40 and Liam Burke’s The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring

Modern Hollywood’s Leading Genre (2015).41 Neither publication features any

musical commentary, yet these texts do offer valuable insights into the genre on both

page and screen. Howe’s book recounts the founding of the Marvel Comics brand as

well as a history of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s42 most prominent superhero characters.

Burke’s books serves as a historical overview of the genre and the “state of the art” as

it currently stands in regards to aesthetics and adaptation. Current news sources such

40 Sean Howe, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. 1st ed. (New York: Harper, 2012). 41 Liam Burke, The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood's Leading Genre, 1st

ed. (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2015). 42 Stan Lee (b. 1922) and Jack Kirby (1917-1994) are the credited creators of such popular Marvel

characters as Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible

Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, and others. As an “in-joke” every MCU film features a Stan Lee cameo.


22

as Variety, Time, and Rolling Stone provide current updates and critical responses to

films while The Wall Street Journal and Forbes cover the finance / marketing of the

film business. Official statements from Marvel Studios concerning films are often

delivered via the company’s website. Some of these sources cover music related topics

including composer interviews and album reviews. Film reviews themselves often

mention the execution of the music as well.

Topic Overview / Methodology

This survey intends to address musical factors such as harmony, melody, and

orchestration with piano reductions taken from aural transcriptions from the original

soundtrack albums. Orchestration examples will be indicated by notes in the score.

Harmonic attributes will be presented in lead-sheet letter names rather than Roman

numerals as a majority of the musical ideas covered lack traditional harmonic motion

and progressions as observed in the Common Practice period. Though initially devoid

of explicit melodic references between films, the MCU does maintain a sense

connective musical fabric. Upon further examination, patterns eventually emerged

upon further listening of the scores separated from their respective films; all of which

received multiple, thorough viewings. This in-depth study into the musical fabric of

the Marvel Cinematic Universe will explore the ways in which this particular film

franchise exhibits musical continuity despite lacking strict adherence to the historical

practice of utilizing leitmotifs as a connective narrative component.

Through a combination of film theory/film music theory, and thorough musical

analysis, one can contend that while the concept of maintaining musical continuity in


23

film series via shared leitmotifs has narrative (and extra-narrative) pertinence,

particular narrative devices and musical phenomena can justify a film franchise’s

inexplicit cohesive musical thread(s) as evident in the films featuring Iron Man,

Captain America, and the Avengers. Such musical components include melodic

contour, harmonic content, intervallic content, and extra-narratively addressed musical

phenomena. It is the goal of the following study to disclose ways in which, despite a

non-unified reutilization of outright note-for-note thematic restatements of preceding

leitmotivic ideas, comparative melodic contours some heroes’ or heroic groups’

unifying musical facets begin to emerge. This study concerns itself with the major

recurring heroes, Iron Man, Captain America, as well as melodic ideas associated with

the Avengers. Melodic ideas for Thor and the Hulk will be discussed briefly, yet are

not the focus of this particular study.


24

CHAPTER 2

MELODIC LEITMOTIFS OF THE AVENGERS

The music of Iron Man / Tony Stark

As in the Marvel comic books, Tony Stark is portrayed in the MCU as a, self-

described, “Genius-Billionaire-Playboy-Philanthropist;”43 undeniably intelligent and

tech savvy, yet at times arrogant and self-absorbed by his own fame. While Stark has

no inherent superhuman abilities, his self-made Iron Man suit grants enhanced

strength, the ability to fly at supersonic speeds, as well as protection from the harshest

elements (environments and foes). His strong personality and reckless behavior,

conveyed with sardonic wit by Robert Downey Jr. in all three Iron Man films and both

Avengers features (and in Captain America: Civil War), often leads to ideological

conflicts with his fellow Avengers, especially the more humble, idealistic Captain

America/Steve Rogers (as discussed later in this chapter). Despite his many flaws,

including but not limited to bouts of alcoholism as seen in Iron Man 2 and PTSD

following events in The Avengers, Stark’s feeling of self-obligation to protect the

innocent as an atonement for his former “sins” as a technological arms dealer are truly

noble. In multiple instances in the Avengers films, Iron Man values his teammates’

lives and humanity’s greater good above his own life.

Iron Man (2008) – Music by Ramin Djawadi

For the first Iron Man film, Ramin Djawadi wrote two musical ideas for Iron

Man/Tony Stark. The first is a jagged, sixteenth note riff often accompanying bouts of

43 Iron Man. Dir. Jon Favreau. 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVyoXimCrdQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVyoXimCrdQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw04NfoYKB8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw04NfoYKB8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41PoLfHfPXc

https://youtu.be/dd7jTv-aY6s?t=1m5s

https://youtu.be/PGMQSnWNTbw?t=14s


25

action and sequences of heightened tension. This syncopated rhythm played by guitars

and lower strings is often deployed over a typical rock beat in common (4/4) time (see

Example 3.2a). The other, more melodic idea, represents the inner heroism of Iron

Man which, in the first film, Tony does not realize himself until the film’s conclusion.

This theme (see Example 3.2b) goes through multiple incarnations along Stark’s

personal journey in becoming Iron Man, ranging from its initial bold statement in

lower brass accompanying Stark’s building of the first iteration of his Iron Man suit,

and later receives soaring statements in the film’s flying sequences. Iron Man marked

Djawadi’s first major film credit as primary composer. Some aesthetic ideas explored

by the German-born composer of German/Iranian heritage in the first score in the

MCU were revisited by Djawadi in later projects as evident in the orchestral rock

accompanying the (literal) heavy metal of gigantic monster-fighting robots in the

special effects extravaganza Pacific Rim (2013) as well as the restrained heroism in

the face of turmoil as heard in the HBO television series Game of Thrones.

Example 3. Djawadi: “Themes” from Iron Man (2008)44


https://youtu.be/-Haoo-VVJh4?t=1m1s

https://youtu.be/-Haoo-VVJh4?t=1m1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vU7XqToZso&list=PL4vafkre8JSN48VJmevS6Db6sl7LKrTbU

https://youtu.be/xI6431BSyYE?t=50s


26

Both of Djawadi’s central thematic ideas for Iron Man occupy the intervallic

range of a perfect fourth (P4th). In doing so, the composer draws direct connections to

other pre-existing musical ideas associated with heroism and aspects of rock music,

both associated with Iron Man/Tony Stark’s persona. Composers throughout history

have used “leaps” of perfect fourths, perfect fifths (P5s), and octaves to convey

heroism. The primary theme initially presented in the cellos and basses in the first

movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E♭ major, the “Eroica”45 contains an

upward leap of a P4th between its fourth and fifth notes from B♭ to E♭(see Example

4.3a) The “horn call” leitmotif associated with Siegfried, the central hero of Wagner’s

last two operas in his four-part Ring cycle begins with an ascending perfect fifth (see

Example 4.3b). Williams’ opening titles from both Star Wars and Superman feature a

primary melodic leap of a P5th initially approached by leap of a 4th from a triplet

anacrusis on the dominant (V) scale degree to tonic (I) (see Examples 4.3c & 4.3d).

Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man (taken from the fourth movement of the

composer’s Symphony No. 3) is saturated with P4ths and P5ths; however the influences

of such and other Copland compositions will be further discussed in the following

section focused on Captain America’s associative musical vernacular.

45 Heroic Symphony


27

Example 4. Heroism in music (Beethoven, Wagner, and Williams)

46

Iron Man 2 (2010) – Music by John Debney

For Iron Man 2, neither Djawadi nor his thematic material returned. Instead,

the scoring duties fell on John Debney, long-time collaborator of Jon Favreau, director

of the first Iron Man who also returned to direct the 2010 sequel. Whereas Djawadi is

a disciple of Zimmer, which shows in his work, Debney’s work is closer to that of

Williams, Goldsmith, and Elfman. The composer’s versatility is exemplified in the

swashbuckling grandeur of the box office failure Cutthroat Island (1996), the holiday

whimsy of Elf (2004), the religious somber of The Passion of the Christ (2005), and



28

his highly melodic score for the recent live-action adaptation of Disney’s The Jungle

Book (2016; also directed by Iron Man director Jon Favreau). Debney saw the sequel’s

darker story and continuing character development as a means to device a new

melodic idea for Tony Stark/Iron Man. The composer stated in an interview with

Metal Insider:

The score to this film is quite different in many ways from the last score. This

score while employing much guitar and more contemporary elements, it is also much

bigger and darker in tone and scope. This film has a much deeper story arc to it than

the first, and I think fans will be quite pleased by both the film and the score.47

While the first Iron Man serves as an origin story for the character, the sequel

sees Tony Stark coming to terms with the obligatory responsibilities that come with

being a “superhero,” namely learning to forego his extravagant, self-described playboy

lifestyle. As Stark’s and Iron Man’s personal journey grows in scope, so does his

representative musical leitmotif. Whereas Djawadi’s musical ideas occupy a smaller

intervallic range of a perfect fourth, Debney’s own Iron Man 2 “theme” spans the

range of an entire octave and features larger melodic leaps within the confines of its

eight-bar structure. The theme (see Example 5) receives its first full statement in the

film’s first large-scale action sequence in Monaco, Italy where Stark, driving

competitively in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, is forced to spring into action after

being ambushed mid-race by the film’s central villain Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke).

In terms of melodic structure, it bears a great deal of resemblance to the octave

47 Zach Shaw. "Iron Man 2 Composer John Debney Talks Film Scoring, Working With Tom Morello."

Metal Insider. Metal Insider. March 18, 2010. Accessed March 11, 2016.

http://www.metalinsider.net/interviews/iron-man-2-composer-john-debney-talks-film-scoring-working-

with-tom-morello.

https://youtu.be/JYHC_gKBoUc?t=5m23s


29

spanning opening bars of Williams’ Superman march. Again, observe the usage of

perfect intervallic leaps characteristic in musical heroism.

Example 5. Debney: “Iron Man heroism” theme from Iron Man 2 (2010)

As with Djawadi’s “heroic” theme, Debney’s counterpart receives sparse

renditions over the course of the film, mirroring the restrained heroic nature of the

film’s titular character. In the first film, Stark develops the small electromagnetic

power source which both powers the Iron Man armor and prevents shrapnel received

in Tony’s kidnapping (as seen in the opening to the first film) from piercing his heart.

This miniature (atomic) fusion generator saved Stark’s life twice and gave him a new

one as Iron Man; however, in the sequel Stark discovers that the radioactive nature of

the device is slowly poisoning his blood which will ultimately kill him unless replaced

by a safer, more advanced fuel source. Fearing others will discover his weakness,

Stark fully delves into his celebrity public image as the “invincible” Iron Man, in order

to distract both the world and himself from his inner battle with mortality. Even when

not in the Iron Man suit, Stark wears his own self-imposed “mask” of what he truly is:

hopeless, weak, and ultimately afraid; he’s forgotten what it means to be a hero. This

bout of pseudo-heroism is addressed in the absence of Debney’s “heroic” identity for

Iron Man throughout plot’s middle act amid Stark’s journey of self-(re)discovery.

Debney also wrote material for other characters who have since made multiple


30

appearances in the MCU such as Black Widow and War Machine. None of the

musical ideas are reused in their subsequent film appearances.

Iron Man/Tony Stark in The Avengers (2012) – Music by Alan Silvestri

Following suit with the preceding Iron Man films, Alan Silvestri opted to not

reuse any previous music associated with Iron Man in terms of melodic content nor

was any of Debeny’s Black Widow material reutilized for the character’s more

prominent role. In an interview with Film Music Magazine, the composer claims that

The Avengers sees Tony Stark finally grasping the “bigger picture” to understand his

role as not only a hero, but as a component of a team serving a purpose greater than

themselves. Silvestri’s theme for Iron Man/Tony Stark is associated with the

character’s moments of accomplishment in the film. It first accompanies Iron Man’s

flight as the new Stark Tower illuminates the New York City skyline for the first time

(see Example 6).

Example 6. Silvestri: "Iron Man theme" from The Avengers (2012)48

It reappears in motive fragments in tandem with Silvestri’s Captain America theme

(discussed later in the chapter) as the two heroes save the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier

flying fortress. Before it plummets to earth it receives a full statement following

48 Author’s personal

https://youtu.be/3t7F-Gkwbus?t=25s


31

Stark’s inspiring speech which rallies the heroes to battle to avenge the death of

recurring character, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). Like Debney’s Iron Man 2

theme, Silvestri’s Iron Man idea spans the octave and features intervallic leaps of

ascending P4th and P5ths. In the grand musical scheme of the MCU, Silvestri’s

thematic material for the Avengers – that is, the whole team itself – proved far more

enduring in its influence on subsequent film scores in the series along with his

material for Captain America (discussed later in this chapter).

Leveling the playing field: Iron Man 3 (2013) and Iron Man / Tony Stark in

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – Music by Brian Tyler

Iron Man 3 is the first film of the MCU’s “Phase Two,” which as previously

mentioned in Chapter 1, recounts the events between the two (currently released)

Avengers films. In his selfless act(s) of saving the world at the end of the previous

film, Stark finally becomes a “true hero who now seeks to protect the world out of a

sense of moral duty to a world now looking to Iron Man as beacon of hope. Apart

from staying true to his “billionaire, inventor, playboy, wise cracking” persona, in a

sense he no longer views the world as revolving around him. Stark realizes that the

world needs what Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers represent in order to continue

revolving.

No other composers’ previous melodic material associated with the character is

revitalized, as Stark is no longer the same person he was at the beginning of his

“journey.” Brian Tyler crafts the first outwardly heroic identity for the character

which, in the composer’s own words, “[speaks] to the superhero nature of what Iron


32

Man is as opposed to merely the attitude of Tony Stark49” as was the case in the

previous films’ scores. Because “the character is in such a different place than he was

in those first two movies,” Tyler approached the score from a “more epic thematic

angle” at the behest of the filmmakers in order to address the “sense that now there’s

so much more at stake in this post-Avengers world.” Furthermore, the composer notes

that Marvel specifically asked for a “very thematic, melodic score that was somewhat

of a throwback to earlier scores” such as Williams’ Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost

Ark; archetypical models of the “hum-able,” (memorable) “classic type of film music

sound” fit for a “legitimate,” yet still somewhat “reluctant” hero50. While not as

diverse in leitmotivic content, nor as technically demanding as Williams’ late 1970’s

to mid-1980’s era action-adventure/fantasy scores, as Williams did for Indiana Jones

in Raiders, Tyler gives Iron Man two distinct, yet complimentary heroic eight-bar

melodic ideas, both of which get multiple full statements throughout the score.

The first idea, like Debney and Silvestri’s “Iron Man” ideas, spans an entire

octave; however, unlike those other ideas primarily based on alternating perfect

intervals, the newer theme utilizes increased intervallic variety to give it a melodic

“hook.” With the idea’s melodic contour, the composer is able to musically convey

Iron Man “reaching” for a goal (first five notes) only to fall in the fray (landing on the

subdominant scale degree), before another heroic “push” (repetition of first four notes)

to soar victoriously over adversity at the octave above the initial starting pitch (see

49 Allison Bigelow, "Interview: Composer Brian Tyler Ushers in Epic New Sound for 'Iron Man 3'"

Medium, May 02, 2013, section goes here, accessed July 09, 2016,

https://filmschoolrejects.com/interview-composer-brian-tyler-ushers-in-epic-new-sound-for-iron-man-

3-f0e3ea7d73b1#.2j1kw3kot. 50 Ibid


33

Example 7a). The second idea (see Example 7b) begins with the same ascending

motive, yet quickly deviates into a new melody suggesting Iron Man rising amongst

the chaos in attempt to regain his footing or composure (deviating from the first idea’s

harmonic repetition) before “revving up” to charge headlong into the conflict upon a

restatement of the first melodic idea.

Example 7. Tyler: “Theme” from Iron Man 3 (2013)

When Tyler initially returned to score Avengers: Age of Ultron, he made a point to

quote his own Iron Man 3 theme where appropriate, although in fragmented versions

dispersed amongst the action material as Djawadi and Silvestri chose to do for the

character. The theme does receive one full statement by Danny Elfman who was

brought onto help complete the film’s score on the former composer’s behalf for

undisclosed reasons. The sparse re-use of said theme addresses Stark, yet again, falling

short of his heroic ideals as he is forced to answer for the creation of a sentient

worldwide protection system, Ultron, which in the fashion of Frankenstein’s monster,

turns against its, or rather “his” creators in malice. Iron Man’s musical relationships to

the Avengers’ leitmotivic ideas will later be discussed in Chapter 4.

https://youtu.be/SzJ7WPBddIU?t=1m3s

https://youtu.be/Ty74G0NjQ8M?t=2m35s


34

At first glance and listen, none of the presented Iron Man “themes” share any

direct resemblance. All themes lack a consistent range, pitch class, and rhythm. When

comparing them side-by-side, however, patterns begin to emerge in melodic contour

and intervallic content. All of the Iron Man leitmotifs feature numerous minor thirds

(m3rds) either descending or ascending and all of them contain alternating perfect

fourths (P4ths). The melodic contour(s), though inconsistent in interval exchange, do

feature an up down up down (repeat) motion (see Example 8 below).

Example 8. Iron Man melodic comparisons in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, and Iron Man 3.51

51 Author’s personal transcription(s)


35

The respective composers in question most likely did not intend this; however,

the phenomenon is still observable as evidenced by the chart above. As Iron Man’s

role in the MCU grows, so does the range of the successive leitmotifs as well as pitch

content. Brian Tyler’s copious usage of his Iron Man 3 theme and re-usage in

Avengers: Age of Ultron, in comparison to the sparse usage of other composers’

material, does yield the most intra-narrative connections.

The Music of Captain America/Steve Rogers

Unlike the reluctantly heroic, narcissistic Iron Man/Tony Stark, Captain

America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). In both the comics and MCU, Rogers begins as

“just a kid from Brooklyn” who wants nothing more than to join the US armed

services in WWII. Yet, despite his genuinely good spirit, he is denied service due to

his weak health. Desperate to fight for his country, Rogers willingly submits himself

scientific experimentation in a top-secret super-soldier program at the hands of Prof.

Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who successfully transforms the “scrawny”

weakling into the very image of “maximum human efficiency:” Captain America.

Endowed with “agility, strength, speed, endurance, and reaction time superior to any

Olympic athlete,” Captain America dawns “the red, white and blue,” writes the official

Marvel encyclopedia, to become the “living, breathing symbol of freedom and

liberty.52” Unlike Tony Stark, who initially avoids the responsibilities granted by his

52 Marvel. "Captain America." Marvel: Official Website. Accessed April 1, 2016.

http://marvel.com/characters/8/captain_america.


36

(self-made) powers, Rogers’ humble idealism and yearning for justice make him a

natural-born leader.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Over the course of the events depicted in Captain America: The First Avenger,

Cap learns of the trials and sacrifices that come with leadership, namely after he

witnesses the death of his childhood friend, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) who dies

trying to protect Rogers. Much like Stark over the course of the MCU films, Rogers is

forced to accept that there are ultimately events beyond his control despite all his good

intentions and powers. As opposed to other films in the MCU’s “Phase One” which

are largely straight-forward action films characterized by the first two Iron Man films

and The Incredible Hulk (2008), and the action-adventure/fantasy of Thor (2011), the

first Captain America film is an ode to period action-adventure films of yesteryear;

especially Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Both Raiders and Captain America center

around unlikely heroes who unsuspectingly have the fate of the world thrust into their

hands on their quests to prevent Nazi forces from harnessing uncontainable, divine

power. For Indiana Jones this power is the “wrath of God” contained in the biblical

lost Ark of the Covenant53, while for Captain America, the Tesseract is an object of

otherworldly power, later revealed in The Avengers to be an artifact of Asgard, Thor’s

home in both the MCU and Norse mythology.

53 As a possible “nod” to plot elements seen in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Red Skull mentions “the

Führer [digging] for trinkets in the desert." Joe Johnston, director of Captain America: The First

Avenger, worked on Raiders as a special effects artist. Coincidentally, Disney, who own Marvel, now

also holds the rights to Indiana Jones as a result of their purchase of George Lucas’ LucasFilm in 2012.


37

Also like Raiders, the first Captain America movie features a straight-forward

“high adventure” score with a bold, heroic theme often presented as a march. Alan

Silvestri aptly provides a score with the necessary orchestral breadth to drive the tense

action sequences as well as address the film’s more character-driven scenes prior to

Rogers’ transformation into the titular hero. Silvestri’s penchant for scoring films

about ordinary people overcoming incredible odds can also be heard in his harrowing,

suspense-filled action scores for such films as the entire Back to the Future trilogy

(1985, 1989, 1990), both Predator films (1987 & 1990), and the swashbuckling The

Mummy Returns (2002), as well as in less fantastical, humanistic works such as

Forrest Gump (1994) and Cast Away (2000). Though Captain America grows into his

role as a fearless, heroic leader, at his core, Steve Rogers remains the kind-hearted

“kid from Brooklyn.” Silvestri crafts a flexible leitmotif capable of capturing both the

unfaltering, inner ideals of Steve Rogers as well as musically embodying the

unrestrained patriotic heroism of Captain America. For the first Captain America, the

composer devised two primary thematic identities for the character. One, the main

“Captain America theme,” is the primary thematic identity for the character first heard

in a brief, restrained quote at the opening of the movie as the camera cuts to a shot of

Captain America’s iconic shield frozen in ice and appears in a fragmented alteration as

Rogers learns that Bucky, his best friend, is shipping off to the European front the

following day. “I should be going,” says Rogers in response to his friend’s surprise

news, upon which the theme plays to address his inert sense of duty and foreshadow

his eventual involvement in the war. Before Rogers becomes Captain America, the

fragmented theme serves as a signifier for his greatness to come as Rogers uses his

https://youtu.be/W3OfjAYY4nE?t=1m34s

https://youtu.be/MzqbzDCC5xE?t=52s

https://youtu.be/Fw-QTicPauU?t=35s

https://youtu.be/Fw-QTicPauU?t=35s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WkFlUFBt78&index=3&list=PLsyD8gvnHgF-yFhu1o4ZPmnLWbEFey6Kb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9Dy1p8cN8c

https://youtu.be/z2VSf383kc0?t=8s

https://youtu.be/gj5oWzp3tyU?t=3m13s

https://youtu.be/xLFDmaPcqXg?t=46s


38

intellect to overcome the physical and mental tests in candidacy (boot camp) for the

super-soldier program. The theme receives its first full rendition upon the unveiling of

Captain America following his transformation as the chamber opens up to reveal Steve

Roger’s new muscular form (bars 1-8 of Example 9 on the following page). The other

theme, which Silvestri uses as the bridge in the “Captain America March” over the

film’s end title accompanies the militaristic aspects of the plot and character (bars 9-16

of ex. 9).

Example 9. Silvestri: Themes from Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

As the film progresses, both themes are used congruently as Silvestri wields

them to the action sequences on the screen. The secondary theme has all the

characteristics of secondary thematic ideas John Williams uses in his film-related

marches for both Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark (references abound), whereas

the melody features the same rhythm of the primary heroic theme with new melodic

content that often draws on chromatic medians (discussed in a later chapter).

Like many other film composers seeking to musically address unrestrained

American patriotism, Silvestri turned to Aaron Copland as a model, citing Fanfare for

the Common Man (1942) as an archetypical model of a “heroic [musical] statement”

https://youtu.be/ijrtROGpqJ8?t=27s



https://youtu.be/srnxYb-hbK8?t=2s


39

with “the brass sounding the [bugle] call54” now so associated with patriotic or solemn

events. In comparing Copland’s original fanfare to Silvestri’s own for Captain

America, one can find numerous similarities including intervallic content with copious

P4ths and P5ths, quartal figures spanning minor sevenths (m7ths), and similar melodic

contours of up by leap, down by step, down again as seem in Example 10.

In the words of New York Times music critic Bernard Holland, Copland’s

“Americana” sound is classified by “the intense brightness, the clean spaces of the

melodies hinting of modal folk tunes,” the music of “the common man.” The broadly

spanning melodies heard in Fanfare for the Common Man, the ballets Billy the Kid

(1938), Rodeo (1942), Appalachian Spring (1944), and Copland’s film scores such as

Of Mice and Men (1939), The Red Pony (1949), and The Heiress (1949) are said to

“evoke the openness of the American landscape.55” Silvestri had earlier explored this

musical language in Forrest Gump, however Captain America required Copland’s

tonal language to address the inner spirit of the central character abroad. Example 11

serves as a classic instance of Copland’s triumphant style in the same musical

vernacular as heard in the Orchestral Suite from Appalachian Spring. Though the

ballet recounts a fictional Shaker wedding in Appalachia, the harmonic language

therein has become the Hollywood standard for depicting noble, American heroism.

54 Alan Silvestri, "Interview With Composer Alan Silvestri." Compiled by Daniel Schweiger. Film

Music Magazine, July 14, 2011. Accessed March 15, 2013. http://www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=8199. 55 Rex Levang. "What Makes Copland's Music so "American"?" MPR Music Feature: Copland 10 X 10.

November 2000. Accessed May 07, 2016.

http://music.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/0011_copland/minnmo.shtml.

https://youtu.be/P-Zt4q1Xa8w?t=46s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nevp8aPwaw

https://youtu.be/Z-SbE5ImnNU?t=4m18s


40

Example 10. Copland (a.) and Silvestri (b.) melodic comparisons56

Example 11. Copland: excerpt from Orchestral Suite from Appalachian Spring (1944) 57

56 Author’s personal transcription 57 Aaron Copland, Appalaichian Spring


41

Captain America in The Avengers (2012) – Silvestri crafts consistency

The Avengers saw the first time a composer for a previous MCU film returned

to the property. Alan Silvestri devised a more modern action score for the 2012 film as

opposed to the period adventure of Captain America: The First Avenger the year prior;

however, the composer made the conscious choice to bring his Captain America theme

into the fold. For The Avengers, Silvestri wanted to craft “music that would put all of

these characters together58” rather than focusing on individual heroes. As the film

mostly focuses on entirety of the Avengers team, the leitmotif for Captain America

only receives sparse statements in harmonically altered fragments over shots of

heroism featuring solely that character. Such musical quotes occur when Captain

America engages the film’s main villain, Loki (Thor’s brother assumed dead after the

events in Thor), and as the hero leaps across a chasm in order to help Iron Man restart

a stalled propeller on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. The “militaristic” secondary theme

from the film is not reused, likely due to the lack of any military presence in the film.

“We’re not soldiers,” says Tony Stark at one point.

Regardless of the mitigated usage of the Captain America material in The

Avengers, both themes were reused in subsequent post-Avengers films as musical

cameos rather than supportive material. In Thor: The Dark World (2013), a particular

scene in which Thor frees his brother, Loki, from the dungeons of Asgard (where The

Avengers’ primary villain is punished for his actions in Battle of New York), Loki

taunts Thor by taking the visual forms of various people the now-Avenger knows. One

58 Alan Silvestri and Daniel Schweiger. "Interview with Alan Silvestri." Film Music Magazine, March

1, 2012. Accessed May 07, 2016. http://www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=9475.

https://youtu.be/MVyPcVf2H54?t=4m

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6j0VdQkJPo


42

of the forms Loki assumes is that of Captain America (with Chris Evans reprising the

role) complete with exaggerated overly patriotic mannerisms. The composer for the

film, Brian Tyler, underscores the scene with a light march rendition of Silvestri’s

“Captain America” theme, further forging a sense of thematic continuity begun by the

former Captain America/Avengers composer.

Captain America in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Beyond…

Henry Jackman, like Ramin Djawadi, began his career working in Hans

Zimmer’s studio. As opposed to Alan Silvestri’s romanticized, period romanticism,

Jackman’s musical language addresses the genre shift unseen in other MCU films

focused around one titular character. Such language can also be heard in other comic

book-related film adaptations such as X-Men: First Class (2011), Big Hero 659 (2014),

and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015). Jackman’s musical vernacular in Captain

America: The Winter Soldier (2014) compliments the film’s aesthetic shift from the

Spielberg/Lucas-inspired period action of the first Captain America is suspense filled,

political / espionage thriller in the vein of the Mission: Impossible films, the Jason

Bourne series, or the rebooted James Bond series headlined by Daniel Craig

(beginning with 2005’s Casino Royale). “It’s a realistic, contemporary film that avoids

a lot of fantasy,” said the composer in an interview with Collider, “there’s very little

59 Big Hero 6 is an animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios adapted from the Marvel comic

book of the same name. The futuristic animated world of San FranTokyo

https://youtu.be/9oieI1UOEe4?t=40s


43

nostalgia.60” The lack of “nostalgia” is musically addressed in the sparse references to

the original Silvestri march.

Silvestri’s secondary “military” theme from the first Captain America

reappears under the film’s opening scene as Steve Rogers is seen racing past iconic

Washington D.C. landmarks on a morning run (amidst servicemen dismayed at Cap’s

super-soldier speed). While the musical material serves to address the patriotic essence

of a loyal (super) soldier as he runs through the regional bastion of democracy, such

instance was not at the hand of Henry Jackman. Rather than Jackman arranging a new

iteration of Silvestri’s material, the filmmakers opted to score the scene with a pre-

existing recording taken from Captain America: The First Avenger. The track, titled

“Captain America ‘We Did It’” on the original motion picture soundtrack recording,

corresponds to the titular hero’s muscular reveal--the same scene in which Silvestri’s

main leitmotif receives its first full statement. In film scoring, the process of taking

other film score recordings and placing them into a new film is called tracking. Other

films that have “tracked in” scores from other films such as in Die Hard (1988) where

the ending scene is underscored by material lifted from James Horner’s score to Aliens

(1986). The cue (film scoring vernacular for “track”) does contain a brief statement of

the main “Captain America” theme’s first two bars. Captain America thematic

material is there, albeit serving as brief musical reminder rather than directly

addressing any narrative constructs as Tyler did with the material in Thor: The Dark

World a year prior.

60 Sheila Roberts, "Composer Henry Jackman Talks CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER,

His Influences, WRECK-IT RALPH 2, THE INTERVIEW, and More." Collider. April 01, 2014.

Accessed May 07, 2016. http://collider.com/henry-jackman-captain-america-winter-soldier-interview/.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2E1mLUrBdY


44

The film sees a post-Avengers Captain America/Steve Rogers still adjusting to

life in the modern era after the events in the Battle of New York. While a majority of

the Avengers went their separate ways, Steve Rogers decided to stay with S.H.I.E.L.D.

as a commanding officer now leading secret missions on the organizations behalf to

neutralize international threats. Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson)

also returns as a leader of these black-ops operations under Captain America’s

command. While the film sees Rogers (humorously) attempting to familiarize himself

with the seventy-plus years of pop culture and history he missed whilst frozen in ice

(chronologically between The First Avenger and The Avengers), “Cap” (as he is now

nicknamed by his colleagues) also struggles to maintain his idealist moral compass in

the modern age of international conflicts, where soldiers now fight ideologies as

opposed to countries marked by borders. Of all the MCU films, “The Winter Soldier”

is the most politically aware of current issues drawing plot elements from modern

headlines including the ramifications of unmanned technological warfare and

government initiated covert data collection as divulged by NSA whistleblower Edward

Snowden.

Over the course of the film, Captain America, Black Widow, and new ally Sam

Wilson/the Falcon, are forced to go underground, after an assassination attempt on

Nick Fury. In a twist of fate, the Winter Soldier, Fury’s would-be assassin, is revealed

to be Steve Roger’s former friend Bucky Barnes thought to have fallen to his death in

Captain America: The First Avenger. Amidst their effort to solve the mysteries

surrounding the Winter Soldier, the heroes come to find that S.H.I.E.L.D had been

secretly infiltrated by Hydra (the “Nazi rogue science division” led by the Red Skull in


45

The First Avenger) whose “Project Insight,” is actually a program developed to

remotely annihilate threats (the Avengers) to Hydra’s ambitions of world domination

under the guise of a peacekeeping, data-mining defense system.

As Captain America is forced to unwillingly forsake his convictions regarding

good versus evil (right and wrong), Jackman forsakes the explicitly “heroic” music of

Alan Silvestri’s Captain America material for a less definitive theme as seen in

Example 12. The ambiguous nature of the melody, not heard in full until Captain

America escapes S.H.I.E.L.D’s facility (in “Taking a Stand” on the album), addresses

a superhero who is forced to question his moral absolutes grounded in bygone notions

of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way.” In an organization manipulated by lies

there is no “truth”. When the corrupt hold and abuse power at the expense of the

innocent there is no “justice.” There is no “American Way,” in a world where a

country ambivalently relinquishes its ideals of truth and justice in the name of fear.

Example 12. Jackman: "new Captain America" theme (Taking a Stand) from Captain America: The

Winter Soldier61

While not the most “hummable” theme in the MCU leitmotivic catalogue, Jackman’s

“new Captain America” edifies the morally ambiguous society that is the modern day

United States, where as Alan Silvestri’s Captain America material harkens back to the

country’s bygone ideals. Like Ramin Djawadi’s Iron Man “heroic theme,” it is music



46

for a hero who does not know who he is any more, however in the case of Captain

America, a hero whose foundations are as shattered as those of the country he sought

to serve and protect, a country that was not there waiting for him when he came out of

the ice before The Avengers.

After not re-appearing over the course of “The Winter Soldier” besides in that

film’s opening, Silvestri’s main “Captain America theme” makes a brief appearance at

the end of “Age of Ultron.” In a scene following the Avengers’ victory over Ultron,

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers share a tender moment as the two reminisce on “the

simple life” both of them are missing as a result of their hero work. “You’ll get there

someday.” says Stark, in a rare non-sarcastic moment for the character. “I don’t

know,” says Rogers who proceeds to name of desires like “family” and “stability,” all

notions of which “went in the ice 75 years ago,” referring to the only “love of his life”

from the first film, Agent Peggy Carter (Haley Attwell), now suffering from

Alzheimer’s in her late-80’s as previously seen in Captain America: The Winter

Soldier. The moment is underscored by a plaintive, restrained rendition of the Silvestri

“Captain America theme,” addressing the nostalgia Rogers feels to the life he left

behind in WWII. Though Brian Tyler’s Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 3

material briefly reappeared in the score’s context, none of Henry Jackman’s material

for Captain America returned.

The melodic similarities between Silvestri’s and Jackman’s respective Captain

America leitmotifs will be but briefly discussed as, frankly there are no direct melodic

connections of any sort beyond the intervallic presence of minor sevenths (m7ths) and

minor sixths (m6ths) in the musical vocabulary of both composers (see Example 13).

https://youtu.be/k_3O5q4cEV4?t=1m8s


47

There are some loose similarities in melodic contour between the second phrase of

Silvestri’s secondary “military” idea (Example 13a) and that of Jackman’s melodic

ascent, “drop,” and re-ascent (Example 13b). Without considering the films’

narrative factors, however, few similarities exist in a purely musical context.

Example 13. Captain America melodic content comparisons62

While some similar melodic phenomena can be observed amongst the successive

music for Iron Man and Captain America, such occurrences can only be deduced if

taking into the narrative and extra-narrative factors of the two superheroes. The

following section, however, highlights less convoluted direct connections all of which

are much easier inferred without as in-depth narrative analysis.



48

Post-Avengers Thematic Unity

For Iron Man/Tony Stark, this personal journey involves him finally accepting

his heroic role out of duty as seen in Iron Man 3. For Captain America/Steve Rogers,

the WWII hero is forced to come to terms with a country and a world that forsook the

ideals he set out to defend in the first Captain America. Whereas the thematic

identities for Iron Man and Captain America require scrupulous musical analysis and

intimate understanding of said heroes’ story arcs to decipher their relations, the

MCU’s post-Avengers scores (released after 2012) feature far more apparent,

perceivable leitmotivic unity. As a film, The Avengers serves as the unifying initial

zenith of the MCU in which the pivotal characters (at that particular point in the

series’ chronology) find themselves bound by association or perhaps destiny. Alan

Silvestri’s primary musical idea for The Avengers also serves as its own narrative focal

point of the MCU. The brass-driven theme, which the composer describes as “a

[musical] celebration” of “larger than life heroism63,” initially appears in truncated

iterations as heard over the film’s opening title card and later in restrained passages

amidst the action of the Helicarrier sequence. It is not until the film’s third act in

which the central heroes join forces does Silvestri employ the melody in its eight-bar

entirety. Said sequence frames Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Black

Widow and Hawkeye in a single shot in which Silvestri’s theme musically signifies

“chemicals kind of swirling together, to become something greater than the individual

elements.64”


1, 2012. Accessed May 07, 2016. http://www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=9475. 64 Ibid


49

As the initial Avengers lineup consists of six individual superheroes,

Silvestri’s theme is comprised of six pitches as seen below; said tones in order of

melodic succession being E– B – A – G – F# - C# (see Example 14). The intervallic

content of the melodic idea itself exhibits the hallmarks of heroic film music writing in

the composer’s utilization of the perfect fifth rising from inferred tonic to the

corresponding dominant (E – B in the case below) in the second and sixth measures.

Example 14. Silvestri: Theme from The Avengers (2012)65

Following Silvestri’s lead, subsequent composers in the MCU began to devise

similar melodic ideas drawn from the first three notes of the original Avengers theme.

For Avengers: Age of Ultron, composers Danny Elfman and Brian Tyler made copious

usage of Silvestri’s motif which appears in multiple variations over the course of the

film. The film, like Winter Soldier, also utilizes “tracked-in” selections from

Silvestri’s first Avengers score as heard over the film’s opening sequence featuring the

group of heroes’ siege on a Hydra base and at the film’s conclusion in which the “New

Avengers” are revealed in costume for the first time (see Example 15). Danny Elfman

wrote a new theme for the film, which initially bears little resemblance to Silvestri’s

material, however the later composer uses the first three notes of the original

(Silvestri) Avengers motif in its bridge (as seen in Example 18).



50

Example 15. Elfman:"Heroes / New Avengers" from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)66

For Guardians of the Galaxy, composer Tyler Bates devised a melodically

similar idea for another ragtag team of conflicting personalities brought together out of

necessity to save a world from evil as set amongst the cosmic regions of the MCU

depicted in both Thor films (and to a lesser extent in The Avengers). Described as a

group by Guardians director James Gunn as the MCU’s “Rolling Stones” as opposed

to the Avengers being “The Beatles,67” the group’s individual members begin as

outlaws only to become (anti)heroes over the course of the film.

For the orchestral score, Bates was instructed by the director to craft

“something epic with bold memorable themes,” with some material written before

principle photography even began68. As the Avengers theme contains six notes for six

heroes, Bate’s own theme for the five member team of galactic anti-Avengers

(pictured above from left to right, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Peter Quill/Starlord,

Gamora, and Drax the Destroyer) contains five its first three measures : D – G – B♭–

C – A (see Example 16).

66 Author’s personal transcription 67 Ali Plumb, “James Gunn On Guardians Of The Galaxy's Scope." Empire. January 14, 2014. Accessed

May 07, 2016. http://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/james-gunn-guardians-galaxy-scope/. 68 Melinda Newman, "Interview: Tyler Bates on the Guardians of the Galaxy Score." HitFix. August 01,

2014. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.hitfix.com/news/interview-tyler-bates-on-the-relief-of-

finishing-the-guardians-of-the-galaxy-score.


51

Example 16. Bates: “Guardians Theme” from Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)69

Unlike most other leitmotifs in the MCU which occupy eight-measure phrases,

the main Guardians thematic idea is only six. Like other themes in the post-Avengers

MCU, however, the melodic contour exhibits the same accent by perfect fifth (P5th)

resolved down by whole step (M2nd) observable in the motif’s ascending figure its first

measure. Bates slightly deviates from Silvestri’s model by adding a note between

appoggiatura (approached by leap, resolved by step) creating an arpeggiated minor

triad from tonic (^1), to submediant (^♭3), to dominant (^5) resolving, like the

Avengers theme, by major second (M2nd) to the subdominant (^4). The exact same

figure can be heard in Christophe Beck’s “Theme from Ant-Man” written for the 2015

film of the same name.

Much like the Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is a

former convict turned reluctant hero unwittingly thrust into a potentially world-ending

conflict. Powered by advanced atomic technology, the Ant-Man suit as developed by

Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), grants its wearer with superhuman speed and strength

upon shrinking down to the size of an insect. Akin to The Winter Soldier deviating

from the aesthetic tone of its nostalgic predecessor, Ant-Man is a heist film in which

the titular character is tasked to infiltrate a corrupt tech conglomerate before the Ant-



52

Man suit technology is exploited for nefarious purposes. Christophe Beck’s primary

heroic musical idea for the film is characterized by its septuple meter (7/8 in which

eight notes are grouped in successive 2+2+3 beat divisions). Beck builds his theme

around both major and minor third (M3rd/m3rd) relationships whereas the opening

minor third imitates the vocalizations school children use to taunt their pears

(phonetically: “NaNa-NaNa-Boo-Boo”), perhaps musically proclaiming “you can’t

catch me;” an apt philosophy for an ex-con turned superhero attempting to elude

capture in a grand heist. The composer cited the film’s adherence to the heist genre’s

tropes (i.e. “elaborate planning sequences,” narrow escapes, and training sequences)

allowed Beck to write a “funky and jazzy and groovy70” score uncommon for a

superhero film; an idea previously explored in Michael Giacchino’s score to

Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles (2005). Ant-Man’s heroics come to the musical

forefront in the thematic idea’s final seven measures in which the melody expands to

its highest range before Beck alludes to Alan Silvestri’s Avenger theme (again, guised

by the triadic arppegiation resolving to the [implied] subdominant (IV) scale degree

(^2) as observed below (see Example 16).

Example 17. Beck: "Theme from Ant-Man"71

70 Sheila Roberts. "Composer Christophe Beck Talks ANT-MAN, SISTERS and THE PEANUTS

MOVIE." Collider. July 18, 2015. Accessed April 15, 2016. http://collider.com/composer-christophe-

beck-on-ant-man-sisters-and-peanuts-movie/. 71 Author’s personal transcription


53

To the uninitiated viewer, the stark aesthetic contrasts between Guardians of

the Galaxy and Ant-Man bear little narrative similarities, however, upon delving

further into the Marvel comics’ mythos, one can draw discernible connections

between the two heroic entities separated by the cosmic void. In the MCU (and to an

extent in the comic sources), the fates of Ant-Man and the Guardians are unknowingly

tethered to that of the Avengers. Following his initial introduction at the end of the

first Avengers, Thanos appears in Guardians as, yet again, a master manipulator

entrusting a megalomaniacal villain to accrue one of the Infinity Stones necessary to

wage the enslavement of all reality (see Chapter 1). With the possession of said stones

split between Earth and far-flung regions of the MCU’s cosmic universe, Thanos’

quest ensures the inevitable meeting between the Guardians of the Galaxy and

“Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” Ant-Man, as further expounded upon in chapter four,

serves as a founding member of the first Avengers team in the original source

material72. Furthermore, the end of Ant-Man sees Sam Wilson/the Falcon, now an

Avenger as revealed at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), seeking out Scott

Lang’s aid in an undisclosed mission.73

The chart below highlights the direct musical connections between various

superheroes’ leitmotivic content. Red boxes indicate the presence of Alan Silvestri’s

Avengers theme or allusions thereof. Also included, as a theoretical curio, is John

Debney’s Iron Man 2 theme previously discussed in this chapter in which a retrograde

iteration of Silvestri’s musical idea. The instance is purely coincidental as Alan

72 Marvel. "Ant-Man." Marvel. Accessed March 25, 2016. http://marvel.com/comics/discover/209/ant-

man. 73 Revealed in Captain America: Civil War


54

Silvestri admitted that “there was never a conversation” in the scoring process

concerning the reutilization of preceding composers’ thematic ideas74 apart from a

conscious decision on behalf of Silvestri to reuse his own Captain America material.

Another retrograde variation of the Avengers appears in the third and fourth measures

of Tyler Bate’s Guardians of the Galaxy theme.

Example 18. Silvestri's Avengers motif in Guardians (Bates), Ant-Man (Beck), and Iron Man 2

(Debney)75

While “Phase One” of the MCU received little direct thematic unity beyond

the scant re-incorporation of Captain America’s material into The Avengers by both


1, 2012. Accessed May 07, 2016. http://www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=9475. 75 Author’s personal transcription(s)


55

entities’ composer, Alan Silvestri, the post-Avengers films began to take on a more

unified musical approach. Apart from Silvestri’s “Captain America theme,” the

composer’s thematic identity for the Avengers established a musical blueprint for

subsequent melodic and harmonic ideas devised later in the franchise as evidenced by

tonal allusions in the music of Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Avengers’

2015 sequel, Age of Ultron. Comparative studies between individual themes in the

MCU musical lexicon can demonstrate methods from which one could infer and

observe different yet similar musical elements in the cross-examination of intervallic

content, melodic contour and narrative connotations.


56

CHAPTER 3

SOURCE MUSIC IN THE MCU

Once we understand the flexibility that music enjoys with respect to the film's

diegesis, we begin to recognize how many different kinds of functions it can have:

temporal, spatial, dramatic, structural, denotative, connotative--both in the diachronic

flow of a film and at various interpretive levels simultaneously.76 – Claudia Gorbman

in Unheard Melodies

Prior to the orchestral film score renaissance in the wake of John Williams’

Star Wars, filmmakers and film studios capitalized on audiences’ tastes in popular

music of the time in order to bolster interest in films as well as ensure further revenue /

exposure via soundtrack album sales. Such films as The Graduate (1967), prominently

featuring the music of (Paul) Simon and (Art) Garfunkel; Saturday Night Fever

(1977), spawning a string of disco hits for the Bee-Gees; or the late Prince’s Purple

Rain (1984), exemplify such trends still observable in such modern instances as the

hip-hop driven soundtrack to Straight Outta Compton (2015) and Elton John’s songs

for The Lion King (1994) or Phil Collins’ contributions to Tarzan (1999). Michael

Greene, president of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, mentions in Richard

Davis’ Complete Guide to Film Scoring that such endeavors exhibit ways in which

film studios (many of which also maintain record labels) can “cross-promotionalize

the music and films77” to their (monetary) advantage. Apart from the commercial

inclinations of popular music in film, source music can also, as Davis further recounts,

“establish a time or place;78” echoing Copland’s own notions that music serves

76 Neumeyer, “Diegetic/nondiegetic: A Theoretical Model.” 30 77 Davis. Complete Guide to Film Scoring. 91. 78 Ibid


57

moving pictures as discussed in chapter one of this document. Whereas the film series’

real world settings (rendered on a sound stage or shot on location) aid in establishing

the MCU’s perceived tangibility, filmmakers (and their music supervisors) have also

utilized pre-existing music drawn from multiple genres in order to further ground

Marvel’s fictional cinematic world into that of contemporary film audiences.

As previously introduced in chapter one, recorded sound and music in film

functions on two levels; those being the diegetic level heard by characters in the film

and the non-diegetic level perceived by the audience as separated from yet supportive

of the onscreen visual narrative. Such labels enable scholars and cinephiles codify

music’s (or sound’s) underlying role in the narrative diegesis of a particular film or

film, however, it is not uncommon for music to alternate between diegetic and non-

diegetic levels. David Neumeyer, summarizes narrative film diegesis in his essay

“Diegetic/Non-Diegetic: A Theoretical Model,” quoting semiologist Christian Metz:

[Diegesis] designates the film's represented instance … that is to say, the sum

of a film's denotation: the narration itself, but also the fictional space and time

dimensions implied in and by the narrative, and consequently the characters, the

landscapes, the events, and other narrative elements, in so far as they are considered in

their denoted aspect.79

Thus, one can infer that musical concepts in and of themselves can function as

recurring or connective narrative elements as observed in the Marvel Cinematic

Universe. Diegetic source music throughout the MCU narratively addresses the

“underlining psychological refinements—the unspoken thoughts of a character or the

unseen implications of a situation.80” The precise functionality of such musical

79 Neumeyer, “Diegetic/nondiegetic: A Theoretical Model.” 26 80 Tony Thomas. Film Score. 11


58

signifiers varies amongst the films’ portrayed superheroes and villains, however, the

cross examination of source music’s extra-narrative connotations can enable the

viewer/listener to understand (or surmise) “the music's relation(ship) to [both the]

narrative space [and] the film narration's self-consciousness and

communicativeness.81” The phenomena in which source music creates narrative-

motivated musical continuity are to be examined via source music as a narrative

signifier of characters’ inner personalities further demonstrated by aural-visual

complementation or juxtaposition.

“I am Iron Man”

As discussed in the preceding chapter, the non-diegetic musical voice of Iron

Man/Tony Stark supplied by composers Djawadi, Debney, Silvestri, and Tyler share

similar aesthetic properties amidst individual scores albeit devoid of explicit

leitmotivic unity. Stark’s rebellious, yet refined persona is complimented by multiple

MCU films’ usage of metal and punk rock in scenes featuring the character – namely,

music by Australian rock super-group, AC/DC. The first Iron Man opens with a shot

of military Humvees traversing a Middle-eastern desert to the strains of “Back in

Black,” from AC/DC’s 1980 album of the same name. While initially the song is

inferred by the viewer at the non-diegetic level due to its dynamic prominence in the

sound mix (drowning out the diegetic sound effects), the camera cuts to the interior of

one of the vehicles to reveal the song playing from a stereo next to Tony Stark. Upon

81 Jeff Smith. "Bridging the Gap: Reconsidering the Border between Diegetic and Nondiegetic Music."

Music and the Moving Image 2, no. 1 (Spring 2009): 1-25. Accessed April 13, 2016.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/musimoviimag.2.1.0001.


59

the cut, the music shifts from the non-diegetic foreground to the diegetic background

under the film’s opening dialogue. Such instances in which a song (or its meaning)

transfers from diegetic level to the non-diegetic – through the “fantastical gap;”

liminally between the binary diegetic and non-diegetic codifiers82 – are, as Robynn J.

Stillwell proposes in “The Fantastical Gap between Diegetic and Nondiegetic,” “are

important moments of revelation, of symbolism, and of emotional engagement within

the film and without.83”

In the context of the first Iron Man film, the inclusion of the AC/DC “Back in

Black” tune serves three important narrative functions. On the diegetic spectrum, it

establishes the musical vernacular of the rebellious Tony Stark as heard onscreen as

subsequent films following Iron Man (Iron Man 2 and later The Avengers). On the

non-diegetic, or rather metadiegetic level, the utilization of “Back in Black,” serves as

a subliminal prelude to events forthcoming in the narrative. Following the death of

AC/DC’s lead singer, Bon Scott, in 1980, “Black in Black” (as both a song and album)

was used by the band as means to both honor their fallen band-mate and as a musical

proclamation of the band “cheating death” (AC/DC’s future was uncertain at the time)

to emerge stronger than before. Tony Stark is thought dead following the terrorist

ambush at the opening of the film, only to return to the real world stronger with his

alternative Iron Man identity in tow. Such sentiments are captured in the song’s

opening verse and subsequent chorus (see figure 3.1)

82 Neumeyer, “Diegetic/nondiegetic: A Theoretical Model. 22. 83 Robynn J. Stilwell. "The fantastical gap between diegetic and non-diegetic." Beyond the Soundtrack.

Ed. Daniel Goldmark, Lawrence Kramer, and Richard Leppert. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA:

University of California Press, 2007: 184-202


60

Table 3.1. Lyrical analysis of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” as heard in Iron Man (2008).

“Back in Black” lyrics (Verse 1): Narrative Commentary in Iron Man

(2008)

Back in black

I hit the sack

I've been too long I'm glad to be back

In the film, Tony Stark escapes captivity

to return to the world which thought him

dead. Stark escapes via a crude Iron Man

suit prototype built under the guise of a

ballistic weapon which his captors intend

to use in a terrorist plot.

Yes, I'm let loose

From the noose

That's kept me hanging about

I've been looking at the sky

'Cause it's gettin' me high

Forget the hearse 'cause I never die

As a hostage/prisoner, Stark’s learns to

“answer for his sins” as an arms dealer.

In his atonement, Stark realizes that his

money and power can be used for the

greater good as Iron Man. The Iron Man

armor grants Stark the ability to fly from

which he enjoys the adrenaline and

bolsters his (already inflated) ego.

I got nine lives

Cat's eyes

Abusin' every one of them and running

wild

Stark defies death at multiple points in

the film (and in the MCU at-large).

Though he relishes the notion of being a

superhero, it is not until The Avengers

does Stark come to terms with his

reckless antics spawning from his Iron

Man ego trip.

In both Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, the role of “Back in Black” is

supplanted by AC/DC’s “Shoot to Thrill,” which is coincidentally the second

chronological song on the Back in Black album (track 2 on the 1980 album release.

Much like the earlier song, the lyrics “Shoot to Thrill,” offers narrative commentary in

the diegesis. In The Avengers, the song is heard on the diegetic level in a scene where

Iron Man intervenes in a fight between the film’s main villain Loki (Thor’s brother)

and Captain America. Stark “hijacks” S.H.I.E.L.D.’s communication lines in order to

https://youtu.be/kbivKqvh-6g?t=1m21s


61

blast “Shoot to Thrill” as Iron Man shoots Loki point blank in the chest with an energy

blast from his suit immobilizing his now outmatched foe (with the chorus playing as

Stark, literally, “shoots to thrill”). The inclusion is likely a tongue-in-cheek effort on

behalf of the filmmakers as an aural counterpoint in which the rambunctious nature of

AC/DC’s rock is juxtaposed against the gravity of a scene in which two mortal

superheroes are fighting a god (Loki taken from Norse mythology and the comics).

Another notable instance of original underscore addressing narrative, or extra-

narrative devices in this instance, is the initial melodic similarity between Djawadi’s

Iron Man “heroism” and British heavy metal group Black Sabbath’s own “Iron Man”

(see Example 19.4a) from their 1970 album, Paranoid. Besides the obvious

connections between the song’s title and the name of the superhero, the first three

notes of the song’s guitar riff are identical to the first three notes of Djawadi’s musical

signifier of heroism (see Example 19.4b).The two ideas also, though most likely in

coincidence, share the same opening notes as Lolo Schifrin’s “Mission: Impossible

theme” originally written for the TV show of the same name and reused in the Tom

Cruise-led film franchise. The two separate musical ideas also contain a leap of a

minor third (m3rd) in their continuations. Black Sabbath “Iron Man” hook has a larger

melodic range of a minor sixth (m6th) as opposed to the P4 range of Djawadi’s

comparative material. Iron Man’s “action riff” also occupies the same intervallic range

as the first three notes of Black Sabbath’s idea.


62

Example 19. Melodic comparisons between Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” (4a.) and Ramin Djawadi’s

Iron Man (2008) “heroism” theme.84

Is this coincidence or a deliberate decision of the composer? In this instance,

one could easily infer both. Though the song has no connection to the Marvel

character, as made clear by Black Sabbath front-man Ozzy Osbourne stating the

song’s title originated from his impression of the main guitar riff initially evoking

images of “a big iron bloke walking about,85” an instrumental arrangement of the song

appears over the end credits of the first Iron Man. Just prior to the credits, Tony Stark

gives : “I am Iron Man.86” The film then cuts to the instrumental version of Black

Sabbath’s song, which in its original incarnation contains the same lyric “I am Iron

Man.” In The Avengers, as deliberate visual gag, Stark can be seen wearing a Black

Sabbath t-shirt under his Iron Man armor in the final battle for New York City.

84 Author’s personal transcription 85 Hal Leonard. 25 Top Metal Songs - Tab. Tone. Technique. Google Books. January 1, 2013. Accessed

May 06, 2016.

https://books.google.com/books?id=7yoLWIrCZI8C&pg=PR5&lpg=PR5&dq=Ozzy%2BOsbourne%2

Bbig%2Biron%2Bbloke&source=bl&ots=LFrbQEN_IA&sig=L8LhWMujEPm5v4gMRr0mXxIgEv0&

hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4v66WnMbMAhWBdCYKHQ_sBDgQ6AEIbjAT#v=onepage&q=Ozzy

%20Osbourne%20big%20iron%20bloke&f=false. 86 Iron Man. Directed by Joe Johnson. Paramount, 2008. DVD.


63

“The Star Spangled Man With A Plan”

The diegetic music of Captain America far less pronounced in the narrative

compared to that of Iron Man. In order to establish the WWII-era setting of Captain

America: The First Avenger, the filmmakers made a point to include onscreen musical

sounds emblematic of the time period such as big band staples by Woody Herman and

Benny Goodman as well as marches by John Philip Sousa87. Unlike other films thus

far in the MCU, the film features an original musical number written specifically for

the film written in the vein of a 1940s war propaganda song. “The Star Spangled Man

With A Plan” penned by Alan Menken88 with lyrics by David Zippel contains all the

hallmarks of a WWII-era propaganda song; including lyrics:

Table 3.3. Lyrics from “Star Spangled Man With A Plan” from Captain America: The First Avenger

Verse 2

We can’t ignore there’s a threat and a war we must win!

Who’ll hang the noose on the goose-stepping goons from

Berlin?

Chorus

Who will indeed lead the call for America, who’ll rise

or fall, give his all for America?

Who's here to prove that "we can"!

The Star-Spangled Man, with a plan!

The entire song accompanies a full musical number as a part of a USO shows

in which Captain America himself appears to not only rally patriotism but to also, at

the behest of the US Government unwilling to deploy Steve Rogers in battle,

87 IMDb. "Soundtracks - Captain America: The First Avenger." IMDb.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843866/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd. 88 Menken is predominantly known for his contributions to numerous Disney animated musicals such as

The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Aladdin (1992) all of which won

Academy Awards for “Best Original Song” their respective years.


64

encourage citizens to buy war bonds. The montage of performances on screen

chronicle Captain America’s rise to fame, albeit, as a puppet of politicians off which

they can monetarily gain (again, drawing from modern day real world issues) using his

iconic image.

Much like Alan Silvestri’s underscore to the film, the diegetic music within the

film is used in subsequent MCU films as a connective narrative element to Captain

America’s past. In Captain America: The Winter Solider, Sammy Cahn and Jule

Styne’s “It's Been A Long, Long Time” as performed by Harry James and his

Orchestra89 is heard when Captain America enters his apartment to find a wounded

Nick Fury in the aftermath of the Winter Soldier (secretly Cap’s friend thought

deceased in the first film). In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Cap receives a vision of an

alternate reality presented as a “flashback” in which he attends a victory party with his

flame (Peggy Carter) accompanied to the strains of the Gershwins’ (George and Ira) “I

Can’t Get Started90.” Though occupying different genres, the diegetic musical

vernaculars of Iron Man and Steve Rogers establish their respective times periods and

offer introspective look in their personalities.

89 IMDb. "Soundtracks - Captain America: The First Avenger." IMDb.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843866/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd. 90 90 IMDb. "Soundtracks – Avengers: Age of Ultron." IMDb.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843866/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd.


65

CHAPTER 4

HEROIC HARMONIES

Though not as easily perceived in the mind of the average movie-goer as

melody, harmony plays an important role in a film score’s effect on an audience.

Happiness or joy can be emphasized by a major tonality. Somber scenes or evil

characters can be underscored with minor-keyed melodies to address the gravity of a

particular scene’s narrative demands. Augmented and diminished harmonies can

suggest suspense, fear, or surprise. In music, one would classify the (formal)

organization of these sonorities into chord progressions categorized by their functions

relative to schematic models drawing from antiquity. Musical repertoires such as the

sonata, symphony, fugue, and concerto are codified as such by their adherence to the

tonally normative, hierarchal organization of melodic, harmonic, and developmental

components. Such models are not only occur in Western classical music, but also in

other genres such as jazz or rock in structural models such as twelve-bar blues or the

multitude of labels applicable to a song’s verse/chorus ratio. In film music, however,

many Common Practice models are inapplicable to music whose primary function is

to address the on-screen narrative rather than serve as an objective work of art as one

would listen to a symphony or chamber music work.

Music theorist, Frank Lehman, succinctly highlights the pitfalls of attempting

to “shoehorn” Classical theoretical and formal structures in his essay “Hollywood

Cadences: Music and the Structure of Cinematic Expectation” in which he discusses

the narrative functions of post-Romantic/post-Tonal cadential figures as observed in

numerous film scores. “Cinema scores comprise a repertoire of profoundly greater


66

tonal and formal eclecticism than that of the Classical style.” writes Lehman. As a

“stylistically heterogeneous and intrinsically programmatic repertoire,” film scores

overall “rarely rely on a set of architectural paradigms like sonata form to regulate

phrases, tonal design, essential structural closure, and so on.” To be succinct: the

expressive qualities of film music are reliant on “[musical/narrative] rhetoric, not

[theoretical/formal musical] syntax.91” Knowledge of Common Practice period

musical structures and their function can be valuable to any composer seeking self-

utility, especially in writing for period films, but most modern films render such

abilities superfluous. “The man who insists on self-expression” writes Copland, “had

better stay home and write symphonies. He will never be happy in Hollywood.92” This

is not to say that some composers have not found ways to incorporate (or imitate)

historical models into their film-works. In Jaws (1975), John Williams utilizes a

fughetta (“short fugue”) entitled “The Shark Cage Fugue” for when the crew of the

Orca is assembling the shark cage prior to Hooper’s (Richard Dreyfuss) encounter

with the Spielberg film’s shark “antagonist.93” Nonetheless, relatively isolated

examples such as this are, as stated previously, employed out of narrative pertinence,

not because a composer feels artistically-inclined to do so.

The overall layout of a film score will undoubtedly ignore the organizational

aesthetic constructs of classical repertoires in breaking conventions in counterpoint,

91 Frank Lehman. "Hollywood Cadences: Music and the Structure of Cinematic Expectation." Society

for Music Theory 19, no. 4 (December 2013): 1-29. Accessed May 1, 2015.

http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.13.19.4/mto.13.19.4.lehman.php. 92 Copland and Kostelanetz. "Second Thoughts on Hollywood (1940)." In Aaron Copland: A Reader ;

Selected Writings 1923-1972, 111. 93 Antagonists have a motive. A great white shark, in the words of Dreyfuss’ character in the film, just

wants to “swim and eat and make little sharks.”


67

voice-leading, and an over-arching form, but the leitmotivic content like any melody,

regardless of genre or historical period, can exhibit underlying harmonic content

calculable via Common Practice theoretical parameters. Thematic statements of a

characters theme, as mentioned in Chapter 1, will often undergo harmonic alterations

in order to compliment a particular character’s actions or situational drama. Harmonic

deviations from pre-existing material can render precise identification of said

leitmotifs tedious, especially if said leitmotifs are reincorporated from a previous

chapter in a film franchise. For instance, in The Avengers, Silvestri reuses his Captain

America theme; however, it only appears in harmonically altered iterations of the

theme’s first two measures to address the peril and action on the screen. The same can

be said of Silvestri’s main idea for the Avengers themselves as it appears in a

melodically truncated quote in Christophe Beck’s Ant-Man score. The melodies may

retain the exact pitch inventory; however, the harmonic deviations from the theme’s

initial presentation affect the way in which one aurally interprets the musical content

through what Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner and their (at the time) progressive

contemporaries explored via thematic transformation. The sporadic, leitmotivic

content within the first five films of the MCU have already been discussed, as has the

semi-cohesive, albeit lose, connections amongst the post-Avengers scores. Upon

further examination of numerous leitmotifs’ harmonic content, however, one can

observe recurrent harmonic phenomena that can function as unifying musical factors

for characters now bound by personal associations or, in some instances, fate or

destiny.


68

Many of the featured heroic leitmotifs for the post-Avengers MCU films

feature the exact or similar harmonic content as observed in the first three measures of

Silvestri’s main Avengers theme as exhibited below (see Example 20):

Example 20. Silvestri: Avengers chord progression94

Though the theme itself is presented in an E Dorian mode as explained earlier, the

harmonic content of the motif’s first three bars features a route position minor tonic (i)

which descends downward by a major third to a flat-major mediant (♭VI) borrowed

from E minor’s relative major key of G major, which then lands on a major

subdominant (IV) characteristic of the Dorian mode with its raised ^6th scale degree

(presented in first inversion).

Following The Avengers, subsequent composers in the MCU began, utilizing

the exact same chord progression or variations thereof. The narrative reasoning behind

these composers’ choices, whether explicit or accidental, draws connection to

narrative elements drawn from the pre-existing film universe and references to the

original comic book source material.



69

In Iron Man 3, Brian Tyler utilized Silvestri’s chord progression, however

instead of landing on the A-major chord in first inversion, the bass line lands on the

chord in root position as seen in the brackets in the example below.

Example 21. Tyler: Theme from Iron Man 3 (2013) 95

The composer mentions in an interview that he was entrusted to write a “theme

for Iron Man that now related to him and the Avengers” that could musically “kind of

tie it all together.96” As Iron Man/Tony Stark finally embraces his superhero role in

the first Avengers film, this would be a logical musical choice to use the (literal) basis

(bass line) of that team as a connective musical signifier. The Avengers are now an

irreplaceable part of who Iron Man is whether by association with his superhero

colleagues or, as seen in Iron Man 3, the psychological effects of Battle of NYC on

Tony Stark. The same mental breakdowns Stark suffers in the third Iron Man film play

out in the second Avengers film, where one of the initial “villains” Wanda

Maximoff/Scarlet Witch implants a nightmarish vision with her psychokinetic powers

that initiate Stark’s desire to create the Ultron program.

95 Author’s personal transcription 96 Allison Doe. "Interview: Composer Brian Tyler Ushers in Epic New Sound for ‘Iron Man 3’." Film

School Rejects. May 2, 2013. Accessed April 30, 2016. http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/interview-

composer-brian-tyler-ushers-in-epic-new-sound-for-iron-man-3.php.


70

When Danny Elfman was brought on to provide additional musical material

alongside Brian Tyler for Avengers: Age of Ultron, the most well-versed composer in

the symphonic superhero sound opted to honor Silvestri’s original theme in order to

address the “New Avengers” seen at the end of the film as previously stated in chapter

one. Elfman not only quotes the Avengers’ motif in the new theme’s bridge, but also

utilizes the same chord progression (in brackets) and same harmonic language

throughout (as seen below in Example 21).

Example 22. Elfman: "Heroes" theme from Avengers: Age of Ultron97

Elfman sought take “part of Alan Silvestri’s theme on the original [movie],”

and “pulled it into a new [hybrid] theme.98” While Elfman’s theme uses the same bass

line as Silvestri’s, it deviates from the original’s harmonic language in the third bar,

whereas instead landing on the major subdominant of the Dorian mode it lands on a

minor subdominant (iv) of B natural minor. The major IV of the original gives it a

more “optimistic” pull as opposed to Elfman’s minor tonality which addresses the

97 Author’s personal transcription 98 891 ABC Adelaide. "891+ABC+Adelaide+Danny+Elfman Search Results on SoundCloud - Listen to

Music." SoundCloud. March 14, 2015. Accessed April 25, 2016.

https://soundcloud.com/search?q=891+ABC+Adelaide+Danny+Elfman.


71

heightened threat the Avengers face in the second film. The later composer does

employ a modal mixture at the “New Avengers” theme’s cadence where, like

Silvestri’s original, harkens back to the Dorian major subdominant (IV)/minor tonic

(i). Elfman utilizes the original Silvestri chord progression in the same way Tyler did

in order to address the connections of the Avengers’ central figure heads, Iron Man,

Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye to the new heroes who

join the team at the end of Age of Ultron. The theme acts as a sort of musical “passing

of the torch,” as Falcon (introduced in “Winter Soldier”), War Machine (introduced in

Iron Man 2), Scarlet Witch, and Vision take over for roles left vacant at the end of the

film in Tony Stark’s voluntary “leave of absence,” Thor returning to Asgard, and the

Hulk, yet again, going missing “off the grid.”

Ant-Man, which takes place soon after the events of the second Avengers, also

contains some harmonic musical references to Silvestri’s work, albeit, in more

ingenuitive ways than Elfman’s or Tyler’s outright re-adaptation. Composer

Christophe Beck went further to subtly incorporate the Avengers harmonic progression

as a way to keep the general musical aesthetic of the overall film series and address

extra-narrative ideas of the Ant-Man character. Unlike all of the other thematic ideas

in the MCU which are built-off tertian harmonies (triads and their inversions), Beck’s

Ant-Man theme contains quintal harmonies in its first four bars and a (passing)

chromatic mediant (♭vi). The opening four bars contain the minor tonic to major ♭VI

progression heard in many superhero scores including Zimmer’s Dark Knight material

(see Chapter 2) and Silvestri’s Avengers (See Example 4.1), however both successive

instances of this chord are an open P5th from E♭ to B♭ over an A♭ approached by half


72

step from a root-position G minor chord in the previous measure (mm. 1 – 4 in

Example 22) under the melody which arrives on the third of a root position E♭ chord

achieving a dissonant major seventh M7th between the bass and melody. Quintal

sonorities can also be heard in both Silvestri and Jackman’s Captain America material

as will be briefly discussed later in this chapter, the quartal inversion of which forms

the basis of the first Captain America march’s melody. The A♭ quintal chord “masks”

the Avengers’ chord progression ( i – ♭VI – IV) by altering the aurally perceived root

of the submediant, however, upon further musical analysis Silvestri’s progression is

there (in brackets below in Example 22), though in the middle of phrases as opposed

to functioning as a progressive cadence point as in Tyler in Iron Man 3 or as in

Elfman’s minor variation for Age of Ultron.

Example 23. Beck: "Theme from Ant-Man"99

The musical reasoning behind employing this progression, just as with the melodic

99 Author’s personal transcription (by ear)


73

variation on the Avengers’ motif, is likely a musical foreshadowing to Ant-Man/Scott

Lang’s (Paul Rudd) involvement with the Avengers as briefly referenced at the end of

Ant-Man as Sam Wilson/Falcon is seen looking to recruit the film’s titular hero as a

member of the group. Whether or not Ant-Man will join the Avengers remains to be

seen, however, in the most recent theatrical trailer for Captain America: Civil War

(2016) Ant-Man, in a newly upgraded suit, is seen fighting alongside heroes allied

with Captain America/Steve Rogers as they battle against Iron Man/Tony Stark’s

team.

In Guardians of the Galaxy, Tyler Bates calls upon Silvestri’s harmonic

material and devises it in a way that, like Beck’s Ant-Man, hides any direct musical

correlations to “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” yet still addresses their connection to the

Avengers by indirect associations. As previously mentioned in Chapter 1, the function

and purpose of the powerful Infinity Stones, which in the MCU’s timeline have but

recently began to reappear at the doings of Thanos, are fully explained in “Guardians”

by the Collector (Benicio del Toro). In Avengers: Age of Ultron, the connection of the

Avengers on Earth to the Infinity stones is explained as well in a vision that appears to

Thor. Though the Avengers are unaware of Thanos’ cruel intentions or the “Mad

Titan’s” very existence in their universe, the Guardians are fully aware of the MCU’s

emerging main villain and his capabilities as “the most powerful being in the

universe.” Be it chance or destiny, the fates of the two alliances are now entwined

across the vast expanse of the cosmos. Unlike the Avengers, whose members embrace

their heroic roles, the self-entitled Guardians’ roles are ambiguously addressed at the

end of their feature film debut. In a sense, they may “guard” the galaxy, but they also


74

embrace their roles as misfit outlaws, who, like members of their Earth-bound heroic

counterparts, found their respective “humanity” (or equivalent for a group including

two humanoid aliens, a [mutant] raccoon, and a talking tree) in their effort to save

their world . They are the “anti-Avengers,” and composer Tyler Bates addresses this,

whether intentionally or by chance (again, a running narrative in the MCU) by giving

the Guardians the same harmonic language as that of the Avengers.

Whereas the Avengers’ motif is the established i – ♭VI – IV, Bate’s Guardians

theme exchanges the last two chords to present a i – IV – ♭VI, allowing the last chord

to function as a sort of deceptive cadence in order for the music to transition to other

musical ideas. In doing so, Bates’ presents a harmonic retrograde of Silvestri’s

Avengers theme (see Example 23 below) complete with the downward major third

(M3rd) precedes (in this case recedes?) an ascending half-step (m2nd) to the major

predominant presented in first inversion as opposed to Tyler’s and Elfman’s decent by

chordal root.

Example 24. Bates: "Guardians Theme" from Guardians of the Galaxy100

Bates’ six-bar Guardians leitmotif is unusual in the MCU’s musical catalogue

in that it lacks a definitive dominant anywhere it its harmonic language and it is also

the only thematic idea that only uses three chords, apart from the Avengers’ cellular



75

motif which leads to different tonal arrival points. The lack of a dominant chord or

any chord that could function as one enables Bates to address the continuously

progressing drama by avoiding a sense of resolution found at the end of Silvestri’s

Avengers theme or Brian Tyler’s Iron Man 3 idea in their implementation of a major

dominant (V) taken from the relative harmonic minor of their Dorian melodies at their

cadence points. In a way, Bate’s usage of the same harmonic language presented

indiscreetly mid-phrase is similar to what Christophe Beck did with the material’s

less-pronounced, yet still present, statement in his Ant-Man theme. The presence of

Silvestri’s harmonic vocabulary is rhetorically logical given the narrative implications

of the MCU’s ever-connecting saga, however, the same progression appears under

Ramin Djawadi’s heroic idea for Iron Man/Tony Stark in the first Iron Man film. This

is absolutely coincidental, or at least so when taking into consideration the words of

the MCU composers themselves explicitly stating their choices not to reutilize prior

leitmotivic content. Djawadi’s progression as it appears under Tony Stark building the

prototype Iron Man armor features the bass line descending by thirds (root M3rd

m3rd) in a i – ♭VI – IV progression (see Example 24).

Example 25. Djawadi: “Iron Man heroism” theme from Iron Man (2008)101

101Author’s personal transcription


76

Like the melodic similarities, by intention or mere chance, to Black Sabbath’s

“Iron Man” as discussed in Chapter 1, the content is still there. In the context of Iron

Man, the progression could serve a musical signifier for things to come with Iron Man

become one of The Avengers’ core components and co-leader alongside Captain

America. The progression could also be another musical amalgamation of Tony

Stark’s affinity for punk rock as Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box” from their 1993

album In Utero features the same i – ♭VI – IV chord progression. In logical fairness,

however, the connection is as “coincidental” as one pop song using the same chord

progression as another such as the often noted utilization of the I – V – vi – IV

formula, as humorously covered by Axis of Awesome, which forms the harmonic

basis for such songs as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s

“Under the Bridge,” the chorus of Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”

from Disney’s The Lion King (1994), or Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel”

recently covered by Darius Rucker. Considering such ideas as directly connected,

whether as Djawadi’s material “influencing” Silvestri’s or Nirvana influencing

Djawadi, commits a textbook “Texas Sharpshooter” logical fallacy in negating the

contextual differences between the two in favor of the data that points to a (more than

likely) non-existent connection.

As for the other major heroes involved with the Avengers, Thor and Captain

America, their intra-narrative harmonic connections amongst films are less concrete as

those observed for their super-colleagues on either side of the galaxies. Henry

Jackman’s score for Captain America: The Winter Soldier forgoes the period, Indiana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6P0SitRwy8

https://youtu.be/oOlDewpCfZQ?t=17s


77

Jones-esque musical take on Steve Roger’s super-soldier hero provided by Alan

Silvestri for Captain America: The First Avenger in favor of a straight-forward action

thriller score. Both composers themes, though stylistically different do, at times,

utilize similar approaches in the utilization of quartal and quintal harmonies for the

“Star Spangled Man with a Plan.102” Silvestri’s musical language for Captain America

is melodically quartal and harmonically quintal as evidenced below [in Example 25],

with open 5th chords omitting the third of the chord throughout. As mentioned in

Chapter 1, these instances are a likely homage to the same harmonic vocabulary used

by Aaron Copland in his populist “Americana” pieces. Below, “open” chords without

a third are squared in blue, the quartal melodic features of the first phrase are squared

in green, and the quintal harmonies are in red. The quartal and quintal content also

includes the notes that make up those sonorities.

Example 26: Silvestri: Captain America: The First Avenger (overview of quartal and quintal

harmonies)103

Henry Jackman’s counterpart does not utilize any quartal chords as the constant root

position of the bass line prevents such harmonies from occurring. The theme does

102 Captain America: The First Avenger. Directed by Joe Johnson. Paramount, 2011. DVD. 103 Author’s personal transcription


78

contain multiple quintal chords and open 5th chords omitting the third as seen in

Example 26 on the next page.

The harmonic language of Jackman’s new Captain America theme, as heard in

its full statement over the end credits in a rendition titled “Taking a Stand” on the

original soundtrack album, is strikingly close to the same chord inventory of Alan

Silvestri’s Avengers’ motif. Whereas Silvestri’s inventory of the theme’s first full

phrase is i ♭VI VI♭VI -VII, Jackman uses the same content in a different

succession of (assuming a modal mixture in D harmonic minor) ♭VI – IV – i – VII.

Example 27. Jackman: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (overview of quintal and open

harmonies)104



79

For the sake of analysis, the propulsive eighth-note ostinato’s interaction with the

quintal chords is unrelated to the harmonic motion, however, if one were to take a

complete pitch inventory taking into account the passing tones some quintal or quartal

figures do emerge, some of which span over three octaves above the bass note if

stacked in consecutive perfect fifths (P5ths) as could be the case in the chords in the

first two bars of the last system of Example 26.

In the interest of time and as to address the focus on Iron Man, Captain

America, and the various associations with the Avengers / Guardians of the Galaxy,

the harmonic vocabulary of Thor will be expounded upon in later research. It is

worthy of mention, however, that though Patrick Doyle and Brian Tyler employ

completely different melodic approaches in terms of melodic contour and intervallic

content, both composers heroic material for Thor occupy a strictly diatonic realms.

Unlike the musical associations with Iron Man, Ant-Man, the Avengers and Guardians

which feature modal mixtures and borrowed chords or Captain America’s neo-

Coplandesque inclinations at the hands of Silvestri and Jackman, both the main

thematic identities from Thor (2011) composed by Patrick Doyle and its post-

Avengers sequel Thor: The Dark World (2013) utilize strict usage of simplistic I, IV,

V, and vi chords found in pop music (see Example 27).


80

Example 28. Patrick Doyle's Thor and Brian Tyler's Thor: The Dark World harmonic comparisons 105

While melodic unity through franchise-shared leitmotifs a la Star Wars or The Lord of

the Rings may instill more immediate recognition, chord progressions and harmonic

language can also serve as a unifying musical construct.



81

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS

As evidenced in this study, certain musical elements can form a sense of

musical continuity despite lacking leitmotivic unity as established through the

aesthetic precedents established by Wagner in opera and later Korngold, Williams,

Shore, and others in film scoring. Melodic contour and intervallic content can reappear

in melodies with different pitch inventory as with the melodically disjoint Phase One

of the MCU, however the prevalent influence of Alan Silvestri’s Avengers motif on

the series has forged some similar melodic ideas amongst separate characters. The

precise prevalence and application of this theme varies from film to film at the

discretion of the film series’ relative composer(s). The usage and role of source music

in the MCU has remained the most consistent musical construct for the characters it

applies to, namely Iron Man and Captain America. The tropes addressed through the

usage of classical music to correlate to villains’ actions or personalities is another

unifying musical construct separate from leitmotivic utilization will be considered in a

further study on the MCU. Such topics were omitted here in the interest of time. The

harmonic language amongst the MCU’s Phase Two films after The Avengers (Iron

Man 3 through Ant-Man) show a sense of connectedness via shared chord

progressions and interchangeable harmonic vocabulary. Though many of these

concepts are connected through methodologies of this researcher’s own devising as

opposed to the words of filmmakers and composers, the study shows in depth

narrative and extra-narrative analyses can uncover and explain patterns not deducible

via listening to seemingly unrelated melodies alone. While concrete leitmotivic unity


82

and direct thematic transformations in the Wagnerian tradition would have perhaps

granted the MCU film series a sense of musical sophistication on the level of Star

Wars or The Lord of the Rings, the seemingly constant changes in characterization by

central superheroes in the saga are represented by shifting musical ideas unified by

trace elements in both musical and narrative content.

The endearing popularity of the superhero film genre will ultimately require

me to revisit this thesis within the next few years. Though the comic book film genre’s

cultural prevalence is discussed in this study’s introduction, some industry

professionals question the longevity of any film genre in a business so reliant in

audiences’ interest and investment, both emotionally and monetarily, in brands and

trends. “We were around when the Western died,” says Steven Spielberg. “And there

will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western. 106” Such

remarks may sound disparaging from the figurehead of populist cinema – whose

seminal works include such franchise-based, action-adventure fare as Jurassic Park,

the Indiana Jones films, and Jaws, the film largely considered the “first summer

blockbuster” – however, the modern Hollywood studio model is trend-centric. Various

film genres have gone in and out of vogue such as the Hollywood musical, the biblical

epic, the disaster film, high fantasy, and the western. This is not to say that studios do

not still make such films, but rather that audiences’ interest in such ventures change

over time. “It doesn't mean there won't be another occasion where the Western comes

106 Kelly Lawler. "Steven Spielberg: Superhero Movies Will Go 'the Way of the Western'" USA Today.

September 03, 2015. Accessed May 1, 2016.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2015/09/03/steven-spielberg-superhero-movies-will-

go-the-way-of-the-western/77540908/.


83

back and the superhero movie someday returns,” continues Spielberg. “Of course,

right now the superhero movie is alive and thriving. I'm only saying that these cycles

have a finite time in popular culture.107” Though the observations of an industry-

respected artist such as Spielberg concerning the future of such currently viable brands

is welcomed and founded on observable trends, unlike westerns or disaster films,

superheroes have vitality both on and off-screen through lucrative merchandising of

bankable comic book properties.

Other factors affecting the nature of the study therein include the foreseen

future of the MCU; namely the ever expanding roster of films. In 2016 alone, three

major characters in the Marvel Comics lexicon are set to make their MCU debuts:

Black Panther/T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom

Holland) in Captain America: Civil War (released in the US on May 6th, 2016) and

later Doctor Strange/Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbach) in Doctor Strange

(November 4th, 2016).

Whereas heroes such as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor found new

popularity beyond the print medium awarded by the MCU’s financial successes,

Spider-Man – previously featured in five non-MCU films – is already a culturally and

financially prevalent property. In terms of merchandise sales, Spider-Man products

alone outsold those related to the Avengers, Batman, and Superman combined in

2013.108 Marvel Studios now has the most popular superhero of the twenty-first

107 Ibid 108 Alex Ben Block. "Which Superhero Earns $1.3 Billion a Year?" The Hollywood Reporter.

November 11, 2014. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/superhero-earns-

13-billion-a-748281.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKrVegVI0Us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt-U_t2pUHI


84

century in their ever-growing catalogue of cinematic heroes. From a narrative

perspective it adds a new dimension not yet explored in the films. All the other MCU

heroes in both the films and TV shows are adults or gain their powers as adults,

whereas Peter Parker acquires his powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider as a

high school-age boy. In a way he, like most other young people, does not even know

who he is as a still developing person when the “responsibility” that comes with his

“great power” is thrust upon him. Following the events in Captain America: Civil

War, Spider-Man is slated to re-appear in his own MCU chapter entitled Spider-Man:

Homecoming to be released in July 2017109. How Spider-Man will be musically

addressed in the series remains to be seen / heard with the hero already having musical

identities supplied by Danny Elfman for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and James

Horner and Hans Zimmer for the two, respective Amazing Spider-Man films. With

Captain America: The Winter Soldier composer Henry Jackman returning to Captain

America: Civil War, how the composer’s musical choices for Spider-Man carryover

into the subsequent 2017 film featuring the titular character remain to be seen as no

composer is currently attached to the production. Doctor Strange’s inclusion is also

likely take the franchise into new directions both stylistically and narratively. Called

the “Sorcerer Supreme” in the comics, Doctor Strange deals in dark magic, spells, and

extra dimensions (briefly hinted at in Ant-Man). Rhetorically speaking, how does

magic factor into such a science-based universe as previously depicted? Promotional

materials for the film show the titular character casting what appear to be spells. The

109 IMDb. "Spider-Man: Homecoming." IMDb. Accessed April 29, 2016.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2250912/.


85

film’s current synopsis reads: “After his career is destroyed, a brilliant but arrogant

and conceited surgeon gets a new lease on life when a sorcerer takes him under his

wing and trains him to defend the world against evil.”110 A Black Panther film is

currently slated for a 2018 release111. The MCU’s “Phase Three” currently has 10

films slated for release between 2016 and 2019.112 This study will have to be revisited

in five years in order to present an up-to-date presentation of how music functions in

the Marvel Cinematic Universe as various composers are sought out to provide

musical identities for new characters or revisit established heroes.

In wake of the MCU’s success in devising a shared universe, other film

franchises are adopting similar narrative approaches with their blockbuster properties.

Disney/LucasFilm will not only continue with the episodic Star Wars sequels (with

VIII and IX already in pre-production), but will also explore the potential of stand-

alone movies set in the same galactic universe. One such film, entitled Rogue One: A

Star Wars Story is slated for release in December 2016 and be scored by French film

composer Alexandre Desplat113. While Star Wars’ music is synonymous with John

Williams, Desplat’s involvement as composer of last two Harry Potter films showed

the composer apt to reuse pre-existing Williams thematic material albeit in harmonic

alterations. Paramount is developing a shared universe in the already established live

110 IMDb. "Doctor Strange (2016)." IMDb. Accessed May 06, 2016.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1211837/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm. 111 IMDb. "Black Panther (2018)." IMDb. Accessed May 3, 2016.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/?ref_=nv_sr_1. 112 Mark Strom, "Marvel Studios Phase 3 Update," Marvel [Official Company Website], October 3,

2015. Accessed October 24, 2015.

http://marvel.com/news/movies/25244/marvel_studios_phase_3_update?linkId=17794776. 113 Graeme McMillan. "Alexandre Desplat Says He'll Be Working on 'Star Wars' Stand-alone Movie."

The Hollywood Reporter. March 16, 2015. Accessed May 1, 2016.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/alexandre-desplat-says-hell-be-781698.


86

action Transformers franchise. On March 18th, 2016, Warner Brothers released

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, as a sequel to the Man of Steel (2013)

Superman film. The film marks the first time Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman

(Henry Cavill) met in a live action context, and will also introduced the first film

incarnation of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), in return laying the groundwork for DC

Comic’s Justice League–related properties. A Wonder Woman film is already in

production for a 2017 theatrical release. While Hans Zimmer’s music for Batman as

featured in the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight films was foregone in favor of new

material for the character in order to differentiate the two film series, Hans Zimmer

and Junkie XL’s Batman v. Superman score contains copious reuses of Zimmer’s

Superman music written for Man of Steel. The future of that particular series remains

to be seen as both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman failed to meet the critical

successes114 of the MCU (all films in the MCU have a “Fresh” [positive] rating on

online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes)115.

Though some industry professionals and critics question the viability, let alone

the inherent value of such large-scale populist fare, audiences ultimately drive the

demand for these cinematic spectacles. The appeal of the MCU, however, transcends

the cynicism of ardent critics. The MCU is comprised of “human stories with a

superhero feel,” states actor Chris Evans (Captain America), rather than “superhero

114 Rotten Tomatoes. "DC Extended Universe." Rotten Tomatoes. March 18, 2016. Accessed April 21,

2076. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/franchise/dc-comics/. 115Jeff Giles. "Marvel Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer." Rotten Tomatoes. May 4, 2016.

Accessed May 04, 2016. http://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/marvel-cinematic-universe-movies-

by-tomatometer/. http://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/marvel-cinematic-universe-movies-by-

tomatometer/.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/franchise/marvel-cinematic-universe/?search=Marvel%20Cinematic%20Universe

https://youtu.be/8K5QY8X91vI?t=12s


87

film(s)…with human touches.116” Though characters such as Iron Man, Captain

America, the Incredible Hulk, and others in the MCU canon form a modern day,

heroic pantheon of Greco-Roman mythical proportions, under those iconic outfits lay

highly-developed, (literally) multifaceted characters with relatable motivations. It is

this researcher’s hope that this study concerning the music of the Marvel Cinematic

Universe can aid in the research if music in not only comic book films, but also in

other financially successful and/or culturally pertinent film franchises. With so many

more heroic stories to recount, the sky is the limit not only for “Earth’s mightiest

heroes,” but also for whatever (film) composers can muster to send both on-screen

heroes themselves and their audiences’ soaring.

116 Marvel Studios. "Brothers in Arms - Marvel's Captain America: Civil War Featurette." YouTube.

April 7, 2016. Accessed May 06, 2016. https://youtu.be/8K5QY8X91vI?t=12s.


88

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FILMOGRAPHY

Iron Man. Directed by Jon Favreau. USA: Paramount Pictures, 2008. DVD.

The Incredible Hulk. Directed by Louis Leterrier. USA: Universal Pictures, 2008.

DVD.

Iron Man 2. Directed by Jon Favreau. Paramount Pictures, 2010. DVD.

Thor. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. USA: Paramount Pictures, 2011. DVD

Captain America: The First Avenger. Directed by Joe Johnston. USA: Paramount

Pictures, 2011. DVD.

Marvel's The Avengers. Directed by Josh Whedon. USA: Buena Vista Pictures, 2012.

Film.

Iron Man 3. Directed by Shane Black. Buena Vista Pictures, 2013. BluRay.

Thor: The Dark World. Directed by Alan Taylor. USA: Buena Vista Pictures, 2013.

DVD.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo.

USA: Buena Vista Pictures, 2014. DVD.

Guardians of the Galaxy. Directed by James Gunn. USA: Buena Vista Pictures, 2014.

DVD.

Avengers: Age of Ultron. Directed by Joss Whedon. USA: Buena Vista Pictures, 2015.

BluRay.

Ant-Man. Directed by Peyton Reed. USA: Buena Vista Pictures, 2015. DVD.

Documents

“Missed Connections:” Music in Narrative Continuity of the