The Flash Super Bowl Trailer Respectfully Brings Back The Best Batman Theme
If a superhero is lucky, they'll get one definitive theme song. For Superman, it's John Williams' theme from the 1978 movie. For Spider-Man, it's the catchy theme song from the 1967 cartoon, composed by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris.
With Batman, though, the question is more difficult. The Dark Knight has an abundance of amazing themes, all of which fit different aspects of his character. The 1966 "Batman" theme is perfect for the bright, mile-a-minute mood of Adam West's Caped Crusader. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's theme for the "Dark Knight" Trilogy, "Molossus," is operatic, fitting for the seriousness of those films. Michael Giacchino's theme from "The Batman" is slow and foreboding, perfect for a Batman who's a creature of the night hunting criminals.
Despite the strong competition, the winner has to be Danny Elfman's theme from Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman." The composition opens with horns that slowly grow in intensity while an eerie chime trickles in. Once these sounds hit their crescendo, the orchestra explodes in intensity. It covers the most moods of any Batman theme and was also the influence for Shirley Walker's also-excellent work on "Batman: The Animated Series."
Michael Keaton's Batman is returning for "The Flash," and if the movie's Super Bowl trailer is any indication, Elfman's theme will be joining him.
I'm Batman
Like Batman himself, Elfman's theme enters at the midpoint of the trailer. Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) has mucked up the world by meddling with the timeline via super-speed — hence why now there are two of him. It looks like the Earth now stands hopeless against an invasion by Zod (Michael Shannon), so the Barrys head to the Batcave to get help. After an establishing shot of the cave, complete with the 1989 Batmobile, the camera pulls back to reveal the back of Batman's mask. As the camera moves back and the cowl fills the frame, we hear faint piano notes of Elfman's theme.
In the 1989 film, the song first hits its crescendo when Batman confronts a criminal on a rooftop. When the man asks, "What are you," the Dark Knight pulls him in close and declares: "I'm Batman." The music goes silent so the words make their impact, but as Batman throws him off and glides away, the theme returns and hits its operatic highs.
The trailer follows the same pattern. As the Barrys come face-to-face with Keaton's Bruce Wayne, he again declares, "I'm Batman," the music pointedly fading out as he does so. The trailer then cuts to a shot of him diving into battle against a group of gunmen, Elfman's theme drowning out the bullets and punches alike.
"The Flash" arrives in theaters on June 16, 2023.