A good second act for many major musicians is composing scores for movies.Stewart Copeland, drummer for The Police, scoredWall Street,Fresh,Surviving the Game, andJohn Waters’Pecker, amongst several other films. Indie rock pioneers Yo La Tengo provided wondrous, moody soundscapes to the backbone of new classics likeJunebugandGreg Mottola’s exquisiteAdventureland. Avant-garde composerMax Richterwent from scoring the brilliantWaltz with Bashirto composing a piece of music meant to help people sleep better.
Amongst the very best in this group, however, is former DEVO bandleaderMark Mothersbaugh, who did superb work on Wes Anderson’s masterfulThe Royal Tenenbaums,The Lego Movie, and21 Jump Street. He came back for22 Jump Street, and now, he’s set to take on another major sequel withTaika Waititi’sThor: Ragnarok.The Wrapconfirmed the news on Twitter today that Mothersbaugh, who has been composing the scores forRegular Show in Space,Last Man on Earth, andHouse of Lies.
Mothersbaugh has a long history of creating playful pieces of music for often playful movies, not completely unlike the anarchistic playfulness of DEVO. This also points toward a far more wondrous and genuinely fun feature thanThororThor: The Dark Worldas directed byTaika Waititi, who recently helmed the livelyHunt for the Wilderpeople. What was once the least interesting sequel in the Marvel canon now looks to be the most engaging film on the Marvel Studios docket currently. The new logo, the teasing of Planet Hulk, and now the addition of Mothersbaugh makeThor: Ragnarokup there with the secondGuardians of the Galaxyfilm andAnt-Man and the Waspin terms of anticipation. And having the DEVO member on board with the score, it all but ensures thatThor: Ragnarokwill be the best sounding movie out of all upcoming Marvel releases.
Thor: Ragnarokwill hit theaters on November 3rd, 2017.
