Instead of paying homage to John Williams' celebrated score for Richard Donner's 1978 Superman film, as composer John Ottman did with Bryan Singer's 2006 reboot Superman Returns, Hans Zimmer has crafted an entirely new set of themes for Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder's 2013 re-reboot of the franchise. Closer in tone to the composer's work on Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, the 15-track Man of Steel is grittier and darker than any of its predecessors, due in large part to Zimmer's proclivity for non-stop, thunderous percussion, though it retains enough goose bump-inducing moments to be called a proper Superman score, especially on the elegiac "Look to the Stars" and its soaring counterpart (pun intended) "What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World?," both of which dutifully reflect the iconic superhero's propensity for both goodness and might. ~ James Christopher Monger

Rovi