Music Behind the Masks: Fans' Reaction to the Sounds of Batman Villains

Introduction

Film adaptations of comic books are a fundamental pillar in modern-day cinema architecture, largely due to their massive fandom base. One of the most culturally significant comic book superheroes to headline films is DC Comics’ Batman (also known as the aliases Dark Knight and Caped Crusader) (DC Universe, n.d.). As of November 2019, Batman ranks in the top ten highest-grossing film franchises worldwide of all time with a total box office gross of over $5 billion (Mendelson, 2019; Statista, 2019). With appearances in over 100 combined films, television shows, and video games, it is evident how massive the fandom appeal is of Batman’s story (i.e., billionaire Bruce Wayne lives a secret vigilante life in fictional Gotham City fighting for justice after his parents’ tragic murder during his childhood) (DC Universe, n.d.).

One crucial aspect of Batman fandom is the popular film portrayals of Gotham City’s notorious villains. As of November 2019, nearly 10,000 voters have participated in an on-going online poll ranking “The Best Batman Villains Ever” (Ranker, n.d.). Out of 85 Gotham City foes listed in the poll, the ranking top ten are all primary antagonists in live-action Batman films (Ranker, n.d.). These voting results assist in validating that live-action film portrayals of villain characters raise their cultural relevance and fandom presence.

Deepening fan audiences’ reactions to Batman film villains are the underlying musical scores associated with each villain character. Music is an integral part of fans connecting to on-screen personalities through making meaning of characters and their stories (Green, 2010). Live-action Batman films utilize a consistent narrative pattern of depicting villains’ origin stories as central plotlines, making the antagonists’ situations and influences well-known to movie audiences; this familiarity allows fans to develop fascination and empathy with their “beloved” villains through parasocial (one-sided) relationships (Keen et al., 2012). Since Gotham City villains are most culturally significant when being portrayed in live-action films, and music is a crucial part of an on-screen character’s impact on movie audiences, this chapter aims to explore musical scores composed for selected villains in live-action Batman films and discusses reactions from fan audiences to those scores.

This explorative survey will include musical representations of ten selected antagonists depicted in the seven live-action films that make up the Batman Motion Picture Anthology and the Dark Knight Trilogy, with the purpose of furthering dialogues on music’s impact on fan audiences. The selection process chose villains who are considered prominent antagonists throughout their corresponding films, and whose music explores more creative or unique tactics (this is further elaborated under the Materials and Methods section).

This chapter acknowledges that comic book characters are notorious for having various interpretations and reimaginings through numerous reboots and remakes (Koski, 2015). These multiple interpretations often lead to different histories of characters’ expositions, including their identities, origin stories, and abilities. For the purposes of this chapter, all discussions of characters will be solely based on storylines in the surveyed films, since these narratives were the focused inspiration for the composers.