Composer Michael Giacchino is adding another superhero adventure to his résumé.
Giacchino announced on social media Thursday that he would be scoring “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the upcoming sequel from Taika Waititi that is currently set for a July 8, 2022, release. Giacchino will be replacing Mark Mothersbaugh, who scored Waititi’s “Thor: Ragnarok,” although this makes a kind of cosmic sense as Giacchino was replaced on the upcoming “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” by Danny Elfman (Elfman is a longtime collaborator of director Sam Raimi). On Dec 17 you’ll get to hear Giacchino’s latest work for the Marvel Cinematic Universe when you see “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
Also, interestingly, every installment in the “Thor” franchise has been scored by a different composer. The first “Thor” was scored by Patrick Doyle; 2013’s “Thor: The Dark World” was scored by Brian Tyler.
In 2022 Giacchino will also provide the music for longtime collaborator Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” (out in March 2022) and will also score “Jurassic World: Dominion,” having scored the other two films in the trilogy. Last year Giacchino released his excellent debut solo album, “Travelogue, Volume 1.” He previously collaborated with Waititi for the Oscar-winning “Jojo Rabbit.”
“Thor: Love and Thunder” sees the return of Chris Hemsworth as the titular god, alongside Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster (who will be assuming the guise of Thor), and Jamie Alexander as Sif. Additionally, Christian Bale makes his MCU debut as Gorr the God Killer. Also, the Guardians of the Galaxy (Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn and Vin Diesel) will be making an appearance, following through on the promise of the very end of “Avengers: Endgame” (when Thor suggested they be renamed the Asgardians of the Galaxy).
It’ll be interesting to see what direction this new score takes. When the film was announced at San Diego Comic Con 2019, it was accompanied by Dio’s 1983 cheese rock classic “Dancer in the Dark” and the score for “Thor: Ragnarok” was embroidered with twinkly 1980s synths alongside more traditional orchestral and choral arrangements. Whatever it is, we’re ready for it. Giacchino has proven his knack for crafting memorable themes and big, rousing movements that will be perfect for whatever whacked out vision Waititi has for the new “Thor” installment.