Yesterday, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 added its first new cast member with Will Poulter joining the sequel as Adam Warlock. And it looks like we can expect at least one new face behind the scenes as well. During a recent interview with CinemaBlend, writer/director James Gunn revealed that longtime Guardians composer Tyler Bates won’t be scoring the next film in the series. Instead, Gunn is turning to John Murphy, whom he worked with on The Suicide Squad.
Gunn didn’t give a reason for why Bates stepped down from the sequel. However, he did confirm that production on Vol. 3 officially gets underway in three weeks. He also said that Murphy has already written some of the music for the next installment.
“I had to get off of a Zoom right before this Zoom because I was talking to all of my heads of department,” said Gunn. “We were going through the finale of the film from shot to shot, to shot, to shot and explaining exactly how each shot was going to be done. Now, this stuff we’re going to shoot in May. So this is about just planning. After I get off of this, I’m going to have to go listen to some music that John Murphy wrote that we’re going to be playing during the movie. … I guess I’m spoiling the fact that John Murphy is doing the score for Guardians. So you guys got a scoop.”
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Murphy is best known for scoring several of Danny Boyle’s movies, including 28 Days Later, Millions, and Sunshine. Before taking on The Suicide Squad, his first big superhero project was Kick-Ass in 2010. Bates’ departure from the Guardians franchise is somewhat surprising, since he and Gunn had been regular collaborators since Gunn released Slither in 2006. Regardless, Gunn sounds excited to re-team with Murphy on Vol. 3, as evidenced by his comments about what it was like to work with him on The Suicide Squad.
“You probably know that John wrote huge sections of the score before we were shooting,” added Gunn. “It was things like King Shark, when he’s in the aquarium, we knew we needed something beautiful and haunting there. When Team One comes out in front of the American flag, we knew we needed something there. [And] when Team Two is going back to save the day from Starro, we knew we needed something there.”
“When we have Ratcatcher 2 talking about her father, that conversation with her and Bloodsport on the bus, we had something there that I’m listening to the whole time,” continued Gunn. “While Daniela Melchior is giving her speech, I’ve got the music in my ears, so that it is almost like she’s performing like a William Shatner-esque poetry-to-music (routine). All of that stuff is planned out.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 23, 2023.
Are you excited to see what Murphy brings to the sequel? Let us know in the comment section below
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