Demonic Idols and Superheroic Songs
Rocket Racoon: “Okay, favorite musical act. Phyla, you first.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Phyla-Vell: “Um… Britney Spears and Korn.”
Kraglin: “I gotta go with the man: Garth Brooks.”
Cosmo the Spacedog: “The Carpenters do not have a single bad song.”
Adam Warlock: “Adrian Belew, both solo and his work with King Crimson. What about you, Captain?”
Rocket: [puts on “Come And Get Your Love”] “This one’s kinda special.”
Superhero movies are embracing music. There have always been epic scores and the occasional tune written for an adaptation, but now they’re willing to be musicals. Most stick to the Gunn-style jukebox musical, rocking out to classics that fit the moment, but plenty walk a more Broadway-oriented path.
So between 2022 and 2025, what have been the best superhero soundtracks? Let’s find out.
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#5 Superhero Soundtrack Volume 3: Agatha All Along
“If I can’t reach you
Agatha All Along “If I Can’t Reach You, Let My Song Teach You” (Season 1, Episode 4)
Let my song teach you
All you need to keep our love alive
If I can’t hold you
Remember what I told you
It’s the only way we survive
WE SURVIIIIIIVE!!!”
They finally did it. Marvel has their first musical. We’re kicking off Superhero Soundtracks Volume 3 with a coven of witches wielding a magic song against everything in their path.
The Ballad of The Witch’s Road is sung twice in the first episode, first as the country theme song for a fake show, then as a sacred chant to summon The Witch’s Road. A classic rock version is sung by Seo Moon Tak and later covered by Agatha Harkness’ coven to kill a demon.
The final episode reveals Ballad’s origin, a travelling song improvised by Agatha’s son Nicholas. They compose Down the Wind-y Road over years, reflecting their journey. The flashback ends on a booming rendition of the Sacred Chant, now dubbed Agatha Through Time.
Aside from The Ballad, a handful of other songs sneak in. An instrumental version of WandaVision’s “Agatha All Along” accompanies the villainess getting her memories back. Wiccan awakens his magic and dons a proto version of his costume to “You Should See Me in a Crown”. “Time in a Bottle” punctuates a heroic sacrifice late in the show.
#4 One Piece Film: Red
“I know you feel it too, so keep on singin’ this song
One Piece Film: Red
Even when they abuse us, we’ll keep singin’ along
We’ll start another Big Bang when we all sing as one
United, we’re fightin’
Bring ‘em down with our SONG OF RUIN!“
Villains always have an easier time with music. The Villain Song is invariably the showstopper that gets stuck in your head for weeks after you’ve seen the movie. One Piece’s evil idol topped our list of musical supervillains.
The film starts with the Straw Hat Pirates attending global megastar Uta’s concert. She starts off strong with New Genesis, hinting at her plans between idealistic lyrics. Uta further enamors herself to the heroes with I’m Invincible, where she displays her powers by defeating several villains through song.
Backlight shows Uta’s true colors as she fights the Straw Hats with punk rock. Fleeting Lullaby demonstrates how Uta’s lost her mind and is desperately trying to bring all of humanity into an illusory paradise before killing herself. The Straw Hats discover that she is possessed by a demon called Tot Musica who taught her a cursed song. Uta sings Tot Musica to summon it for the final battle.
The Straw Hats get through to Uta and she sacrifices herself to free everyone with her swan song, The World’s Continuation. She passes away while singing Where The Wind Blows to reflect on her disastrous concert.
#3 Shin Ultraman
“If you so wish
Shin Ultraman
He’ll come to your aid with everything he has
So for now, fear nothing
And be the only one to understand the meaning of pain.”
You don’t need anime to earn a spot on Superhero Soundtracks Vol. 3, even if it helps. This revamped Ultraman movie resurrects classic songs while introducing many new ones.
Shin Ultraman opens on the theme from Ultra Q, the Twilight Zone-esque show that spun off this franchise. More remixes fill the soundtrack with new instruments and tones, including Red King’s Attack, The Invisible Enemy, and Ultraman’s victory theme, which adds an electric guitar to the finale. Quieter scenes get soft, atmospheric string music like L’invasion du silence: quatuor
Original theme songs bolster the remixes. First is “An Out of Body State”, a glitching, industrial metal song perfect for mastermind Alien Meflias. Ultimate villain Zoffy passes judgement on humanity with a pair of grandiose biblical requiems, “Original Sin” and “Is Humanity to Die?” Ultraman takes the final song, “M87”, a hopeful, melancholic power ballad embodying everything that he stands for.
#2 Superhero Soundtrack Volume 3: Deadpool and Wolverine
Deadpool: “One of us would have been killed. But you put a Deadpool and a Wolverine together, make them hold hands while listening to Madonna? Indestructible, mother****er!”
Deadpool and Wolverine
James Gunn, hold Ryan Reynolds’ beer. It’s not a full musical, but this X-Men crossover’s got enough tunes for a multiversal concert and all that’s missing is The Deadpool Rap.
Deadpool starts the tunes by desecrating Wolverine’s corpse to kill mooks while dancing to Bye, Bye, Bye. An obligatory montage features The Power of Love as he looks for a replacement Wolverine. And what song could be better for introducing Dogpool than Lady in Red?
Fight scenes need great songs to elevate them. Deadpool and Wolverine’s first fight has Hell’s Bells by ACDC. Not bad, but the rematch has one far more fitting: You’re the One That I Want. The climactic fight gives us a battle mix of “Like a Prayer”, then a choir rendition once Wolverine loses his shirt.
The credits are a loving tribute to 20th Century Fox. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) accompanies clips from all of their Marvel movies and behind the scenes footage of the cast having the time of their lives.
#1 K-Pop Demon Hunters
“Oh, time goes by and I lose perspective
K-Pop Demon Hunters
Yeah, hope only hurts, so I just forget it
But you’re breaking through all the dark in me when I thought that nobody could
And you’re waking up all these parts of me that I thought were buried for good”
You knew this was going to top Superhero Soundtracks Vol. 3. First album to get four songs on the Billboard Top 10 at the same time? Two fictional bands beating BTS and BLACKPINK at the same time? The most watched movie ever on Netflix? This is only the first superhero soundtrack we can expect from K-Pop Demon Hunters.
K-Pop band Huntr/x are secretly demon hunters fueled by magical music. They foil an assassination attempt while flying to their concert singing How It’s Done. Their popularity is close to sealing the demon realm forever, inspiring leader Rumi through Strategy to move up the release of their magnum opus: Golden.
A demon named Jinu devises a plan to weaken Huntr/x by stealing their fans. He forms The Saja Boys and becomes the flavor of the month with Soda Pop. Huntr/x sees through their disguise immediately and composes Takedown to oppose them, despite Rumi’s misgivings. Jinu falls in love with her and they share a duet wishing they could be Free.
The finale is a Battle of the Bands in the most literal sense. The Saja Boys assume their true forms to hypnotize fans with Your Idol. Rumi overcomes her self-doubt and leads Huntr/x in What it Sounds Like to defeat The Saja Boys and an army of demons.
Fun Fact: Jinu’s first song was left off the soundtrack, likely because it was half-spoken and short. Jinu’s Lament is a mocking recap of the Demon King Gwi-Ma’s fall used to demonstrate his Saja Boy plan.
What superhero soundtracks have you enjoyed these past three years? Did we miss some great tunes? Tell us in the comments.
Image: (L-R) Lilia Calderu (Patti LuiPone), Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) and Teen (Joe Locke) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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