While the quality of the films has been pretty, uh, hit or miss so far, the scores for the recent crop of DCEU films have been pretty great. And when Danny Elfman was brought on to provide the music for Justice League we were really excited — here’s someone who has a pretty legendary background in DC superhero movies in particular, having scored Tim Burton’s Batman. He’s definitely having some fun with Justice League, even bringing in some classic themes — but with a somewhat predictable twist.

While talking with Billboard, Elfman described the joys of working on the Justice League score and being able to thread in a classic character’s theme:

There are a few little fan moments. I instated a moment of the Wonder Woman theme that Hans Zimmer did for Batman Vs. Superman, but I also had two minutes where I had the pleasure of saying, “Let’s do John Williams’ Superman.” and that for me was heaven, because now I have a melody to twist, and I’m using it in an actually very dark way, in a dark moment. It’s the kind of thing that some fans will notice. Some won’t. It’s a moment where we’re really not sure whose side he’s on.

Superman’s theme is one of the brightest and most optimistic and fun themes of any superhero, so it’s a little weird that this movie is choosing to make it all dark and gloomy. Would Elfman just switch it to a minor key? I’m humming it to myself right now, and it sounds like a funeral dirge. Which fits with the promotional material’s insistence that Superman is totally dead, guys, he’s absolutely not coming back at all, ever, but hopefully we’ll hear the real theme again if (when) he comes back to save the day.

Justice League hits theaters November 17.

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