‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Composer Breaks Down the Emotional, Futuristic Themes for Gwen, Spider-Man India and More

variety.com:

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Composer Daniel Pemberton pushed a few boundaries and “made something really creative and different” when he scored 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” When he returned to score the sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” he knew he would have to “push it as far as we can go.” Pemberton says he had to build the score from the ground up, which was complicated. “You’re trying not to make a score that sounds like other film scores.

You’re trying to invent your own language.” Inventing that language took experimentation, research and failure. He explains, “I spent two years researching and developing this score, going through ideas, coming up with concepts and throwing them out.” The first piece he wrote was a sketch that ended up becoming the cues that open and end the film. “You’re making a score that jumps around different worlds and characters, and everyone has got to have a theme and melody and sound, and yet, they’ve all got to interact with each other.” With Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Pemberton wanted to capture her “grace and balletic qualities.” He wanted a sound that reflected her rock band background and the look of her world, which was dreamy with drippy watercolors. “That was a big influence on how that should feel.” He gave her a “‘90s, indie-synth, pop band sound.

Her sound is a floaty synth sound, and that’s her melody.” In comparison, Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), a Spider-Man who lives in a futuristic Nueva York in the year 2099, was abrasive and technological.

Pemberton says, “It’s very electronic, techno and synthesized.” But landing on Gwen’s cue was a process of trial and error. “If you look at Gwen, she moves very gracefully and very lightly compared to