Composer Christophe Beck Discusses Carrying on the Heroic Sound of ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’

Through the tumultuous and sometimes mind-bending narrative of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania — streaming now in India — composer Christophe Beck guides the viewer with a journeying score. The man behind the score for the previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films including Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Beck teamed up a third time with director Peyton Reed for what is arguably a regal and sweeping sound, one that involved experiments with synthesizers and “heavily processed real instruments” like a detuned violin.

Beck, who has also composed the score for family entertainers such as Frozen and The Pink Panther (2006, starring Steve Martin), also crossed into superhero territory with music for Marvel’s series WandaVision and Hawkeye, and more recently, Shazam! Fury of the Gods. With the Ant-Man movies, however, Beck says he knew it was important for him and Reed to musically connect the third installment with the previous ones, “by continuing their thematic threads.” There are glowering synths, an 80-piece orchestra conducted by Tim Davies and all of it was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in the U.K., plus some recording in Austria. Beck says in an interview, “I also continue the use of odd meters that I established in the first two films—phrases and rhythms that use five or seven beats to the bar as opposed to the more common three or four.”

At the center of the sound for Quantumania was experimenting with the technology available to them. Beck adds, “Peyton and I have always been a fan of strange and experimental sounds created using technology, new and old. We dabbled in it here and there in the previous Ant-Man films, but Quantumania really gave us an opportunity to dive deeper. I dusted off some old synthesizers and took advantage of more recent instruments and went to town! I also used some heavily processed real instruments for a new theme for a particular character—a grossly detuned violin provides a nice juxtaposition between the new and the familiar.” It’s possible that Beck is referring to Kang The Conquerer, a key part of Quantumania.

Reed for his part, is more than pleased with the outcome as well. The director adds in a statement, “Chris knocked it out of the park in terms of the score for this movie. He is immensely talented as a composer and I think this was the most fun we’ve had working together on a movie because we were able to paint on this really large canvas.”

Listen to the music from ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ below. Stream the movie on Disney+ Hotstar.