Here’s a rather dark and curious revelation but it seems that Hawkeye was initially going to be a much darker show. Christoph Beck and Michael Paraskevas, who composed the Disney+ series, got a chance to sit down and talk about their work on the series. Beck highlighted how he went from WandaVision to tackle Hawkeye, especially how he was excited when Marvel reached out to him to return.
Well, [I did] WandaVision, the first series out of the gate for Marvel. And of course, Michael was involved as an additional composer. As we wrapped that one, Marvel reached out and told me about this one and that they wanted me involved. I have a very long relationship with Marvel so it was an easy “yes.”
Christoph Beck
It was him that brought Paraskevas onboard as he was already in a supporting role in the past, but it was the perfect timing to add him as a partner “after five years.”
I knew very little about [it] and I actually thought it would be a film noir type of vibe and that this would be reflected in the score. As time went on, it turned out to be a buddy Christmas comedy! And this also felt like the perfect project to finally bring on Michael as a full collaborator, as a partner, after five years. I pitched that to Marvel, and they were very enthusiastic.
Christoph Beck
The biggest reveal is that Hawkeye has seemingly gone through quite a few changes, as it seemingly was going to be much darker. While Beck doesn’t give away any details, it does seem that the story was going to focus on Clint Barton’s despair on what happened before evolving into a more joyful “Christmas in New York” story.
There was a bit of an evolution for what the sound of the score was going to be. At first, it was going to be a darker tone, focused on Hawkeye, his despair around the events of the Avengers, and the dark things he went through in his past. But the show, the story, and therefore the score evolved into something much more playful, especially between Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld. And the idea that this would be a ‘Christmas in New York’ sort of thing, we took.
Chrisoph Beck
Beck also confirmed that they would use any chance they could to include some Christmas in their music, especially to make the “superhero type of score” have something special to make it stand out more.
Whenever there was an opportunity to sprinkle in Christmas magic, we did. Not just the big set pieces we mentioned, but also incorporating classic Christmas textures into what was a more traditional Marvel superhero type of score.
Christoph Beck
While it would’ve been interesting to see a darker take on Barton fighting his grief, there is something special with taking the iconic comic that was more light-hearted and adding some Christmas cheer to it. It made the story stand out in a special way and also offered something unique over the Holidays for those hoping to get their Marvel fix.
Source: BTL News
