The recently released teaser trailer for the 2025 film Superman was the first chance for fans to see James Gunn’s take on Superman in action. It was also the first chance to hear the soundtrack by John Murphy, who previously collaborated with Gunn on The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Murphy’s piece for the trailer was clearly based on John William’s iconic main theme from Superman: The Movie, but it was slowed down and played on an electric guitar rather than traditional orchestral instruments. Calling back to an earlier version of Superman was a logical choice — especially since Gunn has emphasized the importance of Superman being a symbol of hope and optimism like he was during the Christopher Reeve era — but the trailer for a different Superman film made a much stranger music choice.

In 2012, Warner Bros. simultaneously released two teaser trailers for Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, which would kick off the DC Extended Universe. The footage in each was the same; they showed cryptic shots of locations from the film, capped off by a brief glimpse of Henry Cavill’s Superman flying through the sky. One version featured narration from Russell Crowe as Jor-El, and the other featured narration from Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent. Strangely, the song that played over both of these trailers was not an original piece, nor was it borrowed from an earlier Superman soundtrack. Instead, Man of Steel’s teasers used music from Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

The Man of Steel Teaser Referenced Gandalf’s Demise

The track that accompanied Man of Steel’s teaser trailers was titled “Gandalf’s Farewells,” and it originated in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. In Jackson’s film, it played just after Gandalf the Gray’s duel with the Balrog in the Mines of Moria. Gandalf defeated the monster by collapsing part of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm upon which it stood. However, as the Balrog fell, it used its fiery whip to ensnare Gandalf’s leg and drag him down into the abyss. The track began when Frodo screamed out “No!” and continued into the following scene, in which the members of the Fellowship escaped the Mines of Moria and mourned their loss on the mountainside.

Gandalf would eventually come back to life, but none of his companions knew that at the time, and their varied reactions were realistic expressions of grief. Sam openly sobbed Gimli tried to storm back into the mines, Legolas stood in stunned silence, and Aragorn put on a brave face for the sake of the others. The film stopped in its tracks during this moment, giving the characters and audience alike time to sit with the loss of the beloved Wizard. “Gandalf’s Farewells” was a simple piece that prominently featured a haunting, high-pitched choir. It also incorporated the “Evil Times” leitmotif, which composer Howard Shore used throughout the trilogy during moments of physical or emotional suffering, such as when Gandalf was trapped atop the tower of Orthanc.

Man of Steel Was Unlike Earlier Superman Films

Image via Warner Bros.

Unusual as it was for a Man of Steel trailer to use music from The Lord of the Rings, “Gandalf’s Farewells” suited the somber tone. As a survivor of a destroyed planet, Superman is an inherently tragic character, and Snyder chose to highlight that in a way that most previous adaptations of Superman did not. Man of Steel took place in a grim, gritty world, and the story focused on the difficult decisions that Superman had to make. The fantasy origins of “Gandalf’s Farewells” were also strangely fitting. Snyder treated Superman more like a mythological figure than a traditional superhero and often employed religious symbolism, so the ethereal choir was not out of place.

The Lord of the Rings‘ music was only used in the Man of Steel teaser because Hans Zimmer had not completed his score for the film. The trailer’s editors had to find something else that matched the visuals well enough, and they had access to The Lord of the Rings‘ soundtrack since the films were owned by Warner Bros., who also produced Man of Steel. Later trailers and the film itself didn’t focus on the connection to Middle-earth, although they almost did; a major The Lord of the Rings actor was considered for the role of General Zod. The use of music from other films in trailers is not an uncommon practice. Even one of the trailers for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers utilized a re-orchestrated version of the track “Lux Aeterna” from Requiem for a Dream, and that version of the song would go on to appear in trailers for many other films, such as The Da Vinci Code.