Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (soundtrack)

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film score by Danny Elfman
Released	May 4, 2022 (2022-05-04)
Studio	Abbey Road Studios
Genre	Film score
Length	79:26
Label	Hollywood Marvel Music
Danny Elfman chronology
The Woman in the Window (2021) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2022) Wednesday (2023)
Marvel Cinematic Universe soundtrack chronology
Moon Knight (2022) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) Ms. Marvel (2022)

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score to the Marvel Studios film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness composed by Danny Elfman. The soundtrack album was released by Hollywood Records on May 4, 2022.

Background

Composer Danny Elfman replaced Michael Giacchino, who left due to the scheduling conflicts with Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Doctor Strange (2016) composer Michael Giacchino was set to return for Multiverse of Madness by October 2019, when Scott Derrickson was set as director.^[1] After Sam Raimi took over as director, Danny Elfman was hired as composer; Elfman previously worked with Raimi on Darkman (1990), A Simple Plan (1998), Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).^[2] Elfman said he would refer to Giacchino's Doctor Strange theme in a similar way to how he used Alan Silvestri's theme from The Avengers (2012) when working on Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).^[3] By February 2021, Elfman had begun working on music to be used during filming, but would not begin work on the actual score for the sequel for several months.^[2] In January 2022, Elfman revealed that he was working on completing the score, which included conducting an orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, with his frequent collaborator Steve Bartek remotely over Zoom.^[4][5]

The soundtrack album was released on May 4.^[6] On May 20, three previously-unreleased tracks were released as part of an extended edition of the soundtrack.^[7]

Track listing

All music composed by Danny Elfman, unless otherwise noted.^[6]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Multiverse of Madness"	2:37
2.	"On the Run" ([a])	2:17
3.	"Strange Awakens"	0:47
4.	"The Apple Orchard"	3:18
5.	"Are You Happy"	1:08
6.	"Gargantos" ([a])	2:50
7.	"Journey with Wong"	1:44
8.	"Home?"	4:08
9.	"Strange Statue" ([a])	1:43
10.	"The Decision Is Made"	1:14
11.	"A Cup of Tea"	3:58
12.	"Discovering America"	0:47
13.	"Grab My Hand"	1:14
14.	"Battle Time" ([a])	3:11
15.	"Not a Monster"	2:38
16.	"Forbidden Ground"	2:29
17.	"Tribunal"	2:13
18.	"They're Not Coming Back"	1:00
19.	"Stranger Things Will Happen"	2:56
20.	"Buying Time"	3:39
21.	"Book of Vishanti"	2:45
22.	"Looking for Strange"	1:38
23.	"Strange Talk"	3:32
24.	"Lethal Symphonies"	1:48
25.	"Getting Through"	5:34
26.	"Only Way"	2:51
27.	"Trust Your Power"	2:54
28.	"They'll Be Loved"	3:59
29.	"Farewell"	2:29
30.	"An Interesting Question"	3:13
31.	"Main Titles"	2:36
32.	"An Unexpected Visitor"	0:32
Total length:		79:26

Extended edition^[7]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Multiverse of Madness"	2:37
2.	"On the Run" ([a])	2:17
3.	"Strange Awakens"	0:47
4.	"The Apple Orchard"	3:18
5.	"Are You Happy"	1:08
6.	"Gargantos" ([a])	2:50
7.	"Journey with Wong"	1:44
8.	"Home?"	4:08
9.	"Strange Statue" ([a])	1:43
10.	"The Decision Is Made"	1:14
11.	"A Cup of Tea"	3:58
12.	"Discovering America"	0:47
13.	"Grab My Hand"	1:14
14.	"Battle Time" ([a])	3:11
15.	"Not a Monster"	2:38
16.	"Forbidden Ground"	2:29
17.	"Tribunal"	2:13
18.	"Illuminati vs. Wanda" ([b])	2:47
19.	"They're Not Coming Back"	1:00
20.	"Stranger Things Will Happen"	2:56
21.	"Buying Time"	3:39
22.	"Book of Vishanti"	2:45
23.	"Looking for Strange"	1:38
24.	"Strange Talk"	3:32
25.	"Lethal Symphonies"	1:48
26.	"Getting Through"	5:34
27.	"Only Way"	2:51
28.	"Trust Your Power"	2:54
29.	"They'll Be Loved"	3:59
30.	"Farewell"	2:29
31.	"An Interesting Question"	3:13
32.	"Main Titles"	2:36
33.	"An Unexpected Visitor"	0:32
34.	"Illuminati" ([c][d])	2:13
35.	"Wanda at Home" ([e])	1:06

Additional music

The film features a "musical battle" sequence between Strange and his Darkhold-corrupted counterpart, heard in the track "Lethal Symphonies".^[10] The scene remixed portions of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor and Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor,^[10] originally featuring additional pieces of classical music until Feige suggested that Elfman pit Beethoven against Bach.^[10] Raimi worked with storyboard artist Doug Lefler and What If...? director Bryan Andrews in developing the sequence,^[11] which was completed entirely during the film's reshoots.^[12]

Julian Hilliard and Jett Klyne perform an original song entitled "The Ice Cream Song", which was conceived and written by Elfman, with lyrics by Waldron.^[8][13] In addition to Giacchino's Doctor Strange theme, the score also features the theme songs from the Marvel Cinematic Universe series WandaVision (2021) written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and the 1990s X-Men animated series, as well as Silvestri's "Captain America March" from Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).^[9]

Notes

1. This track references Michael Giacchino's theme from Doctor Strange.^[8]
2. This track references "Captain America March" from Captain America: The First Avenger by Alan Silvestri.^[9]
3. This track references "Captain America March" from Captain America: The First Avenger by Alan Silvestri.^[9]
4. This track references the X-Men: The Animated Series theme by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Ron Wasserman.^[9]
5. This track references "WandaVision!" from WandaVision by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.^[8]

References

1. Couch, Aaron (October 18, 2019). "'The Batman' Enlists Composer Michael Giacchino". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
2. Francisco, Eric (February 18, 2021). "Danny Elfman confirms he's scoring the music of Doctor Strange 2". Inverse. Archived from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
3. Warmann, Amon (March 25, 2021). "Danny Elfman on the evolution of MIDI, composing ideas on voice notes & Tim Burton". Spitfire Audio. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
4. Luchies, Adam (January 11, 2022). "Danny Elfman Shares Behind-the-Scenes Images of 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' Scoring Process". Collider. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
5. Hiatt, Brian (April 30, 2022). "From 'Spider-Man' to 'Doctor Strange': How Sam Raimi Conquered the Superhero Multiverse (Again)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
6. "'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' Soundtrack Album Details". Film Music Reporter. April 30, 2022. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
7. "Spoiler Tracks from 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' Score to Be Released". Film Music Reporter. May 19, 2022. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
8. Wraight, Kaitlin (May 6, 2022). "Doctor Strange Soundtrack: All 43 Songs Played in Latest Marvel Movie". HITC. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
9. Hood, Cooper (May 5, 2022). "The Marvel Movie Music Secretly Hidden In Doctor Strange 2". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
10. Hall, Sophia Alexandra (May 10, 2022). "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: soundtrack and every musical easter egg". Classic FM. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
11. Dinh, Christine (May 23, 2022). "'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness': The Epic Musical Note Battle". Marvel.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
12. Frisch, Gabriella (May 15, 2022). "Doctor Strange 2's Most Unusual Fight Scene Was Shot Entirely During Reshoots". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
13. Joest, Mick (May 18, 2022). "Doctor Strange 2: Why Aren't More People Talking About That Creepy Ice Cream Song". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2022.