Recently, Cinelinx’s resident film music expert Becky had the chance to talk with the composer of Marvel’s Midnight Suns about his work on the music for the game.
I recently got to sit down and talk with composer Tim Wynn about his work on Marvel’s Midnight Suns which was released late last year. Tim Wynn began his music training as a founding member of the prestigious Orange County High School of the Performing Arts in 1988. From there he was accepted into the USC School of Music, where he studied under Elmer Bernstein, Christopher Young, Buddy Baker and Jerry Goldsmith.
I hope you enjoy our conversation about Marvel’s Midnight Suns!
How did you get started with being a composer?
I started as a songwriter first. First writing songs on piano and eventually guitar.
As I became more experienced, I started writing for cello and piano in high
school. By the time I was in college and after a few string quartets, I felt
confident enough to be considered a composer.
Were you familiar with the world of Marvel before you signed on to score
Midnight Suns?
Absolutely! Growing up my favorite was Captain America and I loved how the
MCU came to the big screen. I think the Iron Man, Captain America, and
Avengers movies were particularly spectacular.
At what point in the game’s development were you brought in to create the
score? Did you have gameplay footage to work off of?
I was brought in fairly early in the process. There was some rough gameplay
footage and some cutscenes that allowed me to get a feel for the game.
When you came in to work on the game, what conversations did you have with
the director or producers of the game about what the score should sound like?
Were you given any specific directions?
The first thing Firaxis mentioned about the story is that it comes from a comic
book from the 1990’s. The Midnight Suns are characters that haven’t been
highlighted as much as Hulk, Spider-Man, etc.. so we wanted the music to reflect
that to some degree. The music had to feel Marvel-like, but we wanted it to
have it’s own flair.
Does the music for Midnight Suns borrow any themes from the Marvel Cinematic
Universe or was it otherwise inspired by the films in any way? Or was the music
wholly separate from the MCU?
No, it doesn’t. I was excited that I got to write my own themes for these iconic
characters. The music still needed to sound like it was in the Marvel universe but
it’s all original.
What was the general process for creating the music for Midnight Suns? What
was your starting place?
The most important place to start for a project like this is to get the “Midnight
Suns” theme right. By design, this theme was going to be used in all areas of the
game. I also had to get the “sound” of it right. After that was accomplished the
rest of the music would fall into place.
What instruments did you make sure to include in the score for the game? It
sounds like a pretty large orchestra was utilized.
The plan was always to record the score using a live orchestra but due to the
pandemic, we needed it to stay a mostly synth score with live guitars. There’s
nothing like live instruments but it’s amazing how great synths can replicate an
orchestra.
How much time did you have to work on Midnight Suns?
I think from start to finish, I had about 2 ½ years to complete the score. I am
actually still working on the DLC’s that are going to be released throughout 2023.
What musical themes would you consider the most important in this game?
Well, the Midnight Suns theme is probably the most important. After that,
Lilith’s is next in importance. From there, Bruce Banner’s/Hulk’s theme has the
most use and importance.
How did working on Midnight Suns compare to other projects you’ve worked
on?
Every project is unique in some way. I think since we decided that most
characters would get a unique theme, this made it different from other projects.
Integrating all of the themes was a big challenge but I am thrilled with how it all
turned out. That style of writing is very effective at helping tell the story.
What’s one thing you’d like players to know about the music in this game?
Well, it’s not just about the music. But I think the one thing I would like the
players to know is how much passion Firaxis, 2K and Marvel put into this.
Everyone that worked on Midnight Suns put in everything they had to get it
done. The game and the story are really fun and I am so thrilled to be a part of
it.
I want to thank Tim Wynn for taking the time to speak with me about Marvel’s Midnight Suns. The game is currently available for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
