Comic-Con’s 11th Musical Anatomy of a Superhero Panel
Featuring:
Simon Franglen (Avatar: Fire & Ash), Mick Giacchino (The Penguin), Brandon Roberts (Andor), Alex Seaver (Arcane), Ian Chang (Thunderbolts*)
And special guest moderator:
Michael Giacchino (Fantastic Four: First Steps)
Thursday, July 24, 2025
10:00AM – 11:00AM PT – Musical Anatomy of a Superhero Panel
The Indigo Ballroom – Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel
About the Panel:
Music has always been an important supporting character in movies; this goes to another level in the superhero film genre, along with other heroes this year, where the music sets a tone that helps define a character, an impending battle, or a triumphant moment. This year’s panel continues the tradition of showcasing unreleased music and videoclips from upcoming and recently released projects. Leading Hollywood composers will explain the process and challenges of creating music behind the superhero genre, along with collaborating with the director, producers, and the franchise. The event is produced by Costa Communications and sponsored by ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and the SCL.
About Michael Giacchino:
Academy Award®-winning composer and director Michael Giacchino has created the musical landscape for some of the most beloved projects in modern entertainment. His scoring portfolio reads like a greatest hits collection of 21st-century cinema, encompassing animated masterpieces like The Incredibles, Coco, Ratatouille, and Inside Out, blockbuster spectacles including Star Trek, Jurassic World, Rogue One, The Batman and the recent Spider-Man films, acclaimed dramas such as Jojo Rabbit and Society of the Snow, in addition to the beloved score for the iconic television show, LOST. His emotionally resonant score for Pixar’s Up earned him a sweep of the industry’s most prestigious honors: an Oscar®, Golden Globe®, BAFTA, Broadcast Film Critics’ Choice Award, and two GRAMMY® Awards. After nearly two decades establishing himself as one of Hollywood’s premier composers, Giacchino expanded his artistic vision by making his directorial debut with Marvel’s special presentation Werewolf By Night (2022), marking a new chapter in his multifaceted career, while continuing to compose music for films including Marvel’s 2025 summer release The Fantastic Four: First Steps and a collaboration with Paul McCartney on his animated film, High in the Clouds.
About Mick Giacchino:
Mick Giacchino is a composer for film and television in both live-action and animated mediums. His recent work includes the HBO/DC original series The Penguin, Skeleton Crew from Lucasfilm, Disney’s The Muppets Mayhem and AMC+’s That Dirty Black Bag. Since his debut with Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow in 2015, Mick has contributed to projects such as Disney’s Zootopia+, Netflix’s animated feature Extinct, The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell, and additional music for Matt Reeves’ The Batman. In 2021, he released his first instrumental EP, “Perseverance.”
About Simon Franglen:
Simon Franglen is a multi-award-winning composer and producer of film, classical, and contemporary music. Well-known for his long-time collaboration with his friend, James Horner, he was the lead arranger and producer on films including The Amazing Spider-Man, Titanic, and Avatar. For his critically acclaimed score for Avatar: The Way of Water, he was awarded the World Soundtrack Awards’ ‘Discovery of the Year,’ the Hollywood Music in Media Award, the ASCAP Award winner for the top score, and was nominated for the Ivor Novello award. This year, Franglen follows up his 3-hour epic score from Avatar: The Way of Water with Avatar: Fire and Ash, which releases in December 2025. Franglen’s credits also include three of the four top-grossing films of all time and six of the top-selling albums. His accolades include a Golden Globe nomination for his work on ‘Avatar’ and a Grammy as a producer for ‘My Heart Will Go On’ for ‘Record of the Year’. He has collaborated with singers and musicians from across the world, including the South Pacific Islands, Mongolia, Maori, Tunisian Malouf, Rajasthan, and Eritrea. His music credits range from The Weeknd, Celine Dion, and Toni Braxton to producing UK grime acts. Franglen is also known for his cutting-edge work in immersive audio, and is a consultant to several multi-national companies on the intersection of music and immersive audio. He has major art and commercial installations running around the world.
About Alex Seaver:
Singer, songwriter, composer and Executive Music Producer Alex Seaver represents a strikingly new phenomenon in today’s music world. Whether he’s releasing studio albums for his own artist outfit Mako, collaborating with Riot Games, or writing and producing music for some of today’s biggest artists, Juilliard-trained Seaver has made a unique impact across the intersection of music, film, television and video games. Most recently, Seaver served as the Executive Music Producer and composer for the second season of Riot Games’ Emmy-winning Netflix animated series Arcane. Across both seasons, Arcane spent 15 weeks in Netflix’s global top 10 list, where Seaver earned an Emmy nomination for his work on the first season. He took on an expanded role for the second season, which features a 22-song soundtrack including tracks by global artists such as Twenty One Pilots, Linkin Park, Stromae, Stray Kids, Young Miko, Ashnikko and more. In addition to writing and producing songs across the album, he oversaw the creative guidance of its artists through the musical world of Arcane, composed the musical score with Alex Temple, and performed the song “What Have They Done To Us” under his artist moniker, Mako. Since its release, the soundtrack has garnered over 1.6 billion global streams.
About Brandon Roberts:
Emmy Award-winning composer Brandon Roberts’ music can be heard all over the scoring world today. From the Academy Award-winning documentary Free Solo, co-composed with Marco Beltrami, to the pulsing action of World War Z and Logan, to the surreal reimagining of Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone and the horror of Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving. Upon graduating from the USC Scoring for Motion Pictures & Television program, Brandon Roberts began working under Oscar®-nominated and Emmy®-winning composer Marco Beltrami. They later went on to co-compose a wide range of films and television. Projects include such large-scale feature films as A Quiet Place (I and II), Logan, Chaos Walking, and World War Z. Roberts’ other recent scores include Paramount Pictures’ Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, and Eli Craig’s summer slasher Clown in a Cornfield. Roberts was most recently Emmy-nominated for his original score for Andor Season 2.
About Ian Chang and Son Lux:
Ian Chang is most notably associated with the band Son Lux. The Academy Award® and BAFTA-nominated band began as a solo project for founder Ryan Lott expanded in 2014, thanks to a kinship with Ian Chang and Rafiq Bhatia. The trio strengthened their chemistry while creating, releasing, and touring six recordings, including Brighter Wounds (2018) and triple album Tomorrows (2021). The band remains audibly indebted to iconoclastic artists in soul, hip-hop, and experimental improvisation. Distilling these varied influences, Chang along with Son Lux searches for raw emotional intimacy. Son Lux scored A24’s Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once for which they were nominated for two Academy Awards and a BAFTA. The full score album features new collaborations with Mitski, David Byrne, Randy Newman, and Moses Sumney, among others. Their latest film venture is for Marvel Studios, scoring 2025’s Thunderbolts*. Ian Chang was originally born in Hong Kong and has lived a nomadic life. He has been stationed out of New York for 10 years and since relocated to Mexico City. He has collaborated with progressive pop collaborators including Joan As Policewoman, and Matthew Dear, all while performing internationally and recording as a member of Son Lux and Landlady. In addition to his own music releases, his recent solo scoring ventures include Forge (a SXSW 2025 premiere) and work with Electronic Arts.
