Interview: ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ composer Henry Jackman on musical motifs and writing under quarantine

If anyone has seen Cherry, The Comey Rule, Extraction, or Jumanji: The Next Level, you have already been exposed to the brilliance of Henry Jackman. What many don’t realize is his best work is easily the work he’s done in the Marvel Universe. His work as composer on Captain America: Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War resulted in two of the best scores ever attached to a Marvel film. Jackman’s latest work can be found in the Disney+ series, Falcon and the Winter Soldier which ended its series run a few weeks back. We were lucky enough to speak to Jackman briefly about some of the challenges he may have faced working on this project. 

Dewey Singleton: Can you get into your process of how you developed some of the music for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier?

Henry Jackman: That’s an excellent question. What was interesting about Falcon and The Winter Soldier was coming into this experience already, having been part of making the scores for Captain America: Winter Soldier and Captain America Civil War. I was coming at it, you know, knowing these characters and having spent a lot of time developing musical identities, the main motifs, even in the case of Winter Soldier, you know the sort of identifiable crazy sounds. So it was an interesting combination of building from the legacy of what had happened before musically and what was appropriate to continue and bring into this show. And you know it’s in a very different place and set Falcon’s journey, we see Sam Wilson’s journey to becoming Captain America, which he does by the end of episode six is a long way from where he started in winter soldier. It was a sort of musical combination of bringing back themes that were enjoyable to do mixed with something brand new. 

DS: What was your biggest challenge?

HJ: The biggest challenge that’s an excellent question. I mean, one of the big challenges was the amount of music was twice as much as an Avengers film, and having to do all of this in the middle of a pandemic. Mobile recording sessions are not ideal. Just from a purely logistical point of view, it’s a challenge.

DS: Can you speak to the challenges the pandemic presented to your process?

HJ: The pandemic did present an extra layer of a challenge, but remarkably, we always found a way. I have to be honest and say that the logistical aspects melted away through the artistic process. I think back to how we were attempting to make Sam Wilson’s Captain America musical heroic presentation perfect, which attempting in the midst of everything is a challenge and a ½.

DS: What did you have to get right in that presentation for you to feel satisfied.

HJ:  Making sure that Sam’s them was reflected of his Louisiana roots. What I do take from all of this, though, is how much we collaborated. Yes, there were issues due to the pandemic, but the joy came from how we all pulled together and did something that, even at times, I thought was nearly impossible.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is currently available to stream on Disney+.

Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios