Posted in: Movies, Supergirl, Warner Bros | Tagged: Nevin Seus, supergirl

Supergirl: Music Editor on Crafting the Film's Distinct Themes, Music

Music editor Nevin Seus spoke to us about working on DC Studios' Supergirl, director Craig Gilespe, themes, score, and more.

Music editor Nevin Seus is certainly no stranger to working in tentpole franchises, especially given his previous experience working on the DC Expanded Universe from Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Justice League (2017). Things have come full circle in his return under James Gunn's DC Universe with Supergirl (2026), which follows the events of Superman (2025). While David Corenswet's titular hero was off battling Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) and his rift-causing interdimensional portals, Milly Alcock's Kara Zor-El was often off-world, but in the Craig Gillespie film, we find out why as she struggles to settle on Earth. Seus spoke to Bleeding Cool about how he got involved, working with composer Claudia Sarne, and balancing the parts of the film that needed score and more traditional music.

Supergirl Music Supervisor Nevin Seus on Balancing the Film's Themes and Music

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about Supergirl, and how'd you get involved?

Seus: Well, interestingly, I heard from a colleague and friend who had other obligations and wanted to refer me, and when I was waiting to hear back, I got another call from the music supervisor [Susan Jacobs]. I guess I had been referred to her by another friend and colleague, so I was able to meet with [composer] Claudia [Sarne] and [Susan], and started pretty soon after that.

Did you have a line to [director] Craig [Gilespe] as a creative, or did you just work with Claudia? Was James Gunn involved at any point during the music creative process as well?

Yeah, Craig was involved, obviously, as the director, and I mostly was interfacing with Claudia, but we had input from various sources, you know, as usual. James was, I believe, involved to some degree, but obviously busy with the other film that he's working on [at the time], Superman. So very, yeah, he was involved, but [more] limited.

When it came to the music for Supergirl, how did you guys distinguish that from Superman?

Well, it's a good question. The way that it was tackled, Claudia wrote some themes and then adapted them to the different scenarios for Supergirl, but obviously, it's a completely different thing. As a different thing, it sounds more separate from anything else.

How do you balance the sequences that call for the score versus when more traditional music is selected?

It was just a collaboration between all parties: the filmmakers, producers, and composers. There were reactions given to what was, and if they felt that it needed to change, it was a conversation. The main thing was that this score just has its own thing. It's not like any of the other franchise scores. It just sets itself apart.

Did you work with Claudia on how each theme was composed with the characters, or was it just more of the composing?

That was all Claudia. There was some experimentation as far as trying different things, but in the end, it was all her.

Was there a sequence that stood out to you?

Yeah. We focused on individual sections. No one person focused on one thing. It was a team effort across the whole film. The one [sequence] that stood out to me, it still stands out to me is there's a flashback with a very emotional goodbye, and just the way that the score builds and then brings us back into the present day, which was a flashback, just the way the score grows and then brings us back to present day is very emotional, and every time I watched it, I still get goosebumps.

What are your biggest influences?

My biggest influences were just making sure that Claudia's creative time was protected. The more I could take off her plate, the better the music would end up being. She had a very short period of time. When I came on, she had just taken over the project, and we had about six weeks to finish the score, which was a huge undertaking. My biggest contribution was to make sure she had the space and the time to really focus and find the voice for this film.

Supergirl, which also stars Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, Jason Momoa, and Corenswet, comes to digital and streams on HBO Max on July 28th.

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