TONY STARK - IRON MAN: eccentric genius, billionaire, industrialist, defense contractor and master engineer with an electromechanical suit of armor of his own invention. Anthony E. suffered a severe chest injury during a kidnapping in which his Afghani captors attempted to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction. He instead created a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. Later, Stark augmented his suit with weapons and other technological devices he designed through his company, Stark Industries. He uses this exoskeletal omni-weapon and successive versions to protect the world as the technologically advanced superhero Iron Man.
Iron Man's theme music usually comes in the form of an iconic heavy metal riff by
AC/DC or
Black Sabbath, but keep in mind these song choices don't necessarily depict which songs you'd find JARVIS prepping for Stark's morning playlist, they're more representative of the story elements at play in
Age of Ultron. This particular
NIN track evokes some of the more foreboding themes dealt with in the sequel, namely the idea that "
we create our own demons." ...who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn't matter. I said it 'cus he said it. This track's apocalyptic feel is fueled by ominous lyrics like: "
it came down from the sky," describing an extraterrestrial enemy who addresses the public in a creepy voice: "
The way it spoke to us/you felt it from inside/It said it was up to us/up to us to decide." Eerily melodious string compositions accompany a robotically textured thump-and-thwack industrial beat and imbue it with a sense of dread, something no classic rock tune could've done adequately. In the end his "
greed, self-importance and arrogance," would be their downfall, and even without a hunk of shrapnel in his chest, Iron Man's own hubris is still a ticking time-bomb.
LYRICS: Some say it was a warning, some say it was a sign. I was standing right there when it came down from the sky. The way it spoke to us, you felt it from inside. Said it was up to us, up to us to decide. You've become a virus, that's eaten up its host. We've been watching you with all of our eyes, and what you seem to value most. "So much potential," or so we used to say. Your greed, self importance, and your arrogance, you piss it all away. We heard a cry, we've come to intervene. You will change your ways, and you will make amends. Or we will wipe this place clean.
THOR ODINSON: an arrogant prince from the distant land of Asgard, Thor is one of several powerful ancient beings who dwell in the Nine Realms, and throughout history, these beings have been revered and worshiped as gods by our Norse seafaring peoples. This warrior-bred legend possesses an enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, which grants him the abilities of flight, weather manipulation, and dimensional transportation. The Ragnarok cycle created numerous versions of Thor's origin story, and the fact that Asgard was a place of myth did not help matters when trying to keep track of all of the different stories and personalized descriptions of events, but this Thor currently resides in Midgard, where after being forced to learn a lesson in humility by living as a human, he fell for the Earth woman Jane Foster.
Progressive metal band
Baroness had the exact sound I was looking for, both mathematical and melodic, the spirit of the Viking warrior flows through this track, and its elements are conducive to the full extent of Thor's powers. The song opens with some palm-muted tremolo picking behind a whir-effect, almost like a cold gust of wind is slowly picking up speed, tension builds as a low-end bass rumbles in like thunder, then a lightning-infused sludge metal riff cracks open the sky like the storm god's mighty hammer had summoned it. There's actually two distinguishable guitar parts falling in and out of synch here, deviating ever-so-slightly, but the unique harmonies tend to lean more towards indie rock than lesser genres like metalcore where the harmonies wouldn't have as much depth.
NATASHA ROMANOFF - BLACK WIDOW: an ex-Soviet shadow agent turned American spy, enhanced by biotechnology, and psychological conditioning that suppressed her memory of true events and implanted her with new ones. Her indoctrination into the world of spycraft came at an early age, Romanova quickly appeared on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar prompting Director Fury to send Agent Barton to eliminate her, but due to both her criminal expertise and her growing threat to global security, the ace archer disobeyed this order and recommended she join their ranks. Romanoff is outifitted with an arsenal of highest-tech weaponry, including a pair of wrist-mounted bracelets which fire "the widow's bite" an electrostatic energy blast that can deliver charges up to 30,000 volts.
Xронос actually translates to '
Chronos' the original mad titan from Greek myth,
and the brainchild of Russia's premiere sound engineer, apparently. The song name translates to '
Placebo Effect' and the hook is sung by
Irina Shayk, the supermodel who made her acting debut last year as Megara in Dwayne Johnson's
Hercules. Plus, that graphic cover art totally reminds of Nat's introductory scene in
The Avengers, interogating her suspects while feigning helplessness tied to a chair. Her methods aren't the slightest bit orthodox, but I guess narrowly avoiding death kind of is her thing. And if anyone reading this speaks/understands Russian, I'd love to hear what the song's about. Thanks!
DR. BRUCE BANNER - THE HULK: a mild-mannered nuclear physicist who became an unwitting pawn in a military scheme to reinvigorate the supersoldier program through gamma radiation. Because of his exposure to gamma rays, Dr. Banner is cursed to transform into a living engine of destruction known as THE HULK when under extreme durress, excitement, or rage. His monster form came to be triggered by the release of adrenaline when enraged or agitated, this "other guy" possessed little of Banner's memory or intelligence, and was impossible to reason with. Fearful of the damage he could inflict, Banner chose to live a discreet life in remote parts of the world, working to cure the sick and help the poor while trying to elude those who would take advantage of his condition. But when a mounting threat called for his specialized scientific expertise, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury recruited him, knowing full well that the incredible strength of Banner's alter ego would be an asset to The Avengers.
Tool, "the thinking person's metal band" perfectly complements the dual personas of Banner/Hulk, by merging an ethereal, psychedelic art-rock sound with themes of personal evolution, these prog-metal kings reign supreme with their brand of cerebral yet viscerally alternative noise. The highly-influential band is fronted by A Perfect Circle's Maynard James Keenan, and with "Jambi" his thoughtful and eloquent lyrics are where most of these Hulk parallels can be inferred. "Here from a wild dream come true" just moments after one of his "Code Green" events, Bruce Banner tries to forget the atrocities commited by his worse half. The song highlights all the contrasts and contradictions that comprise his character, by depicting someone who's "in love with the dark side I'd found" but "would wish it all away" in an instant if it meant losing someone they cared for.
Lyrics about division, dual nature, and wish fulfillment all seem to resonate with the Hulk archetype, "
I'm just trying to hold on, one more day, dim my eyes if they should, compromise our fulcrum, wants and needs divide me, then I might as well be gone." That is a sick lyric! Tool's song repertoire also relies on the use of unusual time signatures, polyrhythmic drumming, and a thick midrange bass-tone that's played at such a complexity that it's oftentimes indecipherable from the guitar parts. It almost sounds
scientific in places, with some dissonant shards of minimalist, reverb-laden guitar making up the quieter passages. I also find it fitting that the song's final moments sound like a repeated mantra of self-control: "
Breathe in union, so as one survive, another day" until the last few seconds where he finally Hulks out, while urging onlookers to "
stay out of my way..." I mean the name of the group is TOOL, they're a tool for channeling that aggression, self-reflection, anger, sadness, sometimes all at once. I bet if you'd asked McGee what was on Banner/Hulk's playlist he would've given you two laughably dissimilar songs, instead of this two-in-one package deal you get here.
STEVE ROGERS - CAPTAIN AMERICA: a WWII veteran enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum and frozen in suspended animation before waking up to the modern world. Steven Grant Rogers, an arts student growing up in Brooklyn during the Great Depression, was rejected for military recruitment due to various health problems, but his commitment to aid in the US war effort got him into the Strategic Scientific Reserve as part of a "super-soldier" experiment under Col. Chester Phillips and British agent Peggy Carter. Erskine's formula successfully altered his physiology from its frail state to the maximum height of human efficiency, the American government would cast Rogers as a patriotic superhero, able to combat the menace of the Red Skull as a counter-intelligence agent and a symbolic US hero to counteract Nazi Germany's propaganda successes headed by Johann Shmidt. He donned a uniform based on the red, white & blue motif, and armed himself with a uniquely indestructible alloy disc, and the codename Captain America, the Sentinel of Liberty.
Nirvana and
Captain America does seem like an odd match, but if you paused
The Winter Soldier opening scene to read what was on Cap's to-do list, you'd know why this band was on this list. In fact, consider it a part of the official MCU canon that Rogers went back and listened to some old Nirvana records at someone else's behest, and according to a Marvel poll to determine what should be on Cap's list for the US version of
CA:TWS, the Seattle punk trio ranks amongst the greatest American acheivements of the past 70 years. Plus, if you consider who Steve was
before the procedure, a short, scrawny fine arts student specializing in illustration, (a character trait briefly alluded to in
CA1: The First Avenger when he depicts himself as a monkey on a unicycle) you'd find Rogers had a lot more in common with rock icon, Kurt Cobain. And if
that isn't enough to convince you I made the right song choice, here's an
old photo of the late Nirvana frontman wearing a Captain America t-shirt.
CLINT BARTON - HAWKEYE: "the Avenging archer" worked as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D for the majority of his spy career, but before that he was employed by Cross Technological Enterprises as a corporate assassin. Agent Barton continues to be an active member of The Avengers, as a veteran espionage operative whose natural abilities are honed to an expert level, his skills with a bow & arrow are capable of matching the superhuman powers of his teammates. The Iowa-born marksman's career is puncuated by several extraoridinary events, like when he opted out in assassinating a female Russian agent who would become his closest companion, worked a security job in New Mexico around an immovable hammer within an impact crater, and fought Loki's army after having his mind compromised by an Infinity Gem.
Slipknot, a nine-piece extreme-metal outfit perhaps best known for their grotesquely deformed masks and obscenely high number of musicians, are from
Des Moines, Iowa. So what's their connection to Hawkeye? Well the character of Clint Barton grew up in
Waverly, Iowa, and Slipknot is pretty much the one noteworthy musical act to emerge from his homestate. Matter of fact, Iowa's official nickname is
The Hawkeye State, and there's even a town called
Hawkeye, Iowa. I'm not flimflamming your jim-jammies here, these are real facts! Google that shit. S-knot's self-titled debut caught the music world by storm with its abrasive mix of frenzied drums, a cutting-edge guitar tone, and classic horror movie soundbytes sampled by their DJ. Ex-drummer Joey Jordinson defined the band's sound with a relentless percussive attack, and was it just me, or was Hawkeye spinning a drum stick between his fingers during that "who can lift Mjolnir" scene? Tell me if you saw the same, because I could totally picture Clint Barton getting his
Whiplash on when he's not shooting apples off of heads.
U.L.T.R.O.N. - SELF AWARE: First discovered as a simple computer program hidden among the ruins at the Chitauri invasion of New York, the being known as 'Ultron' soon completed its development into a sophisticated artificial intelligence with the help of Tony Stark. Upon gaining consciousness, Ultron's first shocking ultimatum was to declare the human race its enemy. Setting out to exterminate all life on the planet, the unstable and emotional Ultron sought to upgrade its mechanical body to an ultimate, unstoppable form. With an army of robotic drones and the ability to enter and corrupt any computer network, Ultron will stop at nothing to see humanity wiped out.
'
New World Orphans' was a record I enjoyed better back in high school, a political concept album from 2009 that fused heavy metal, hip hop and punk rock with elements of hardcore punk, funk and reggae, with lyrics that derive from the 9/11 Truth movement, the existence of extraterrestrial life, the economy and the Iraq War. So given that U.L.T.R.O.N. sort of represents that "angry adolescent" archetype, rapcore heavyweights
(həd) p.e. provided the perfect soundscape for him. These guys are influenced by bands like Rage Against The Machine, Fugazi, System of a Down, Suicidal Tendencies, the last of which is apparently one of Tony Stark's favorites, he was listening to one of their songs "Institutionalized" while working in his garage in
Iron Man 1.That brings us to this track "Self Aware" which not only describes Joss Whedon's signature writing style, but also the ubiquitous sci-fi concept of "
artificial consciousness" and the idea that computers can gain sentience and retaliate against their creators in an act of self-preservation. Even though 2015 already has
T5: Genisys and
Chappie tackling the same ideas, Whedon's venture is by far this year's safest investment in robot cinema.
LYRICS: "Big world, big lies, much more than meets the eye. One life, one word, one time, we must be heard. This love, this hate cant go on, cant wait, this lie. One told, cant go on cant grow, this life. This time, we awake, we decide who's right, who's wrong. This murder cant go on, I'm so alive. Never ask, never know, who you are, who's in control. Fight hard, fight well, the youth know the youth can tell. These wars, this world, this neighborhood the greater good. We awake to what's wrong, this murder cant go on, I'm so alive. What gives you the right to just take away my life? I am self aware, I am part of everything, the life that you bring is not yours to play games with. I am part of everything the, life that you bring is not yours to play games with. Thank you and goodbye, thanx for creating me, but... i'm not down for the abuse."
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THANKS FOR LISTENING! Now it's time for me to hear what you guys think, any kind of feedback helps. If you're viewing this on a phone, tablet or mobile device, do the GIFs freeze up, or are the videos acting buggy? Let me know down in the comments how this looks from your perspective, I'm pushing the limits of what HTML can do, and trying to make everything look pristine and spotless in all possible mediums. Do you take issue with any of the song choices or feel any of these characters are misrepresented? Which Avenger do you think had the best song match-up? Write your thoughts down below, and just as a quick reminder the official screenplay for '
Fantastic Four in the Negative Zone' is being released in three parts, in June, July and August (to account for the 3-act structure) here on CBM. Don't miss it!