James Gunn has a way with a movie soundtrack.
That much became obvious with his “Awesome Mix” from the Guardians of the Galaxy films, which featured ’70s soul jams like Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling” and Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” and the edgier The Suicide Squad soundtrack, which moved into ’80s punk territory with The Jim Carroll Band’s “People Who Died” and “Hey” by Pixies.
With Superman, he’s staying the punk rock course — but brings us into the 21st century with “Punkrocker,” produced by Swedish dance music outfit Teddybears and sung by arguably the greatest punk rocker of all time, Iggy Pop.
The song underscores the blockbuster’s sweetly emotional final scene and continues into the closing credits, capping the well-reviewed and well-attended DC Studios reboot on just the right note of poignant-cool.
Pop, 78, is tickled at playing such a key role in one of the summer’s biggest hits.
“I always thought the track had soul,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter from Europe, where he is currently on tour. “Superman is the best friend you could have.”
The Man of Steel could turn out to be a good friend to Pop in more ways than one. “Punkrocker” saw significant gains after opening weekend; according to data from Luminate, the song went from 1,572 streams on July 4 to nearly 190,500 on July 12, the day after Superman‘s opening night.
Another song on the Superman soundtrack, “5 Years Time” — a 2007 folk rock single from the English band Noah and the Whale — had just over 7,300 streams on July 4, but by July 12 had gone up to 85,400, a 1000 percent increase.
Only time will tell if those gains are a sign of more significant boosts to come. “Hooked on a Feeling” and “Come and Get Your Love” saw significant resurgences because of their prominent placements in Guardians films. The Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 went triple-platinum, while Vol. 2 for the second film went platinum.
Ethan Millman contributed to this report.