With Episode Five now streaming, we recently caught up with The Newton Brothers (John Andrew Grush and Taylor Newton Stewart) to talk about their incredible work on the acclaimed new Marvel Animation series X-Men '97, where they get to reinvent the classic theme for modern audiences, while also creating a whole new collection of music.
The duo tell us how they were first introduced to the X-Men, their approach to the series, their working process, reinventing Ron Wasserman's original theme, creating new themes for the X-Men, and a whole lot more!
Watch our full interview with The Newton Brothers below and/or keep scrolling to read the full transcript! Plus, please remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: What was your initial introduction to the X-Men? Were you guys fans of the original series or of the comic?
JOHN: It was the reverse for Taylor and I - I was a fan of the comics, I had gotten into the comics and then got into the show when that came out after and Taylor was the reverse, he got into the show, and then the show got him into the comics, which is sort of funny that he and I discovered that in the process of starting this.
ROHAN: With this show, you're tasked with modernizing the X-Men and introducing them to the MCU, while also keeping that classic '90s vibe. What kind of challenge that present?
TAYLOR: I think it was more about finding, you know, as a creative team, what everybody was wanting to balance, and how much of that nostalgic ‘90s sound they wanted, and I think once we figured that out through some testing and experimentation, we would just then go, okay, cool, for this scene, we're going to sprinkle in some old school synthesizers or something, and then, for other sequences, maybe we wouldn't, so it feels slightly more modern, and sort of finding that balance was sort of the approach.
ROHAN: You're also given this gift of being able to work with Ron Wasserman's original theme, which is still an absolute banger, and reinventing it for the new show. How did you find that experience and pick and choose how you utilized the theme throughout the season?
JOHN: It was terrifying, at first, when you're up against something like that. It's like, you don't want to screw something up. It's a perfect piece of music, and so, we were just sort of challenged with what's the next iteration of this, how do we pay homage to what it is, and also move into the next chapter with story and everything. So, we kind of approached it from the standpoint of trying several versions, Taylor and I had lots of discussions about it, and then just decided to dive in and attempt several different versions, seven, eight versions, and they all took a different path, and I think, in doing that process, it became very clear to us and to the show creatives and directors that staying in the path of the original, but just updating some of the sounds, was working really well, and then we kind of utilized a palette of musicians, to sort of, you know, we had someone track guitar, we recorded orchestra and choir over in Vienna, and then, there's probably a hundred tracks of Taylor and I tracking synthesizers, drum machines, a lot of those are doubling things so that one sound might give the beef to the sound, but the other sound gives sort of the nostalgia to the top end of it. That was a lot of fun, and then, it was just about just following the roadmap of what Ron had already done.
ROHAN: You're also creating new themes for all of the characters, some of which we've heard like Storm's new theme in the premiere. What went behind creating her theme? And, were there any other characters who you had a lot of fun composing music for?
TAYLOR: Yeah, I would say that she was fun to work with. We did that again as well - A lot of the things we did early on, we didn't really have picture, we just had scripts, and so obviously, the sounds of nature and Africa and sort of those kinds of elements combined is what we use for her theme. First, we started off with this kind of this piano sound that would lead into a bigger, more, you know, goddess of the environment, sort of, and all these abilities which are coming out lightning and wind. So, it was a lot of fun. I would then probably say Magneto was probably my second favorite one to work on.
JOHN: Yeah, yeah, I think they all had a different tone to them, and it made it fun for us that the show was written so well, and the animation was so great, because it really gave us like colors to play with across the board, especially story wise, like Storm’s story. I mean, already, like in the first four episodes, we know sort of, you know, what has happened with her and it's very deep and tragic and speaks to things that we all deal with, even in our own lives, as well as like Magneto is our key in these four episodes of like wait a minute, who is he now, you know, and his whole speech at the end of Episode Two, it was really fun for us to try to like get behind the emotion of what these characters are about, but also realize that all of these characters are flawed like we all are, you know, so realizing that a theme needs to develop and pivot and move and come home and all those things.
ROHAN: When you guys get a new job, what is your approach to composing the music? Are you each coming up with different stuff separately and then coming together or is it more of a mix and match when you're in the room together?
TAYLOR: I think it was more of what you first said. I think it's more of, we like to go off separately and not tell each other what we're doing, to sort of come together with fresh ideas that aren't influencing one another, and then, we sort of discuss what we like, and what's working, what isn't working, and then based on that process, then we'll go and present to the creatives and the directors and sort of feel like what they're liking, what is working, what isn't working, and that really helps give different perspectives, which is super useful in this sort of arc of so many characters, and it's such a huge IP with so many fans. It's such a beloved property, I feel like the stakes are high and you want to make sure everybody's happy.
ROHAN: When you're composing Episode Three, which involves Mister Sinister, do you find the horror elements of that episode something more in your wheelhouse? Or were there other elements of the superhero elements that present different challenges?
JOHN: There are always new challenges. It was funny with that episode though, like when we came in to spot that episode, we sat down with everyone, and they just said, yeah, you guys just do that thing that you do, wwhich is funny, because there isn't a thing, you know, there's not a thing that that we do. It's, I think, that we're comfortable with that genre, not comfortable, but like we understand places to start is a good way to say it, because we never really know what's going to work. But, that episode presented challenges as well, you know, I think in a lot of the live action stuff that we've done, that's horror related, there's more time, you have time to set up a scare where it's like, let's be really quiet for three minutes and then hit something big or like, let's make you feel really sad for a character and then they die, and with this, you just need to be terrified right away, go be terrified, be terrifying, and boom, we're into another scene. So, it was very challenging to sort of turn the whole idea on its head that we've been used to, but it was a lot of fun to do.
ROHAN: Having apprenticed for Hans Zimmer, who has composed the scores for several iconic superhero movies, did that experience inform any of your work on this series?
TAYLOR: I worked for Hans, Andy didn't, but no, I would say no. I mean, Hans is a brilliant composer, but that was a long time ago, and yeah, I didn't really use any sort of like ideas from that for this show. From that experience, but I love what he did on Dark Phoenix. But yeah, I thought he did a great score. Really, really good score. But no, I learned a lot from him, in general, as you know, a lot of cool tricks of the trade and just being a film composer, but I didn't sort of, you know, apply anything to this particular show.
Marvel Animation’s “X-Men’97” revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future. The all-new series features 10 episodes. The voice cast includes Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler. Beau DeMayo serves as head writer; episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura, and the series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and DeMayo. Featuring music by the Newton Brothers, Marvel Animation’s “X-Men ’97” begins streaming on Disney+ on March 20, 2024.
X-Men '97 is now streaming on Disney+!