Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh Reportedly Scoring 'Thor: Ragnarok'

23 August 2016 | 11:41 am | Staff Writer

Consider us sold

Veteran musician and Devo co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh has been tapped to compose the score for the impending third instalment of Marvel Comics' Thor franchise, Ragnarok, it has been reported.

According to EW (via The Wrap), the seasoned tunesmith has joined the Taika Waititi-directed flick to compose its musical component ahead of its November 2017 release. Although the news has been picked up by multiple outlets, it seems confirmation is still forthcoming from both Marvel and Mothersbaugh as to the veracity of the news.

Although it indicates that it has verified the information, The Wrap acknowledges that the rumours of Mothersbaugh's involvement started with a thread on popular forum NeoGAF, in which a commenter said they had attended a wine tasting and Q&A — specifically, "a retrospective of Devo and their music videos" — last week, at which Mothersbaugh is claimed to have mentioned his involvement. (There are indeed such events being held at the Akron Art Museum at the moment.) 

According to the commenter, Mothersbaugh apparently had "a lot of nice things" to say about director Waititi, who "specifically reached out and sent him a bunch interesting demos and got him on board".

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"The gist I got was it would be a mix of traditional orchestra and then synths," they wrote.

Alongside his work in Devo, Mothersbaugh has lent his talents to a jaw-dropping array of TV and film projects over the years, having served as a composer for everything from Pee-wee's PlayhouseSliders and Rugrats to The Lego Movie, the Jump Street reboot franchise and The Last Man On Earth.

Meanwhile, fans looking to play join-the-dots here to further strengthen the connection will note Mothersbaugh's involvement as composer, from 2011-2013, for Enlightened — a series produced by HBO, a network with whom Waititi worked during his stint on Flight Of The Conchords. As they say, it isn't what you know…

Thor: Ragnarok is currently being filmed in Queensland; it's due for release on 3 November next year.