'Batman v Superman' breaks records -- and composer Hans Zimmer's spirit

It may have had a blockbuster weekend worthy of a superhero battle royale, but the dubiously received Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has put at least one person off of superhero movies for life.

Composer Hans Zimmer, who collaborated with Mad Max's Tom Holkenborg (A.K.A. Junkie XL) on the new film's musical score, now says he has "officially retired from the superhero business."

In an interview with the BBC, Zimmer described his difficulty with Dawn of Justice in particular -- his fifth superhero movie, which followed Man of Steel and the Dark Knight trilogy.

"This one was very hard for me to do, to try to find new language...to say something," the composer said.

Spent though he is, Zimmer doesn't seem nearly as jaded as his BBC HardTALK interviewer, who likened the rise and fall of superhero movies to what happened with another monumental film genre: the Western.

"If you look at these as our modern mythological characters," Zimmer explained, "if you look at them as sort of weird extension of our Greek myths, et cetera -- I remember Zack saying to both Tom and me at the beginning of this, 'We're just making this one movie. Maybe in a 100 years....there's going to be a different actor, different voices. It's just part of the mythology.'"

Given Zimmer's extensive resume, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception and the Oscar-winning score for The Lion King, time away from superheroes could be exactly what he needs.

Zimmer's full interview airs March 30 on BBC World News and the BBC News Channel.

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