Which needle drops defined superhero cinema? 10 picks from Tame Impala to Nirvana

You can chart entire character arcs by the songs that crash in at just the right second: AC/DC blaring from a Humvee before Tony Stark’s life flips, Redbone turning a dusty ruin into a dance floor for Star-Lord, and Led Zeppelin detonating the exact moment Thor becomes a living thunderbolt. Superhero movies don’t just use songs — they wear them like capes.

Iron Man opened the MCU in 2008 with AC/DC’s “Back in Black” rattling the desert.

Here are 10 needle drops that don’t just juice a scene — they define it. And yes, James Gunn ’s knack for a perfect cue shows up more than once.

• Spider- Man: Brand New Day — “Loser” by Tame Impala. Fresh off the viral afterlife of his “Dracula” remix with Jennie, Tame Impala’s 2025 single “Loser,” from his 2025 album Deadbeat, finds a second wind in Peter Parker’s latest outing. The track’s crisis-and-reflection lyrics soundtrack Peter’s identity spiral, and it’s been steadily surging on Spotify since the movie hit.
• Deadpool & Wolverine — “Like a Prayer” by Madonna. In 2024’s multiversal smackdown, the song becomes a running motif: a familiar version scores Wade and Logan ’s brawl with a swarm of Deadpool variants; later, a choral arrangement returns as they sacrifice themselves to save the multiverse. It’s big, it’s absurd, and it lands with unexpected weight.
• Thor: Ragnarok — “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin. Used twice and devastating both times: first as Thor thrashes Surtur’s forces in Muspelheim, then again during the bridge battle on Asgard when he taps lightning without Mjolnir. The second drop is the coronation — the instant the hero’s new form properly arrives.
• Guardians of the Galaxy — “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone. Peter Quill bops through a crumbling chamber on the hunt for the Power Stone, and the entire franchise ’s mischievous, mixtape soul clicks into place. The moment was so indelible it got an encore five years later in Avengers: Endgame.
• The Batman — “Something in the Way” by Nirvana. Matt Reeves threads the 1991 track through the film twice with totally different effects — first to steep Gotham in dread, then to tilt Bruce toward something like hope. It doesn’t just fit a scene; it becomes the movie’s spine.
• Superman — “Punkrocker” by Teddybears feat. Iggy Pop. After Clark shuts down Lex Luthor’s latest play, he returns to the Fortress of Solitude, where his “Superman Robots” soothe him with home-movie memories of Jonathan and Martha while he dozes in a special chair. “Punkrocker” rolls over the credits — a left-field, can’t-miss stamp on James Gunn’s revival of the icon.
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood Mac underscores two bookends here: the early, wistful use as the team heads out with Nebula, and the later, thunderous reprise when Quill taps his godlike power to take down Ego. It’s epic and elegiac at once — a nod to his mom and a vow to his found family.
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — “What’s Up Danger” by Blackway & Black Caviar. Miles’ “Leap of Faith” — new suit, skyscraper freefall, first true swing — is fused to this track forever. At this point, it’s basically Miles’ theme, ubiquitous across edits and tributes.
• Iron Man — “Back in Black” by AC/DC. Fans may think of “Shoot to Thrill,” but the MCU’s very first scene set the tone with this 1980 banger as Tony rides with U.S. soldiers to a desert demo that will change everything.
• Spider-Man 3 — “People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul” by James Brown. Sam Raimi supercharges Peter Parker’s symbiote swagger with pure funk: sidewalk struts, goofy finger guns, the whole glorious cringe. One musical cue, instant pop-culture shorthand.