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Daniel Pemberton

Daniel Pemberton, composer for "Masters of the Universe,"

Variety Music·Jun 6, 2026·via Variety Music

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Jun 6, 2026 9:45am PT

How ‘Masters of the Universe’ Composer Daniel Pemberton Created the ‘Unashamedly Fun’ Theme — With the Help of Brian May’s Red Special Guitar

By Matt Minton

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Matt Minton

mminton@variety.com

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The only way Daniel Pemberton , who elects not to work on many franchise films or sequels, was going to get on board with scoring the new “ Masters of the Universe ” film was if he could create Queen and ABBA-inspired music.

Thankfully, not only was that the exact sound director Travis Knight wanted, but while recording some of the early “Masters of the Universe” tracks at Abbey Road Studios in London, Pemberton happened to run into Queen co-founder and guitarist Brian May , who was working on a newly mastered version of “Queen II.” After telling him about the project, May was enthusiastic to collaborate with the “Project Hail Mary” composer.