[4] To completely distinguish Man of Steel from the previous films, the iconic "Superman March" by John Williams is not heard.

[5][6][7] The musical score from the third trailer, entitled "An Ideal of Hope", was released online for listening purposes on April 19, 2013.

At the Brit Awards, Zimmer won as "Composer of the Year" for his work on the scores of Man of Steel and The Dark Knight Rises.

[13] Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks.com dismissed the score as a "lowest common denominator" effort, criticizing the excessive use of percussion over other instruments, such as woodwinds or chimes.

[15] Conversely, James Christopher Monger, writing for Allmusic, called the soundtrack "grittier and darker than any of its predecessors, due in large part to Zimmer's proclivity for non-stop, thunderous percussion, though it retains enough goose bump-inducing moments to be called a proper Superman score, especially on the elegiac "Look to the Stars" and its soaring counterpart "What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World?

[16] Chris McEneany of AVForums stated that Zimmer, despite his excessive use of drums, "[came] up with a work that is blistering, beautiful, bold and, I have to say it, brilliant".