John Paesano (born July 2, 1977) is an American composer working primarily in film, television, and video games. He is known for collaborating with director Wes Ball on the Maze Runner film trilogy and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, as well as composing for the Marvel Television series Daredevil and The Defenders. As a video game composer, he has contributed music to the acclaimed titles Detroit: Become Human and the three installments in the Marvel's Spider-Man series. Paesano won the BAFTA Games Award for Music (Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales), as well as the D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition (Marvel's Spider-Man 2).
Biography Paesano was born in Birmingham, Michigan. He first studied classical music at Conservatoire de Paris located in Parc de la Villette, France before continuing his studies at Berklee College of Music pursuing a major in musical composition and film scoring. John knew from the age of nine years old, he wanted to become a music composer. He then worked under composers Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams providing additional music for the former, and orchestrating for the latter. Paesano cites Steven Spielberg's 1987 film Empire of the Sun as his motivation for getting into film scoring.
In 2014, Paesano was hired to compose the music for The Maze Runner. Speaking of the job, he recalled seeing Wes Ball's 2011 short film, Ruin and was intrigued by it, composing a short demo (which eventually would become the "Maze Runner" theme) for Ball. He visited the sets in New Orleans, observing the "environmental soundscape" and tried to incorporate the natural sounds into his score. He recorded the score with an orchestra at the Newman Scoring Stage with sessions running for 2 weeks. Paesano would later return to score the 2nd and 3rd film of the series, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and Maze Runner: The Death Cure.
Paesano was later tasked with composing the score to Spider-Man developed by Insomniac Games, joining the game's development in the early stages. He worked with game director Bryan Intihar and brought about creating several character themes, emphasising the need for the music to be its "own character" in the game. Paesano ensured that his music struck a balance between the cinematics and the gameplay as he wanted the player to be fully immersed. He looked at distinguishing his music from past Spider-Man films and games and decided to focus on creating a musical identity for Peter Parker.
In 2021, he composed the music for the Avengers Campus themed area at Disney California Adventure, combining themes from the MCU's Avengers, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, and Black Panther films; a single entitled "Welcome Recruits" was released in April 2022.
Filmography Film Year Title Director(s) Studio(s) Notes 2007 Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix Sebastian MontesScooter Tidwell Cartoon Network Studios Television film 2008 Another Cinderella Story Damon Santostefano Warner Home VideoWarner Premiere Direct-to-video film 2010 Superman/Batman: Apocalypse Lauren Montgomery Warner Home VideoWarner PremiereWarner Bros. Animation 2011 S.W.A.T.: Firefight Benny Boom Stage 6 FilmsSony Pictures Home Entertainment 2014 When the Game Stands Tall Thomas Carter TriStar Pictures The Maze Runner Wes Ball 20th Century Fox 2015 Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials My All American Angelo Pizzo Clarius Entertainment 2016 Brain on Fire Gerard Barrett Broad Green Pictures Almost Christmas David E. Talbert Universal Pictures 2017 All Eyez on Me Benny Boom Morgan Creek Productions Same Kind of Different as Me Michael Carney Paramount Pictures The Star Timothy Reckart Columbia PicturesSony Pictures Animation 2018 Maze Runner: The Death Cure Wes Ball 20th Century Fox 2020 Tesla Michael Almereyda IFC Films The Secrets We Keep Yuval Adler Bleecker Street 2021 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Swinton O. Scott III Walt Disney PicturesBardel EntertainmentDisney+ 2022 Cheaper by the Dozen Gail Lerner Walt Disney PicturesDisney+ Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules Luke Cormican Walt Disney PicturesBardel EntertainmentDisney+ Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again Matt Danner Walt Disney Pictures21 Laps EntertainmentAtomic CartoonsDisney+Alibaba Pictures 2023 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever Luke Cormican Walt Disney PicturesBardel EntertainmentDisney+ 2024 Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Wes Ball 20th Century StudiosOddball EntertainmentJason T. Reed Productions 2025 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw Matt Danner Walt Disney PicturesBardel EntertainmentDisney+
Television Year Title 2011 Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas 2012–2018DreamWorks Dragons 2014Crisis 2015–2018 Daredevil 2017 The Defenders 2017–2018 Salvation 2019–2023 Truth Be Told 2019–2022 Devils 2019 Charmed 2020Penny Dreadful: City of Angels 2021 The Hot Zone: Anthrax Leonardo 2021–presentInvincible 2026 The Boroughs
Video games Year Title Director(s) Studio(s) Notes 2017 Mass Effect: Andromeda Mac Walters BioWare / Electronic Arts Debut work as video game composerGran Turismo Sport Kazunori Yamauchi Polyphony Digital / Sony Interactive Entertainment Also used in Gran Turismo 7 2018Detroit: Become Human David CageGregory Diaconu Quantic Dream Composed the soundtrack for Markus, one of the main protagonistsMarvel's Spider-Man Bryan IntiharRyan Smith Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment / Marvel Games Also composed for the game's downloadable content Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps 2020Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Brian HortonCameron Christian 2022Gran Turismo 7 Kazunori Yamauchi Polyphony Digital / Sony Interactive Entertainment 2023Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Bryan IntiharRyan Smith 2025Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (From the Ashes expansion) Omar Bouali Massive Entertainment
Theme park attractions Year Attraction Location(s) 2021 Avengers Campus Disney California Adventure
Awards +WorkYearAwardOutcomeDreamWorks Dragons2012Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production The Maze Runner2014IFMCA Awards for Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film2015World Soundtrack Award for Public Choice AwardThe Defenders2018Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme MusicMarvel's Spider-ManThe Game Award for Best Score/MusicHMMA Award for Best Original Score – Video Game2019D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Detroit: Become Human Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales2021BAFTA Games Award for MusicMarvel's Spider-Man 22024D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music CompositionBAFTA Games Award for Music 2025Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media
References
External links
John Paesano on Twitter