---
name: "David S. Goyer"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/david-s-goyer"
fi1m_id: "david-s-goyer"
imdb_id: "nm0275286"
tmdb_id: 3893
wikidata_id: "Q352010"
roles: ["Writer","Producer","Director"]
born: "22 December 1965"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 11
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 8
updated: "2026-10-05T12:46:10.613639+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# David S. Goyer

## Identity

David S. Goyer

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/david-s-goyer
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** david-s-goyer
- **IMDb ID:** nm0275286
- **TMDB ID:** 3893
- **Wikidata ID:** Q352010
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_S._Goyer, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q352010, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0275286/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3893

Writer and producer. Born 22 December 1965 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Producer, Director
- **Born:** 22 December 1965, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- **Active:** 1998–present
- **Also known as:** David S Goyer, Cynthia Verlaine, David Samuel Goyer, Ricardo Festiva, David Goyer, デヴィッド・S・ゴイヤー
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 11: 1 directing, 8 writing, 2 producing
- **Frequently works with:** [Charles Roven](https://film.one/person/charles-roven.md), [Amy Adams](https://film.one/person/amy-adams.md), [Christopher Nolan](https://film.one/person/christopher-nolan.md), [Emma Thomas](https://film.one/person/emma-thomas.md), [Henry Cavill](https://film.one/person/henry-cavill.md), [Zack Snyder](https://film.one/person/zack-snyder.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as writer, over 8 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 76 (2), 2000s 72 (3), 2010s 60 (4), 2020s 66 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 70 to 66 across 8 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 5 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Action 7, Adventure 3, Crime 3, Science Fiction 3, Thriller 3, Drama 2
- **Screen time:** 18 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $4,422m across 8 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_S._Goyer, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q352010, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0275286/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3893

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Batman Begins*](https://film.one/film/batman-begins.md) (81), [*Man of Steel*](https://film.one/film/man-of-steel.md) (60), [*Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice*](https://film.one/film/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice.md) (44)
- **Apple TV:** [*Foundation*](https://film.one/tv/foundation.md) (61), [*Terminator: Dark Fate*](https://film.one/film/terminator-dark-fate.md) (61)
- **The Roku Channel:** [*Dark City*](https://film.one/film/dark-city.md) (76)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The First Omen*](https://film.one/film/the-first-omen.md) (72)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on David S. Goyer

> David S. Goyer builds the machinery: an Empire ruled by three clones of one man, a mathematician who works out that it will fall, a man who is partly a vampire. Then he explains it, at length. His best films are the ones Nolan directed.

Three men rule the Galactic Empire in *Foundation* (2021), and they are the same man, cloned, ruling at once at different ages. None of that is in Asimov. It is Goyer and Josh Friedman's invention, and it is the best thing in the series, a premise good enough that Lee Pace can carry whole stretches of it alone.

He came up through *Blade* (1998) and *Dark City* (1998), and both films are worth an evening because of the idea rather than the people carrying it. In *Blade* the exposition about vampires runs long, and Wesley Snipes is given fewer chances to show what being partly one costs him than he deserves. *Dark City*, written with Alex Proyas and Lem Dobbs, asks better questions, about what makes a person, and gives its characters too little life beyond their part in the puzzle. Then came Christopher Nolan, and the Batman films of 2005, 2008 and 2012 are the peak. *Batman Begins*, which Goyer wrote with Nolan, takes revenge and justice seriously enough that the difference between them matters. The two of them can be laborious about it, and we were ready to move on before the preparation was over, but Bale's Bruce Wayne is a man the script serves.

Without Nolan the habits come back unsupervised. *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* (2016), written with Chris Terrio for Zack Snyder, runs four stories and several dreams at once and hands Henry Cavill a fair question with almost no lines to answer it. *Terminator: Dark Fate* (2019), on which he shares the screenplay with Billy Ray and Justin Rhodes, follows *Terminator 2* almost scene for scene and delivers its one idea as a speech. We were not bored by the last half hour of that film so much as worn down, digital figures throwing each other through digital walls until we stopped following who was hitting whom. It is the same complaint every time: too much explaining, too few people to care about.

*Foundation* is where all of this arrives at once. He has called it "The show I spent my whole career preparing for," and you can see why: a source that is nearly all conversation, an argument that individuals do not matter, and a serial drama that needs them to. He and Friedman spend the first season arguing with the book, and now and then they win. We sat through slow, solemn hours of it waiting for Pace to come back, and forgave a good deal when he did. That is roughly how the career reads: a superb premise, a long wait, and somebody else's face making it worth staying. Watch the first two episodes and see whether Trantor holds you. If the machinery interests you more than the people, he is your writer.

## Biography

David S. Goyer is an American screenwriter, producer and director. He graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television in 1988 and sold his first screenplay before completing his studies.

Goyer wrote the screenplay for *Blade* (1998) and the screenplay for *Dark City* (1998). He later wrote the screenplays for *Batman Begins* (2005), *Man of Steel* (2013) and *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* (2016), and contributed stories to *The Dark Knight* (2008) and *The Dark Knight Rises* (2012). He created and serves as showrunner on the Apple TV+ series *Foundation* (2021–).

He has directed four feature films, including *Blade: Trinity* (2004), and produced *The First Omen* (2024) through his company Phantom Four Films. Goyer won a Saturn Award for Best Writing for *Batman Begins*.

*Sources: davidsgoyer.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (11)

### Directed (1)

- *Foundation* (2021), Fi1m 61, Director, Creator, Executive Producer, Writer, Story — [page](https://film.one/tv/foundation.md)

### Wrote (8) — the average rests on these

- *Terminator: Dark Fate* (2019), Fi1m 61, Story, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/terminator-dark-fate.md)
- *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* (2016), Fi1m 44, Screenplay, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice.md)
- *Man of Steel* (2013), Fi1m 60, Story, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/man-of-steel.md)
- *The Dark Knight Rises* (2012), Fi1m 74, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/the-dark-knight-rises.md)
- *The Dark Knight* (2008), Fi1m 85, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/the-dark-knight.md)
- *Batman Begins* (2005), Fi1m 81, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/batman-begins.md)
- *Blade* (1998), Fi1m 76, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/blade.md)
- *Dark City* (1998), Fi1m 76, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/dark-city.md)

### Produced (2)

- *The First Omen* (2024), Fi1m 72, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-first-omen.md)
- *Mission to Mars* (2000), Fi1m 50, Co-Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/mission-to-mars.md)

## Complete filmography (66)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Night Patrol* (2026), Producer
- *Superman* (2025), Thanks — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/superman.md)
- *Murderbot* (2025), series, Executive Producer
- *The First Omen* (2024), Producer — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/the-first-omen.md)
- *Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities* (2022), series, Teleplay
- *Hellraiser* (2022), Screenstory, Producer
- *The Sandman* (2022), series, Executive Producer, Teleplay, Creator
- *Antlers* (2021), Producer
- *Foundation* (2021), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Director, Story, Creator — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/tv/foundation.md)
- *The Tomorrow War* (2021), Producer
- *The Night House* (2021), Producer
- *Terminator: Dark Fate* (2019), Screenplay, Story — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/terminator-dark-fate.md)
- *Constantine: City of Demons - The Movie* (2018), Executive Producer
- *Assassination Nation* (2018), Producer
- *A-X-L* (2018), Producer
- *Tau* (2018), Producer
- *Constantine: City of Demons* (2018), series, Executive Producer
- *Krypton* (2018), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Story, Teleplay, Creator
- *The Shape of Water* (2017), Thanks — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/the-shape-of-water.md)
- *The Birth of a Nation* (2016), Executive Producer
- *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* (2016), Screenplay, Executive Producer — Fi1m 44, [page](https://film.one/film/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice.md)
- *DC's Legends of Tomorrow* (2016), series, Thanks
- *The Forest* (2016), Producer
- *Constantine* (2014), series, Story, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
- *The Flash* (2014), series, Thanks
- *Journey of Discovery: Creating Man of Steel* (2013), Actor
- *Man of Steel* (2013), Screenplay, Story — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/man-of-steel.md)
- *Da Vinci's Demons* (2013), series, Creator
- *The Dark Knight Rises* (2012), Story — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-dark-knight-rises.md)
- *DevilDolls* (2012), Writer
- *Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance* (2011), Executive Producer, Screenplay, Story
- *Demonic Toys: Personal Demons* (2010), Characters
- *FlashForward* (2009), series, Writer, Director, Executive Producer, Creator
- *The Unborn* (2009), Director, Writer
- *The Dark Knight* (2008), Story — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/the-dark-knight.md)
- *Batman: Gotham Knight* (2008), Screenplay
- *Jumper* (2008), Screenplay
- *The Invisible* (2007), Director
- *Ghost Rider* (2007), Executive Producer
- *Blade: House of Chthon* (2006), Script
- *Blade: The Series* (2006), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Threshold* (2005), series, Director, Producer, Writer
- *Batman Begins* (2005), Screenplay — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/batman-begins.md)
- *Blade: Trinity* (2004), Director, Writer, Producer
- *Zig Zag* (2002), Director, Screenplay
- *Blade II* (2002), Writer, Executive Producer
- *FreakyLinks* (2000), series, Creator
- *Mission to Mars* (2000), Co-Producer — Fi1m 50, [page](https://film.one/film/mission-to-mars.md)
- *Blade* (1998), Writer — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/blade.md)
- *Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.* (1998), Writer
- *Dark City* (1998), Screenplay — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/dark-city.md)
- *Sleepwalkers* (1997), series, Writer, Creator
- *Perversions of Science* (1997), series, Screenplay
- *The Crow: City of Angels* (1996), Screenplay
- *The Puppet Masters* (1994), Screenplay
- *The Substitute* (1993), Writer
- *Arcade* (1993), Screenplay
- *Demonic Toys* (1992), Screenplay
- *Kickboxer 2: The Road Back* (1991), Writer
- *Death Warrant* (1990), Writer
- *Fantastic Voyage*, Writer
- *The Blob*, Producer
- *Starman*, Executive Producer
- *Rogue*, Producer
- *Fatal Fury*, Screenplay
- *The Reincarnation of Peter Proud*, Producer

## Gallery

- ![David Goyer at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International](https://film.one/media/person/11775/gallery-fcbf4bc00e38.jpg) David Goyer at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International — Sue Lukenbaugh, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/David_Goyer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![David S. Goyer](https://film.one/media/person/11775/gallery-7a02ce2803b6.jpg) David S. Goyer — RoadTrain, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/David_S._Goyer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/david-s-goyer