--- name: "Joaquim Dos Santos" canonical: "https://film.one/person/joaquim-dos-santos" fi1m_id: "joaquim-dos-santos" imdb_id: "nm1690966" tmdb_id: 89596 wikidata_id: "Q3247370" roles: ["Director"] born: "22 June 1977" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "director" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-23T23:51:15.742600+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." --- # Joaquim Dos Santos ## Identity Joaquim Dos Santos - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joaquim-dos-santos - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** joaquim-dos-santos - **IMDb ID:** nm1690966 - **TMDB ID:** 89596 - **Wikidata ID:** Q3247370 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquim_Dos_Santos, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3247370, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1690966/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/89596 Director. Born 22 June 1977 in Lisbon, Portugal. ## Details - **Work:** Director - **Born:** 22 June 1977, Lisbon, Portugal - **Active:** 2005–present - **Also known as:** Joaquim Aranha Dos Santos - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquim_Dos_Santos, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3247370, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1690966/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/89596 ## Coming up - *Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse* (2027-06-17), Executive Producer ## Fi1m on Joaquim Dos Santos > Joaquim Dos Santos builds animated action around character, an instinct we rate highly. His shared direction of *Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* gives each world its own painting style, though the explanations go on too long. A change of universe in *Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* (2023) brings a change of painting style. We were delighted by that variety, and by the willingness to make each world look different rather than settle on one attractive way of drawing everything. Its direction is shared by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, and the achievement belongs to all three. That collaborative setting suits a director whose background is in storyboarding and whose particular interest is character revealed through action. We recommend the result, with reservations about its length and its storytelling. Dos Santos treats the way a character fights as information about who they are. That concern informed his work on *Avatar: The Last Airbender* (2006–2008), where he worked as both storyboard artist and director. Directing and co-executive producing *The Legend of Korra* (2012), then co-showrunning *Voltron: Legendary Defender* (2016) with Lauren Montgomery, broadened his responsibility beyond individual sequences. His feature directing debut, *Across the Spider-Verse*, brought him into another shared leadership role. There is little reason to discuss this work as though he made it alone. In *Across the Spider-Verse*, the script by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and David Callaham supplies a clear starting point: Miles Morales is hiding his activities from his parents and missing Gwen Stacy. Those problems need little explanation, and give us reasons to care before the film starts explaining its universes. The rules get considerably more attention, and at 140 minutes we could do with less instruction. We would happily lose some of it to spend longer with the characters, particularly given Dos Santos's interest in what their movements can communicate. The visual variety and humour still justify the evening. We found the film better looking than its predecessor and funnier in places, which matters when judging a director's contribution to an established series. The larger caveat is that it delivers only half of a longer story. Start here for his feature work, but choose something else if an unfinished story is likely to spoil the evening. ## Biography Joaquim Dos Santos is a Portuguese-born American director, storyboard artist, designer, producer and writer. He was born on 22 July 1977 in Lisbon and moved to the United States at the age of four. He began his career in animation as a storyboard artist on series including *Justice League* and *Justice League Unlimited*. He later directed episodes of *Avatar: The Last Airbender* and served as co-executive producer and co-director on *The Legend of Korra*. He was co-showrunner and executive producer on *Voltron: Legendary Defender*. Dos Santos co-directed the animated feature *Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* (2023) with Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* (2023), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse.md) ## Complete filmography (16) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse* (2027), Executive Producer - *Project Hail Mary* (2026), Storyboard Artist — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/project-hail-mary.md) - *Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* (2023), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse.md) - *Voltron: Legendary Defender* (2016), series, Director - *Gravity* (2013), Rotoscoping Artist — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/gravity.md) - *The Legend of Korra* (2012), series, Producer, Director - *Green Lantern: Emerald Knights* (2011), Storyboard Artist - *Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam* (2010), Director, Producer, Storyboard Designer, Character Designer - *DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection* (2010), Director, Producer - *DC Showcase: Green Arrow* (2010), Director, Producer, Character Designer, Storyboard Designer - *DC Showcase: Jonah Hex* (2010), Director, Storyboard Designer, Producer, Character Designer - *DC Showcase: The Spectre* (2010), Director, Character Designer, Storyboard Designer, Producer - *G.I. Joe: Resolute* (2009), Director - *G.I. Joe: Resolute* (2009), series, Director - *Avatar: The Last Airbender* (2005), series, Director - *Justice League Unlimited* (2004), series, Director --- © 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/joaquim-dos-santos