Joaquim Dos Santos is a Portuguese-American television director of animated cartoons, best known for his directing work on Justice League Unlimited, Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. He was a storyboard artist for Justice League before being promoted in the show's renamed third season. He went on to direct half of the episodes of JLU alongside fellow DCAU director Dan Riba, including the final episode "Destroyer". He joined the staff of Avatar: The Last Airbender in the middle of the show's second season as a storyboard artist, and began directing episodes in the third season, including the last two parts of the four-part season finale. He also directed the mini-series G.I. Joe: Resolute. After that project, he moved back to Warner Bros. Animation, where he directed two DC Showcase short films: The Spectre (accompanying the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths direct-to-video movie) and Jonah Hex (on Batman: Under the Red Hood). He is now working as an executive producer and co-showrunner on the animated series Voltron: Legendary Defender with Lauren Montgomery. Some fans have nicknamed him "Dr. Fight" because of his skill at choreographing fight sequences and action set pieces.
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Biography from TMDB.
- June 22, 1977 (49)
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Director and producer, also actor
- 11 on Motif · 16 credits in all
Known for
What are Joaquim Dos Santos' films like?
Across a limited sample of 4 Motif titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 3
Light 0 · Serious 2 · Dark 1
Grounded 0 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 1
Gentle 0 · Charged 0 · Intense 3
Steady 1 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 0 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 1
A split, not a type: Casual 2 · Engaged 0 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 1
Resolved 1 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Joaquim Dos Santos' films?
As of October 24, 2026, 7 of their 11 Motif titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Joaquim Dos Santos' titles on Motif; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
16 credits, 11 with a Motif page; 7 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Project Hail Mary(2026)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all shows
Gravity(2013)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
The Legend of Korra(2012)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2010)
DC Showcase: Green Arrow (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2010)
Jonah Hex(2010)
Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films
DC Showcase: The Spectre (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2010)
G.I. Joe: Resolute (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2009)
G.I. Joe: Resolute (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2009)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows
Justice League Unlimited(2004)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all shows
Career shape
A full career of 16 titles, 15 of them dated from 2004 to 2026.
Biggest box office
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Highest rated
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on Motif, shown from 5 scored.
How do Joaquim Dos Santos' films land?
Their typical Motif film has a Midcredits score in the 88th percentile, the median of the 6 of 7 with a score; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 79th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up9
- 50th to 74th1
Shape of the crowd
None of their 10 titles divides audiences: 6 are Universally Loved.
- Universally Loved6
- Crowd Pleaser4
Reviewers score the pacing 63/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 72, detractors 41. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on Motif; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their Motif titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Joaquim Dos Santos work with?
People who share at least 2 of Joaquim Dos Santos' Motif titles, grouped by what they did on them; Josh Keaton shares the most, 2.
Actors
- Josh KeatonShared titles: Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016), Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Josh Keaton
Composers and editors
- Benjamin WynnShared titles: Jonah Hex (2010), Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Benjamin Wynn
- Jeremy ZuckermanShared titles: Jonah Hex (2010), Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Jeremy Zuckerman
- Margaret HouShared titles: Jonah Hex (2010), Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Margaret Hou
Producers
- Alan BurnettShared titles: Jonah Hex (2010), Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Alan Burnett
- Bobbie PageShared titles: Jonah Hex (2010), Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Bobbie Page
- Bruce TimmShared titles: Jonah Hex (2010), Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Bruce Timm
- Sam RegisterShared titles: Jonah Hex (2010), Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Sam Register
