# Joaquim Dos Santos

Joaquim Aranha dos Santos is a Portuguese-born American storyboard artist, designer, director, producer, and writer. He is best known for his directing work on the television series Justice League Unlimited, Avatar: The Last Airbender, G.I. Joe: Resolute, The Legend of Korra, and Voltron: Legendary Defender, the latter of which he was also a co-showrunner. He co-directed the film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).

## Career

He was a storyboard artist for the animated series Justice League before being promoted in the show's renamed third season. He went on to direct half of the episodes of Justice League Unlimited alongside fellow DC Animated Universe 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 series finale. He would later go on to work on Avatar's sequel series The Legend of Korra, as he co-directed all of the first season alongside Ki Hyun Ryu and served as co-executive producer for the entire series.
He also served as supervising director on 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 also worked as an executive producer and co-showrunner on the animated series Voltron: Legendary Defender with Lauren Montgomery. He directed Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, alongside Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson. In December 2024, it was reported that he would not be returning to direct Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

## Personal life

Dos Santos was born in Lisbon, Portugal and moved to the United States when he was four years old, though he spent his summers in Portugal. He currently resides in Woodland Hills, California with his wife and son.

## Filmography

| Year | Film | Role |
| 2007 | The Invincible Iron Man | additional storyboard artist |
| 2007 | Superman: Doomsday | storyboard artist (as Joaquim Dos Santas) |
| 2008 | Justice League: The New Frontier | storyboard artist |
| 2008 | Batman: Gotham Knight | storyboard artist (segment Deadshot) |
| 2010 | The Spectre | director, producer, storyboard artist, character designer |
| 2010 | Jonah Hex | director, producer, storyboard artist, character designer |
| 2010 | Green Arrow | director, producer, storyboard artist, character designer |
| 2010 | Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam | director, producer, storyboard artist, character designer |
| 2011 | Green Lantern: Emerald Knights | storyboard artist |
| 2023 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | director |
| Year | TV-series | Role |
| 2000-2001 | Max Steel | storyboard artist, storyboard clean-up artist, 4 episodes |
| 2001 | Heavy Gear: The Animated Series | storyboard artist, 4 episodes |
| 2001-2004 | Justice League | storyboard artist, 22 episodes |
| 2002 | He-Man and the Masters of the Universe | storyboards, 1 episode |
| 2004 | Justice League: Starcrossed | storyboard, TV movie |
| 2004 | Teen Titans | storyboard artist, 4 episodes |
| 2004-2006 | Justice League Unlimited | director, storyboard artist, 20 episodes |
| 2006 | Legion of Super Heroes | storyboard artist, 1 episode |
| 2006-2008 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | director, storyboard artist, additional storyboard artist, background designer, character designer, 12 episodes |
| 2008 | The Spectacular Spider-Man | storyboard artist, 2 episodes |
| 2009 | G.I. Joe: Resolute | supervising director, art director, character designer, 11 episodes |
| 2012 | Tron: Uprising | storyboard artist, 1 episode |
| 2012-2014 | The Legend of Korra | director, co-executive producer, art director, storyboard artist, main character designer, Mako's Fan (voice, uncredited), 52 episodes |
| 2016-2018 | Voltron: Legendary Defender | director, executive producer, writer, storyboard, 76 episodes |
| 2021 | Invincible | storyboard artist, 1 episode |
| 2022 | The Legend of Vox Machina | main title layout (uncredited), 11 episodes |