Joaquim Aranha dos Santos (born July 22, 1977) is a Portuguese-American storyboard artist, designer, director, producer, and writer. He is known for his directorial work on the television series Justice League Unlimited, Avatar: The Last Airbender, G.I. Joe: Resolute, The Legend of Korra, and Voltron: Legendary Defender. He was also the co-showrunner of Voltron: Legendary Defender. He also co-directed the film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).
Early life and education
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.
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''.
Filmography YearFilmRole2007The Invincible Iron Manadditional storyboard artistSuperman: Doomsdaystoryboard artist (as Joaquim Dos Santas)2008Justice League: The New Frontierstoryboard artistBatman: Gotham Knightstoryboard artist ("Deadshot" segment)2010The Spectredirector, producer, storyboard artist, character designerJonah Hexdirector, producer, storyboard artist, character designerGreen Arrowdirector, producer, storyboard artist, character designerSuperman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adamdirector, producer, storyboard artist, character designer2011Green Lantern: Emerald Knightsstoryboard artist2023Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Versedirector2025A Minecraft Moviestoryboard artist2026Project Hail Marystoryboard artistYearTelevision seriesRole2000-2001Max Steelstoryboard artist, storyboard clean-up artist, 4 episodes2001Heavy Gear: The Animated Seriesstoryboard artist, 4 episodes2001-2004Justice Leaguestoryboard artist, 22 episodes 2002He-Man and the Masters of the Universestoryboards, 1 episode2004Justice League: Starcrossedstoryboard, TV movieTeen Titansstoryboard artist, 4 episodes2004-2006Justice League Unlimiteddirector, storyboard artist, 20 episodes2006Legion of Super Heroesstoryboard artist, 1 episode2006-2008Avatar: The Last Airbenderdirector, storyboard artist, additional storyboard artist, background designer, character designer, 12 episodes2008The Spectacular Spider-Manstoryboard artist, 2 episodes2009G.I. Joe: Resolutesupervising director, art director, character designer, 11 episodes2012Tron: Uprisingstoryboard artist, 1 episode2012-2014The Legend of Korradirector, co-executive producer, art director, storyboard artist, main character designer, Mako's Fan (voice, uncredited), 52 episodes2016-2018Voltron: Legendary Defenderdirector, executive producer, writer, storyboard, 76 episodes2021-Invinciblestoryboard artist, 2 episodes2022The Legend of Vox Machinamain title layout (uncredited), 11 episodes
References
External links
Joaquim Dos Santos at DeviantArt Joaquim Dos Santos' blog Interview with Joaquim Dos Santos about his work on Avatar: The Last Airbender More information about G.I. Joe: Resolute