--- title: The Short List of "Spider-Man" Directors Is Entirely Male description: The Marvel-Sony "Spider-Man" reboot is set for July of 2017 canonical: https://time.com/3848431/spider-man-marvel-directors-men/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-06T17:23:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:58:10.697Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: The Short List of "Spider-Man" Directors Is Entirely Male og:description: The Marvel-Sony "Spider-Man" reboot is set for July of 2017 og:url: https://time.com/3848431/spider-man-marvel-directors-men/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b5254a132e9408f/69877e67e53abab1374d77e5/spider-man.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: MCDAMSP EC059 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Short List of "Spider-Man" Directors Is Entirely Male twitter:description: The Marvel-Sony "Spider-Man" reboot is set for July of 2017 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b5254a132e9408f/69877e67e53abab1374d77e5/spider-man.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Short List of Possible _Spider-Man_ Directors Is All Men  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 6, 2015 5:23 PM CUT  Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man 2Columbia Pictures  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 6, 2015 5:23 PM CUT Amidst [debate](http://time.com/3824430/wonder-woman-patty-jenkins-new-director/ "undefined") about whether female directors are being deliberately boxed out of the superhero genre, Deadline has [published](http://deadline.com/2015/05/spider-man-director-short-list-marvel-sony-1201421161/ "undefined") a new short list of reported directors in the running to direct the Marvel-Sony _Spider-Man_ reboot. And—unsurprisingly—everyone on the list is a man. The directors in contention to direct the film about the teenage crime fighter—which, according to Deadline, is going for a superhero-meets-Ferris Bueller vibe—are _Warm Bodies_ writer Jonathan Levine, _St. Vincent_ director Ted Melfi, _Pitch Perfect_ director Jason Moore, _Napoleon Dynamite_ director Jared Hess and _Vacation_ directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein. **MORE:** [_The New_ ](http://time.com/3824430/wonder-woman-patty-jenkins-new-director/ "undefined")[Wonder Woman _Director Means Warner Bros. Is Listening_](http://time.com/3824430/wonder-woman-patty-jenkins-new-director/ "undefined") Though this list may not be all-inclusive, it’s nonetheless frustrating to see no women in the running. In a decade that’s seen almost 50 superhero films, not a single woman has directed a major project. (Lexi Alexander, who directed the comic book-inspired _Punisher: War Zone_ in 2008 came closest, but the box office potential for that film was nothing close to a movie like _Spider-Man_ or even _Wonder Woman_.) A [recent study](http://time.com/2987853/study-hollywood-hispanic-women-movies/ "undefined") showed that women, and especially Hispanic women, are summer’s most frequent moviegoers—and big franchise movies that _do_ include a woman’s perspective and feature kick-ass female characters [do better at the box office](http://time.com/2811177/maleficent-female-summer-blockbusters/ "undefined"). (That’s not to say that male directors can’t do that—but having a woman at the helm definitely helps.) The Jennifer Lawrence pic _The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1_ and Marvel’s _Guardians of the Galaxy_ were the second and third highest-grossing film of 2014\. _Guardians_ also happened to be Marvel’s first movie written by a woman, Nicole Perlman, and featured a strong female hero in Zoe Saldana’s Gamora. There is nothing inherently “masculine” about superhero movies—and a coming-of-age hero story in particular. The few women given the opportunity to do so have proven capable of running action franchises and even surpassing their male counterparts. The best example, of course, is _Zero Dark Thirty_ and _Hurt Locker_ director Kathryn Bigelow, but Catherine Hardwicke also had huge success with _Twilight_ _._ Michelle MacLaren, for example, was attached to the Warner Bros. and DC _Wonder Woman_ movie after having directed some of the best episodes of testosterone-laden shows like _Breaking Bad_, _Game of Thrones_ and _The Walking Dead_. But even MacLaren isn’t guaranteed a spot in the superhero world. The director left the first major female superhero film after reports of “creative differences.” Following quick accusations of sexism, Warner Bros. signed _Monster_ director Patty Jenkins to replace her. Female directors in general are underrepresented in big, blockbuster films. Last year, [only 7% of the 250 highest-grossing films ](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014%5Fcelluloid%5Fceiling%5Freport.pdf "undefined")were directed by women, according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. _Spider-Man_ seems like the perfect opportunity to diversify the blockbuster genre. This is the third reboot of the franchise since 2002, and the last installment was a box office disappointment. Bringing on a female director might add much needed perspective and a new appeal. It might even help make characters like Mary Jane and Gwen Stacey (Spider-Man’s two girlfriends and frequent damsels in distress) three-dimensional. But unlike DC, Marvel has yet to give a female director any of their films. The lack of female heroes and female directors attached to their movies is so criticized by fans that [_SNL_ spoofed](http://time.com/3844733/scarlett-johansson-snl/ "undefined") the issue last weekend with a rom-com version of a Black Widow movie that included the tagline “Chill. Marvel gets women.” Marvel’s first female-led superhero movie, _Captain Marvel_, is due out in 2018 and is being written by female writing team Nicole Perlman (_Guardians of the Galaxy_) and Meg LeFauve (_Inside Out_). Given Captain Marvel’s feminist outlook in the comic books, it’s likely that Marvel choose a woman to helm that film. But it would be even _more_ exciting to see Marvel take a “risk” on a woman on one of its [many future franchises](http://time.com/3841234/avengers-age-of-ultron-marvel-movies-next/ "undefined")—instead of just relegating them to “female films.” **Read Next:** [This Map Shows How All the Future Marvel Movies Are Connected](http://time.com/3841234/avengers-age-of-ultron-marvel-movies-next/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3848431/spider-man-marvel-directors-men/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3848431/spider-man-marvel-directors-men/"},"headline":"The Short List of Possible Spider-Man Directors Is All Men","datePublished":"2015-05-06T17:23:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:58:10.697Z","description":"The Marvel-Sony Spider-Man reboot is set for July 2017","url":"https://time.com/3848431/spider-man-marvel-directors-men/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b5254a132e9408f/69877e67e53abab1374d77e5/spider-man.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b5254a132e9408f/69877e67e53abab1374d77e5/spider-man.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MCDAMSP EC059","caption":"MCDAMSP EC059","creditText":"Columbia Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3848431/spider-man-marvel-directors-men/","name":"The Short List of Possible Spider-Man Directors Is All Men"}}]}] ```