Fails the Bechdel test
Spider-Man 2
2004. Directed by Sam Raimi, written by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and Alfred Gough.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
26 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Peter Parker is an unhappy man: after two years of fighting crime as Spider-Man, his life has begun to fall apart. The girl he loves is engaged to someone else, his grades are slipping, he cannot keep any of his jobs, and on top of it, the newspaper Daily Bugle is attacking him viciously, claiming that Spider-Man is a criminal. He reaches the breaking point and gives up the crime fighter's life, once and for all. But after a failed fusion experiment, eccentric and obsessive scientist Dr. Otto Octavius is transformed into super villain Doctor Octopus, Doc Ock for short, having four long tentacles as extra hands. Peter guesses it might just be time for Spider-Man to return, but would he act upon it?
- Released
- 30 Jun 2004
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 83 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 25 wins & 60 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Peter 181 lines, man
- Otto 162 lines, man
- Mj 118 lines, woman
- Harry 57 lines, man
- May 44 lines, woman
- Jjj 36 lines, man
- Director 12 lines
- Mr. Aziz 11 lines, man
- Spider-Man 11 lines, man
- Renard 10 lines
Full cast, 115 people
- Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
- Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson
- James Franco as Harry Osborn
- Alfred Molina as Doc Ock / Otto Octavius
- Rosemary Harris as May Parker
- J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson
- Donna Murphy as Rosalie Octavius
- Daniel Gillies as John Jameson
- Dylan Baker as Dr. Curt Connors
- Bill Nunn as Joseph 'Robbie' Robertson
- Vanessa Ferlito as Louise
- Aasif Mandvi as Mr. Aziz
- Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn
- Cliff Robertson as Ben Parker
- Ted Raimi as Hoffman
- Elizabeth Banks as Miss Brant
- Bruce Campbell as Snooty Usher
- Gregg Edelman as Dr. Davis
- Elya Baskin as Mr. Ditkovitch
- Mageina Tovah as Ursula
- Daniel Dae Kim as Raymond
- Hal Sparks as Elevator Passenger
- Joel McHale as Mr. Jacks
- Stan Lee as Man Dodging Debris
- Kelly Connell as Dr. Isaacs
- Brent Briscoe as Garbage Man
- Emily Deschanel as Receptionist
- Jason Fiore-Ortiz as Henry Jackson
- Scott Spiegel as Man on Balcony
- Andy Bale as OsCorp Executive
- Christine Estabrook as Mrs. Jameson
- Molly Cheek as Society Woman
- John Paxton as Houseman
- Joy Bryant as Woman at Web
- Joanne Baron as Skeptical Scientist
- Peter McRobbie as OsCorp Representative
- Timothy Jerome as Injured Scientist
- Taylor Gilbert as Mrs. Watson
- Peter Vouras as Stage Manager
- Donnell Rawlings as Pizza "Heist" Witness
- Zachry Rogers as Boy saved by Spider-Man
- Ella Rogers as Girl saved by Spider-Man
- Louis Lombardi as Poker Player
- Marc John Jefferies as Amazed Kid
- Roshon Fegan as Amazed Kid
- Brendan Patrick Connor as Theater Traffic Cop
- Reed Diamond as 'Algernon'
- Dan Callahan as 'Jack'
- Elyse Dinh as Violinist
- John Landis as Doctor
- Tim Storms as Chainsaw Doctor
- Susie Park as Clawing Nurse
- Patricia M. Peters as Screaming Nurse
- Michael Edward Thomas as Man at Fire
- Anne Betancourt as Woman at Fire
- Venus Lam as Child in Burning Building
- Bill E. Rogers as Fireman
- Joe Virzi as Fireman
- Tom Carey as Train Conductor
- Jopaul Van Epp as Boy with Mask
- Weston Epp as Boy with Mask
- Peter Allas as Train Passenger
- Brianna Brown as Train Passenger
- Bill Calvert as Train Passenger
- Tony Campisi as Train Passenger
- Joey Diaz as Train Passenger
- Chloe Dykstra as Train Passenger
- Simone Gordon as Train Passenger
- Dan Hicks as Train Passenger
- Julia Max as Train Passenger
- Savannah Pope as Train Passenger
- Timothy Patrick Quill as Train Passenger
- Jill Sayre as Train Passenger
- Rickey G. Williams as Train Passenger
- Michael Arthur as NYPD Officer (uncredited)
- Frank Bonsangue as Pizza Man (uncredited)
- Cindy Cheung as Chinese Daughter (uncredited)
- Phil LaMarr as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Andre M. Johnson as Fireman 2 (uncredited)
- Peter Cincotti as Piano Player in Planetarium (uncredited)
- Troy Metcalf as Blue Collar Guy (uncredited)
- Scott Ross as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Bonnie Somerville as Screaming Woman (uncredited)
- Wesley Volcy as Columbia University Student (uncredited)
- Lou Volpe as Man at Web (uncredited)
- Garrett Warren as Bearded Doctor (uncredited)
- Joseph M. Caracciolo as Priest at Mary Jane's Wedding (uncredited)
- David Boston as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Sho Brown as Passenger (uncredited)
- Sal Ardisi as Parent (uncredited)
- Edward Johnson as Planetarium (uncredited)
- Grant Curtis as Hot Dog Vendor (uncredited)
- Vince Cupone as Victim (uncredited)
- William E. Corcoran as Stock Broker (uncredited)
- Mohammed Hassan as Middle Eastern Taxi Driver (uncredited)
- Rachel Lehrer as Hot Girl (uncredited)
- Gene LeBell as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Lorelei Llee as Bank Employee (uncredited)
- Joseph Nelson as Extra (uncredited)
- Claudia Katz Minnick as Robbie's Assistant (uncredited)
- Ronn Ozuk as Cop (uncredited)
- Denney Pierce as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Carla Rhodes as Phone Booth Girl (uncredited)
- Randy Reinholz as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Rachelle Roderick as Jane, Engineer (uncredited)
- Angel Katherine Taormina as Female Onlooker on Street (uncredited)
- Douglas Swander as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Jimmy Star as Reporter (uncredited)
- Jack Wetherall as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Ken Wharton as Uptight Businessman (uncredited)
- Henry Truong as Doc Ock Lab Assistant #2 (uncredited)
- Al Collado as Cab Driver (uncredited)
- Lee Cogburn as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Sam Raimi as University Student with Bag (uncredited)
- John Cameron as Man Buying 'Spider-Man No More' Newspaper (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 146
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 0 | 27 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 to 12 | 1 | 49 |
| 13 to 16 | 2 | 25 |
| 17 to 20 | 6 | 10 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 4 |
| 25 to 28 | 7 | 14 |
| 29 to 32 | 1 | 2 |
| 33 to 36 | 17 | 22 |
| 37 to 40 | 4 | 29 |
| 41 to 44 | 1 | 3 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 20 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 3 |
| 53 to 56 | 17 | 16 |
| 57 to 60 | 18 | 21 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 42 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 7 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 2 |
| 77 to 80 | 1 | 19 |
| 81 to 84 | 3 | 8 |
| 85 to 88 | 9 | 15 |
| 89 to 92 | 5 | 7 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 6 |
| 97 to 100 | 15 | 5 |
| 101 to 104 | 8 | 16 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 17 |
| 109 to 112 | 7 | 18 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 2 |
| 117 to 120 | 23 | 16 |
| 121 to 124 | 5 | 22 |
| 125 to 128 | 2 | 6 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 8 |
| 133 to 136 | 9 | 14 |
| 137 to 140 | 5 | 6 |
| 141 to 144 | 12 | 15 |
| 145 to 146 | 2 | 4 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 26 are women's.
180 lines from women, 503 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
26 women and 64 men in the cast. 4 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 57 of 749.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 56 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 24% of the words (1,819), men 76% (5,772). Women have 26% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
0
Two men
28
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Sam Raimi (man)
- Written by
- Alvin Sargent (man)
- Produced by
- Laura Ziskin (woman), Lorne Orleans (gender not listed), Avi Arad (man)
- Shot by
- Bill Pope (man)
- Edited by
- Bob Murawski (man)
- Music by
- Danny Elfman (man)
- Production design by
- Neil Spisak (man)
- Costumes by
- James Acheson (man), Gary Jones (man)
- Cast by
- Dianne Crittenden (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
8 women, 26 men, 14 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 13 men, 16 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 19 men, 12 not listed
-
Sound
7 women, 22 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 4 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 9 men, 7 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 10 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 48 on average. Men: 39 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kirsten Dunst 22, Donna Murphy 45, Rosemary Harris 76
Men
James Franco 26, Tobey Maguire 28, Daniel Gillies 28, Dylan Baker 44, J.K. Simmons 49, Bill Nunn 50, Alfred Molina 51
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $200 million
- Box office
- $789 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 146 scenes and 749 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
