Passes the Bechdel test
Spider-Man
2002. Directed by Sam Raimi, written by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and David Koepp.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
26 women characters. 2 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 214. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Based on Marvel Comics' superhero character, this is a story of Peter Parker who is a nerdy high-schooler. He was orphaned as a child, bullied by jocks, and can't confess his crush for his stunning neighborhood girl Mary Jane Watson. To say his life is "miserable" is an understatement. But one day while on an excursion to a laboratory a runaway radioactive spider bites him... and his life changes in a way no one could have imagined. Peter acquires a muscle-bound physique, clear vision, ability to cling to surfaces and crawl over walls, shooting webs from his wrist ... but the fun isn't going to last. An eccentric millionaire Norman Osborn administers a performance enhancing drug on himself and his maniacal alter ego Green Goblin emerges. Now Peter Parker has to become Spider-Man and take Green Goblin to the task... or else Goblin will kill him. They come face to face and the war begins in which only one of them will survive at the end.
- Released
- 03 May 2002
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 73 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 17 wins & 65 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Peter 176 lines, man
- Ock 136 lines, man
- Liz 120 lines, woman
- Spider-Man 113 lines, man
- Harry 56 lines, man
- Weiner 44 lines, man
- Flash 42 lines, man
- Thorkel 42 lines, man
- Roz 41 lines, man
- Jameson 27 lines, man
Full cast, 93 people
- Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
- Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn
- Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson
- James Franco as Harry Osborn
- Cliff Robertson as Ben Parker
- Rosemary Harris as May Parker
- J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson
- Joe Manganiello as Flash Thompson
- Gerry Becker as Maximilian Fargas
- Bill Nunn as Joseph 'Robbie' Robertson
- Jack Betts as Henry Balkan
- Stanley Anderson as General Slocum
- Ron Perkins as Dr. Mendel Stromm
- Michael Papajohn as Carjacker
- K.K. Dodds as Simkins
- Ted Raimi as Hoffman
- Bruce Campbell as Ring Announcer
- Elizabeth Banks as Miss Brant
- John Paxton as Houseman
- Tim DeZarn as Philip Watson
- Taylor Gilbert as Madeline Watson
- Randy Poffo as Bone Saw McGraw
- Larry Joshua as Wrestling Promoter
- Timothy Patrick Quill as Wrestling Arena Guard
- Lisa Danielle as Bone-ette
- Natalie T. Yeo as Bone-ette
- Erica D. Porter as Bone-ette
- Kristen Davidson as Bone-ette
- Jason Padgett as Flash's Crony
- Shan Omar Huey as Teacher
- Sally Levi as Girl on Bus
- Evan Arnold as Doctor
- Jill Sayre as Nurse
- Jim Ward as Project Coordinator
- David Holcomb as Test Pilot
- Octavia Spencer as Check-In Girl
- Brad Grunberg as Heckler
- Shane Habberstad as Little Billy
- Deborah Wakeham as Billy's Mom
- Rachael Bruce as Times Square Child
- Mackenzie Bryce as Times Square Child
- Julia Barrie as Times Square Child
- Macy Gray as Macy Gray
- Myk Watford as Cop at Fire
- Bill Calvert as Fireman
- Sylva Kelegian as Mother at Fire
- Kristen Marie Holly as Young Lady at Fire
- Ajay Mehta as Cabbie
- Peter Appel as Cabbie
- Scott Spiegel as Marine Cop
- Matt Smith as Cop at Carjacking
- Sara Ramirez as Cop at Carjacking
- Lucy Lawless as Punk Rock Girl
- Jayce Bartok as Subway Guitarist
- Maribel González as Lady Dogwalker
- Amy Bouril as Office Lady
- Joseph D'Onofrio as Opinionated Cop
- Jim Norton as Surly Truck Driver
- Corey Mendell Parker as Chaperone in Tram
- Ashley Edner as Girl in Tram
- William Joseph Firth as Boy in Tram
- Alex Black as Boy in Tram
- Laura Gray as Tram Group Mother
- Joe Virzi as New Yorker on Bridge
- Michael Edward Thomas as New Yorker on Bridge
- Jeanie Fox as New Yorker on Bridge
- Robert Kerman as Tugboat Captain
- Stan Lee as Man in Fair (uncredited)
- Una Damon as Lab Tour Guide (uncredited)
- Rick Avery as Cop (uncredited)
- Peter Aylward as Colonel (uncredited)
- Jillian Clare as Crying Girl in Tram (uncredited)
- Chris Coppola as Kyle (uncredited)
- Jesse Heiman as Spectator at School Fight (uncredited)
- Leroy Patterson as World Unity Festival Attendant (uncredited)
- Benny Urquidez as Mugger (uncredited)
- Scott L. Schwartz as Screaming Wrestler (uncredited)
- Jophery C. Brown as Chef (uncredited)
- Brian J. Williams as Young Thug #2 (uncredited)
- Mark De Alessandro as Cop (uncredited)
- Tia Dionne Hodge as Uptown Woman (uncredited)
- Loren Janes as Board of Directors Member (uncredited)
- Andray Johnson as Balkan's Aide (uncredited)
- Martin Pfefferkorn as Thug on 8x10 (uncredited)
- Tammi Sutton as Street Vendor (uncredited)
- Lindsay Thompson as Mary Jane's Friend (uncredited)
- Sean Valla as Boat Light Man (uncredited)
- Pete Macnamara as Pentagon Officer (uncredited)
- Al Goto as Cop (uncredited)
- Joni Avery as Cop (uncredited)
- Sam Raimi as Popcorn Thrower (uncredited)
- Craig Castaldo as Man with Bike (uncredited)
- Lou Torres as Enrique
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 214
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 5 | 4 | 27 |
| 6 to 10 | 4 | 18 |
| 11 to 15 | 20 | 83 |
| 16 to 20 | 9 | 37 |
| 21 to 25 | 4 | 29 |
| 26 to 30 | 3 | 29 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 14 |
| 36 to 40 | 0 | 7 |
| 41 to 45 | 9 | 31 |
| 46 to 50 | 3 | 30 |
| 51 to 55 | 3 | 19 |
| 56 to 60 | 6 | 36 |
| 61 to 65 | 12 | 56 |
| 66 to 70 | 1 | 13 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 5 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 3 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 4 |
| 86 to 90 | 3 | 7 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 13 |
| 96 to 100 | 5 | 8 |
| 101 to 105 | 11 | 10 |
| 106 to 110 | 1 | 2 |
| 111 to 115 | 5 | 20 |
| 116 to 120 | 15 | 22 |
| 121 to 125 | 9 | 17 |
| 126 to 130 | 0 | 37 |
| 131 to 135 | 2 | 1 |
| 136 to 140 | 2 | 0 |
| 141 to 145 | 3 | 8 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 14 |
| 151 to 155 | 12 | 9 |
| 156 to 160 | 1 | 20 |
| 161 to 165 | 1 | 26 |
| 166 to 170 | 2 | 12 |
| 171 to 175 | 5 | 16 |
| 176 to 180 | 1 | 12 |
| 181 to 185 | 2 | 3 |
| 186 to 190 | 1 | 7 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 15 |
| 196 to 200 | 3 | 6 |
| 201 to 205 | 6 | 8 |
| 206 to 210 | 6 | 7 |
| 211 to 214 | 10 | 12 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
KIM: Liz, get a load of this outfit! I wish I had it for the Halloween party... it's quite sexy. LIZ: Will you two shush. I'm trying to work.
KIM: I'm pooped. LIZ: I'm not...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.
184 lines from women, 753 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
26 women and 56 men in the cast. 2 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 970.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 71 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 16% of the words (1,436), men 84% (7,388). Women have 20% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: 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
7
Two men
84
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Sam Raimi (man)
- Written by
- David Koepp (man)
- Produced by
- Ian Bryce (man), Laura Ziskin (woman)
- Shot by
- Don Burgess (man)
- Edited by
- Arthur Coburn (man), Bob Murawski (man)
- Music by
- Danny Elfman (man)
- Production design by
- Neil Spisak (man)
- Costumes by
- James Acheson (man)
- Cast by
- Francine Maisler (woman), Lynn Kressel (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
8 women, 23 men, 19 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 13 men, 16 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 13 men, 14 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 15 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 8 men, 9 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 4 men, 8 not listed
-
Visual Effects
2 women, 8 men, 7 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 47 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kirsten Dunst 20, Rosemary Harris 74
Men
James Franco 24, Joe Manganiello 25, Tobey Maguire 26, Willem Dafoe 46, J.K. Simmons 47, Bill Nunn 48, Gerry Becker 51, Cliff Robertson 78
Exhibit H: the money
It made 5.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $139 million
- Box office
- $822 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 214 scenes and 970 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
