Fails the Bechdel test
The Avengers
2012. Directed by Joss Whedon, written by Joss Whedon and Zak Penn.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
29 women characters. 7 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
Loki, the adopted brother of Thor, teams-up with the Chitauri Army and uses the Tesseract's power to travel from Asgard to Midgard to plot the invasion of Earth and become a king. The director of the agency S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, sets in motion project Avengers, joining Tony Stark a.k.a. the Iron Man; Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America; Bruce Banner, a.k.a. The Hulk; Thor; Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow; and Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, to save the world from the powerful Loki and the alien invasion.
- Released
- 04 May 2012
- Genres
- Action, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 8 / 10
- Metascore
- 69 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 43 wins & 81 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Tony 130 lines, man
- Nick Fury 110 lines, man
- Banner 79 lines, man
- Natasha 74 lines, woman
- Steve 74 lines, man
- Loki 70 lines, man
- Thor 50 lines, man
- Captain America 39 lines, man
- Pepper 27 lines, woman
- Clint Barton 23 lines, man
Full cast, 112 people
- Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man
- Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America
- Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / The Hulk
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor
- Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
- Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki
- Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson
- Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill
- Stellan Skarsgård as Selvig
- Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
- Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts
- Paul Bettany as Jarvis (voice)
- Alexis Denisof as The Other
- Tina Benko as NASA Scientist
- Jerzy Skolimowski as Georgi Luchkov
- Kirill Nikiforov as Weaselly Thug
- Jeff Wolfe as Tall Thug
- M'laah Kaur Singh as Young Girl
- Rashmi Rustagi as Calcutta Woman
- Powers Boothe as World Security Council
- Jenny Agutter as World Security Council
- Arthur Darbinyan as World Security Council
- Donald Li as World Security Council
- Warren Kole as Carrier Bridge Tech
- Alicia Sixtos as Carrier Bridge Tech
- Jesse Garcia as Carrier Bridge Techs
- Maximiliano Hernández as Agent Jasper Sitwell
- Dieter Riesle as Gala Scientist
- Kenneth Tigar as German Old Man
- Walter Perez as Young Shield Pilot
- Harry Dean Stanton as Security Guard
- Josh Cowdery as Maintenance Guy
- Ashley Johnson as Waitress
- Katsumi Komatsu as Japanese Family
- Yumiko Komatsu as Japanese Family
- Momoko Komatsu as Japanese Family
- Robert Clohessy as Police Sergeant
- Enver Gjokaj as Young Cop
- Fernanda Toker as Office Woman
- Andrea Vecchio as News Reporter
- Robin Swoboda as News Reporter
- Brent McGee as Faceless Pilot
- Jamie McShane as Celebration Montage Interviewee
- Michael Zhang as Celebration Montage Interviewee
- William-Christopher Stephens as Celebration Montage Interviewee
- Kelley Robins Hicks as Celebration Montage Interviewee
- Romy Rosemont as Shawna Lynde
- James Eckhouse as Senator Boynton
- Stan Lee as Stan Lee
- Thomas Roberts as Thomas Roberts
- Pat Kiernan as Pat Kiernan
- Damion Poitier as Man #1
- Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk (voice) (uncredited)
- Jillian Morgese as Woman in Restaurant (uncredited)
- Catherine Anderson as German Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Ricardo Andres as Lentil Merchant (uncredited)
- Logan Bennett as Shield Agent (uncredited)
- Mayank Bhatter as Celebration Montage Man Shaving Beard (uncredited)
- Sharita Bone as Gala Guest (uncredited)
- Jason Botsford as Museum Gala Patron (uncredited)
- Mary Kate Campbell as Stuttgart Biergarten patron (uncredited)
- Gene N. Chavez as Shield Guard (uncredited)
- Layla Cushman as Gala Guest (uncredited)
- Robert Dean as Soldier (uncredited)
- Rick Dremann as Museum Gala Guest (uncredited)
- Rod Fielder as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Eric Frank as Stuttgart Citizen (uncredited)
- Israel Hall as Shield Agent (uncredited)
- Carmen Dee Harris as Museum Gala Patron (uncredited)
- Alexander Christopher Jones as Mercenary (uncredited)
- Mike Karban as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Demoine Kinney as Shield Agent (uncredited)
- Andrew Knode as Stuttgart Citizen (uncredited)
- Annette Lawless as Hostage (uncredited)
- Kimberly J. Mahoney as Limo Driver (uncredited)
- Todd Manes as Helicarrier Medical Team Leader (uncredited)
- Jorge Mardel as Stuttgart Driver (uncredited)
- Michael McMillan as Cafe Patron (uncredited)
- Sean Meehan as Guard (uncredited)
- Holly Neelie as Gala Museum Patron (uncredited)
- Caleb Daniel Noal as Extra (uncredited)
- Jeremy Orr as Shield Agent (uncredited)
- Nate Paige as New York Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Martin Palmer as Shiel Employee (uncredited)
- Maria Perossa as Museum Gala Guest (uncredited)
- Caleb Pieplow as Extra (uncredited)
- Alexander Daniel Pimentel as Helicarrier Shield Agent (uncredited)
- Frank Powers as Shield Agent - Loki Escort (uncredited)
- Jaime Powers as Shield Agent (uncredited)
- Brent Reichert as Stuttgart Gala Patron (uncredited)
- Kelly Ruble as Shield Agent (uncredited)
- Gina Sarno as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
- Robert B. Schneider IV as New York City Police Officer (uncredited)
- Jeff Seich as New York Police Officer in Firefight (uncredited)
- Christina Shaffer as Stuttgart Beer Garden Patron (uncredited)
- Douglas Slygh as Museum Gala Patron (uncredited)
- Colin Strause as Shield Agent #4 (uncredited)
- Robert P. Thitoff as Gala Patron (uncredited)
- George Thomas as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent (uncredited)
- Shane Thompson as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Jerry Lee Tucker as Mercenary (uncredited)
- Tai Urban as Child on News #1 (uncredited)
- Chris Vaina as Running Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Sandra Weston as Sweeper (uncredited)
- Seth Zielicke as Barbershop (uncredited)
- Alex DeCourville as Tourist (uncredited)
- Andrea-Nichole Olivas as Shield Agent (uncredited)
- Tina Grimm as NYC Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Evan Kole as Principal (uncredited)
- Hank Amos as Shield Agent (uncredited)
- Joti Nagra as Waitress (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 193
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 | 5 | 12 |
| 6 to 10 | 1 | 42 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 20 | 11 | 10 |
| 21 to 25 | 21 | 20 |
| 26 to 30 | 0 | 8 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 to 40 | 28 | 59 |
| 41 to 45 | 6 | 32 |
| 46 to 50 | 0 | 12 |
| 51 to 55 | 2 | 15 |
| 56 to 60 | 5 | 54 |
| 61 to 65 | 2 | 43 |
| 66 to 70 | 8 | 72 |
| 71 to 75 | 6 | 68 |
| 76 to 80 | 1 | 5 |
| 81 to 85 | 3 | 6 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 9 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 5 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 5 |
| 101 to 105 | 1 | 5 |
| 106 to 110 | 0 | 6 |
| 111 to 115 | 0 | 5 |
| 116 to 120 | 11 | 42 |
| 121 to 125 | 1 | 38 |
| 126 to 130 | 0 | 4 |
| 131 to 135 | 1 | 4 |
| 136 to 140 | 2 | 11 |
| 141 to 145 | 4 | 21 |
| 146 to 150 | 1 | 11 |
| 151 to 155 | 4 | 3 |
| 156 to 160 | 1 | 6 |
| 161 to 165 | 3 | 9 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 5 |
| 171 to 175 | 1 | 8 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 0 |
| 181 to 185 | 1 | 3 |
| 186 to 190 | 1 | 8 |
| 191 to 193 | 1 | 9 |
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, 16 are women's.
132 lines from women, 675 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
29 women and 72 men in the cast. 7 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 813.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 87 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 14% of the words (1,101), men 86% (6,915). Women have 16% 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
60
Exhibit E: behind the camera
5 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Joss Whedon (man)
- Written by
- Joss Whedon (man)
- Story by
- Zak Penn (man), Joss Whedon (man)
- Produced by
- Kevin Feige (man)
- Shot by
- Seamus McGarvey (man)
- Edited by
- Jeffrey Ford (man), Lisa Lassek (woman)
- Music by
- Alan Silvestri (man)
- Production design by
- James Chinlund (man)
- Costumes by
- Alexandra Byrne (woman)
- Cast by
- Sarah Halley Finn (woman), Randi Hiller (woman), Nancy Bishop (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Visual Effects
11 women, 42 men, 85 not listed
-
Other crew
13 women, 54 men, 56 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 30 men, 73 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
22 women, 10 men, 56 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 23 men, 24 not listed
-
Lighting
1 women, 14 men, 34 not listed
-
Production
9 women, 13 men, 16 not listed
-
Sound
6 women, 11 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Scarlett Johansson 27, Cobie Smulders 30
Men
Chris Hemsworth 28, Chris Evans 30, Tom Hiddleston 31, Jeremy Renner 41, Mark Ruffalo 44, Robert Downey Jr. 47, Clark Gregg 50, Stellan Skarsgård 60
Exhibit G: the money
It made 6.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $220 million
- Box office
- $1.5 billion
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 193 scenes and 813 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
