Joss Whedon quits twitter after receiving death threats related to 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'
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Ian Phillips
May 5, 2015, 23:50 IST
Marvel
Much of the criticism that Whedon faces over "Age of Ultron" has to do with the portrayal of Black Widow.
Following a $191 million opening weekend for his "Avengers: Age of Ultron," director Joss Whedon, an outspoken personality, decided to quit Twitter Monday morning.
Some are speculating that it had to do with a high volume of death threats and hate from commenters, though Whedon did not confirm why he chose to flee the social media platform.
ScreenCrush was able to capture his final message to fans before he deleted his account:
While Whedon gave no official reason for why he deactivated his account, some suspect it has to do with the amount of violent threats Whedon received over the film.
@josswhedon turn on your location so I can beat your ugly ass !
The backlash toward Whedon appeared to stem from infuriation at the portrayal of Black Widow, the main female character played by Scarlett Johansson in "Age of Ultron." In the film, a big chunk of her storyline revolves around a budding relationship with Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).
In "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Black Widow is seen wearing a necklace with an arrow, which many believed referenced Hawkeye.
Anyone seeing "Avengers: Age of Ultron" will tell you Black Widow's role wasn't confined solely to that of aromanticizing female, but many still took issue with her portrayal.
Anytime you see Joss Whedon lauded as a feminist filmmaker you have to realize the curve he's being graded on is so low it's subterranean.
For fans of Whedon, who has long been known for depicting strong women, the focus on an unnecessary romantic relationship was a bit of an odd departure, especially since the director recently criticized a "Jurassic World" clip for being "sexist" on Twitter.
This past weekend's SNL also mocked Marvel sexism in a faux ad for the film featuring Scarlett Johansson herself.
This isn't the first time Whedon quit Twitter. He previously left the social platform in 2013. According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Whedon only joined Twitter at the time to help promote his 2012 indie film "Much Ado about Nothing."
"The moment I joined, oh my God, what a responsibility, this is enormous work-very fun, but it really started to take up a huge amount of my head space. I'm making a movie, I got a responsibility, this job doesn't pay very well. It's a fascinating medium, it's a fascinating social phenomenon. People are like, 'It's like a drug.' Yeah, and it's like a job. It's just another art form. Until I have a script I truly believe in or a tweet that's really remarkable, I can just walk away and get back to the storytelling I need to do."
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