海角大神

鈥淎vengers: Age of Ultron鈥� director Joss Whedon recently deleted his Twitter account and observers quickly wondered what caused the director to leave the social media website.

Whedon said in an interview with BuzzFeed that he felt he was spending too much time on it.

What isn鈥檛 behind Whedon departing Twitter? According to the director, the cause is not criticism of the character of Black Widow, portrayed by actress Scarlett Johansson in Whedon鈥檚 new superhero movie, which he wrote and directed.聽

鈥淭hat鈥檚 horse [expletive],鈥� the director said. 鈥淏elieve me, I have been attacked by militant feminists since I got on Twitter. That鈥檚 something I鈥檓 used to鈥� I just thought,聽鈥榃ait a minute, if I鈥檓 going to start writing again, I have to go to the quiet place.鈥欌��

Here鈥檚 some context. People have discussed before how Black Widow is one of the only members of the Avengers superhero team not to get her own spin-off movie. Her compatriots Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk have starred in their own films (though Hawkeye, portrayed by Jeremy Renner, has also not starred in his own movie). And recently, 鈥淎vengers鈥� star Mark Ruffalo, who portrays the Hulk, said he wasn鈥檛 seeing a lot of merchandise centered around Black Widow.

In addition, when asked during an interview with Digital Spy about fans wanting Black Widow to be paired romantically with various members of the Avengers, 鈥淎vengers鈥� actors Chris Evans (who plays Captain America) and Renner also offended some viewers when Renner called her a 鈥渟lut鈥� and Evans said she is 鈥渁 complete whore.鈥� Evans later called the remarks 鈥渏uvenile and offensive鈥� in a statement and Renner said the comments had been 鈥渢asteless,鈥� though in an appearance on Conan O鈥橞rien鈥檚 late-night show, he said that if a person was together romantically with several Avengers, 鈥測ou鈥檇 be a slut, I鈥檇 be a slut.鈥澛�

Why would fans be angry with Whedon? (Spoilers follow for 鈥淯ltron鈥濃��)聽

With the release of the new movie 鈥淎vengers: Age of Ultron,鈥� some viewers were incensed over plot points involving Black Widow. In the film, she and the Hulk explore the possibility of a romantic relationship and she also reveals that she is unable to biologically have children.聽

Some fans disliked these storylines while others defended the film. Entertainment Weekly writer Darren Franich wrote:

io9 writers Meredith Woerner and Katharine Trendacosta said about Black Widow:

Alyssa Rosenberg of the Washington Post wrote that she 鈥渇ind[s] the criticisms of Natasha鈥檚 storylines baffling.鈥澛�

As 鈥淯ltron鈥� continues to top the box office, the debate won鈥檛 be going away anytime soon. But it won鈥檛 be taking place on Twitter with Joss Whedon.