Reports: Joss Whedon quits Twitter over ‘Ultron’ criticism

WASHINGTON — Over the weekend, Joss Whedon’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” brought in more than $190 million, the second-biggest opening weekend ever. But some of the criticism of the film has evidently led the director to quit Twitter.

He’s no longer found on the social-media site, and The Guardian reports that his final message was “Thank you to all the people who’ve been so kind and funny and inspiring up in here.”

TIME reports that it’s hard to know for sure why he left, but says that some users had urged him to “die” or “commit suicide” over various plot points they didn’t like in his latest film, particularly the relationship between the Black Widow and Bruce Banner, a scene in which the Black Widow is captured by Ultron, and the depiction of Quicksilver.

Others on Twitter have compiled a sampling of the responses he got, via TIME. (The language gets pretty rough, though the insinuation that the creator of “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer” doesn’t do strong female characters is pretty funny.)

TIME notes that this isn’t the first time the director has laid off Twitter, though. Talking with EW in 2013, he called Twitter “my other job,” one that “doesn’t pay very well,” and that he would “walk away” temporarily.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up