Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon directed “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which has grossed more than $881 million worldwide, making it the second most successful film of 2015 after “Furious 7.” Reuters

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” writer-director Joss Whedon has not been fired from the franchise, despite the rumors on Twitter Monday. The rumors ignited after the Oscar-nominated director deactivated his Twitter account.

So why did he quit Twitter? After “Avengers: Age of Ultron” debuted in theaters Friday, some people harassed Whedon over the portrayal of the superhero character Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson) as a “damsel in distress." Naysayers labeled him a “hypocrite.”

In his final tweet before he left the social media site, Whedon did not refer to the Black Widow controversy. Instead, he left on a positive note. "Thank you to all the people who've been so kind and funny and inspiring up in here,” he said, according to Digital Spy.

It’s not the first time Whedon has quit Twitter. He did so six months after he first joined in 2013, to promote "Much Ado About Nothing." “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," he told Entertainment Weekly. "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.”

Though some fans might have been upset with how Black Widow was portrayed in “Age of Ultron,” the film still managed to reel in $191.3 million at the box office, EW reported.

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