Mark Ruffalo speaks out about the criticism towards Joss Whedon and feminism

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Now that AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON is out in full force, the major topic of discussion should be the pros and cons of the film. As we all know, a small group of folks decided to throw out some personal attacks towards the director himself, Joss Whedon, for his supposed anti-feminist trappings in regards to Black Widow's role in the film. Whedon himself deleted his Twitter account shortly after. Fast forward to today and the Hulk himself, Mark Ruffalo, was speaking a bit about Water Defense when the topic of Mr. Whedon came up.

Mark Ruffalo on the recent criticisms towards Joss Whedon:

I think it's sad. Because I know how Joss feels about women, and I know that he's made it a point to create strong female characters. I think part of the problem is that people are frustrated that they want to see more women, doing more things, in superhero movies, and because we don't have as many women as we should yet, they're very, very sensitive to every single storyline that comes up right now. But I think what's beautiful about what Joss did with Black Widow – I don't think he makes her any weaker, he just brings this idea of love to a superhero, and I think that's beautiful.

If anything, Black Widow is much stronger than Banner. She protects him. She does her job, and basically they begin to have a relationship as friends, and I think it's a misplaced anger. I think that what people might really be upset about is the fact that we need more superhuman women. The guys can do anything, they can have love affairs, they can be weak or strong and nobody raises an eyebrow. But when we do that with a woman, because there are so few storylines for women, we become hyper-critical of every single move that we make because there's not much else to compare it to.

So I know Joss really well. I know what his values are. And I think it's sad, because in a lot of ways, there haven't been as many champions in this universe as Joss is and will continue to be. And I know it hurts him. I know it's heavy on him. And the guy's one of the sweetest, best guys, and I know him – as far as any man can be a champion for women, he is that.

So it's been a little disheartening.

But I also see how much people love that aspect of it. There's an equal amount of people who find the love interest between Banner and Black Widow to be a big standout. And it's very satisfying to people. So it's a movie. People are going to have their opinions. And that's actually a great thing. The fact that this is a debate that's coming out of this movie is probably a positive thing.

I just don't think that people should get personal with Joss, because he really is – of anyone – an advocate for women. He's a deeply committed feminist.

This is by no means a gossip site, but there's no hiding the fact that this is an issue people want to talk about so I thought we'd value an opinion of someone who has worked closely with the man. Whedon has since come out to say "I just thought, Wait a minute, if I’m going to start writing again, I have to go to the quiet place. And Twitter is the least quiet place I’ve ever been in my life…It’s like taking the bar exam at Coachella," in regards to closing his Twitter account, so take from that what you will. I do appreciate Ruffalo's point that if in the end this gets people talking about and thinking about female roles in super hero movies beyond the de facto damsel in distress, then that's a good thing. I'd also like to point out that if Whedon avoided the route he went with Black Widow JUST because she's a woman, then that would defeat the whole purpose of the feminist movement.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON is now in theaters.