Mark Ruffalo has come out in defence of director Joss Whedon saying it is 'beautiful' the way the Black Widow story was handled in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Mark Ruffalo
Whedon has come under fire from fans who were disappointed the way that Black Widow - played by Scarlett Johansson - was portrayed in the latest Marvel film. Whedon has since left Twitter - however, he claims the criticism played no part in that decision.
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has already leapt to the defence of the filmmaker and now Mark Ruffalo has spoken out in defence of Whedon.
Replying to a fan question during a Reddit AMA session, he wrote: "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."
Avengers: Age of Ultron sees Ruffalo team up with Whedon for a second time - the first being Avengers Assemble. In reprising the role of Bruce Banner, the character became embroiled in a love story thread with Black Widow - some fans have loved it while others have hated it.
Age of Ultron is the first time that we have seen Ruffalo as Hulk since the billion dollar success of Avengers Assemble back in 2012.
Despite all of the controversy, Age of Ultron currently sits at the top of the U.S. and UK box office and has grossed in excess of $677 million worldwide in less than a fortnight.
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