--- title: Mark Ruffalo: Joss Whedon Is a 'Deeply Committed Feminist' description: The director has experienced a backlash for how the Black Widow is portrayed in his latest Avengers film canonical: https://time.com/3849743/movies-joss-whedom-mark-ruffalo-feminism-avengers/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-07T02:22:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:59:46.833Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Mark Ruffalo: Joss Whedon Is a 'Deeply Committed Feminist' og:description: Some people are unhappy with the Black Widow in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' og:url: https://time.com/3849743/movies-joss-whedom-mark-ruffalo-feminism-avengers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcff13a623021e610/6987eeb635ba6fc8f9c0b40e/103076425.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Marvel Studios: "Captain America: The First Avenger" - Panel - 2010 Comic-Con og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mark Ruffalo: Joss Whedon Is a 'Deeply Committed Feminist' twitter:description: Some people are unhappy with the Black Widow in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcff13a623021e610/6987eeb635ba6fc8f9c0b40e/103076425.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mark Ruffalo: Joss Whedon Is a 'Deeply Committed Feminist' by [Will Robinson / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Will Robinson / Entertainment Weekly May 7, 2015 2:22 AM UTC  Actor Mark Ruffalo, left, and writer/director Joss Whedon pose onstage at the Marvel Studios' "Captain America: The First Avenger" panel during Comic-Con 2010 at San Diego Convention Center on July 24, 2010 in San Diego, Calif. Actor Mark Ruffalo, left, and writer/director Joss Whedon pose onstage at the Marvel Studios' "Captain America: The First Avenger" panel during Comic-Con 2010 at San Diego Convention Center on July 24, 2010 in San Diego, Calif.Kevin Winter—Getty Images by [Will Robinson / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Will Robinson / Entertainment Weekly May 7, 2015 2:22 AM UTC After _Avengers: Age of Ultron_ director Joss Whedon [quit Twitter this week](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/04/joss-whedon-quits-twitter), many assumed it was because of backlash from feminists unhappy with the portrayal of Black Widow. Whedon said [that wasn’t the reason](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/06/joss-whedon-twitter-feminism) – he wanted to concentrate on future work – but that didn’t stop _Ultron_ star Mark Ruffalo from [defending his director during a Reddit AMA on Wednesday](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/351yxe/mark%5Fruffalo%5Fback%5Fagain%5Fon%5Freddit%5Flets%5Ftalk%5Fwater/cr05soj). “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,” Ruffalo wrote. “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.” Ruffalo added that Whedon was “an advocate for women” and “a deeply committed feminist.” [Read the full text of his answer below](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/351yxe/mark%5Fruffalo%5Fback%5Fagain%5Fon%5Freddit%5Flets%5Ftalk%5Fwater/cr05soj). --- > “” --- Key takeaway? Mark Ruffalo seems like a good dude. [This article first appeared from our partners at _Entertainment Weekly._](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/06/mark-ruffalo-defends-joss-whedon-after-feminist-backlash) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3849743/movies-joss-whedom-mark-ruffalo-feminism-avengers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3849743/movies-joss-whedom-mark-ruffalo-feminism-avengers/"},"headline":"Mark Ruffalo: Joss Whedon Is a 'Deeply Committed Feminist'","datePublished":"2015-05-07T02:22:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:59:46.833Z","description":"The director has experienced a backlash regarding the portrayal of the Black Widow in the latest Avengers film","url":"https://time.com/3849743/movies-joss-whedom-mark-ruffalo-feminism-avengers/","keywords":["movies","feminism","Mark Ruffalo"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcff13a623021e610/6987eeb635ba6fc8f9c0b40e/103076425.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Robinson / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcff13a623021e610/6987eeb635ba6fc8f9c0b40e/103076425.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Marvel Studios: \"Captain America: The First Avenger\" - Panel - 2010 Comic-Con","caption":"Marvel Studios: \"Captain America: The First Avenger\" - Panel - 2010 Comic-Con","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3849743/movies-joss-whedom-mark-ruffalo-feminism-avengers/","name":"Mark Ruffalo: Joss Whedon Is a 'Deeply Committed Feminist'"}}]}] ```