While True Believers around the world largely enjoyed it, there are certainly a few things worth criticizing in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron.’ From bigger problems like plot holes to slightly smaller ones like not enough James Spader, Joss Whedon’s second outing with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes didn’t match up to his first go in a few ways. But it seems like the most talked about aspect of the film is Black Widow. Many fans were unhappy with a number of things concerning Natasha Romanoff’s character in the film such as her relationship with Bruce Banner and the handling of her “final test” from the Red Room. Recently, Whedon had the chance to address these criticisms before addressing fans at the biggest pop culture convention of the year.

Prior to taking the stage at San Diego Comic-Con to announce his upcoming superhero comic book ‘Twist’, Whedon spoke to io9 about the Dark Horse book and its female Victorian Batman heroine. But the conversation led back to his final foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the foreseeable future and the fan favorite filmmaker discussed the surprising reaction to Scarlett Johansson’s character in ‘Age of Ultron’:

“My political opinions have never gotten me that much hate! You know, ultimately everybody’s entitled to their opinion. Sending me pictures of nooses and things was maybe a little too entitled. I disagree. It’s very simple. This is the way that I see it. The way I liked it. When I pitched it, the Marvel guys were like, ‘Yes’. It never occurred to us that would happen. And then, people went bonkers.

In particular, the thing with Clint [Hawkeye], where they’re like, ‘Oh … but those two!’ You know. For me, that’s an outright ‘No. You’re wrong.’ I mean, things could go any way, but that, for me, is a much more powerful and even much more romantic statement: that those people would die for each other, but they’re not trying to sleep with each other. That’s something about men and women that I wanted to say. So I’m not backing down on that one. I think they’re wrong.”

While I agree that Widow could have been handled better in the film, I don’t understand how some people would get so heated that they’d threaten Joss Whedon over it. It’s one thing to criticize a film or a comic book or a TV show, but fans should be able to talk about what’s good and bad about the things that they love. Someone may not like Zack Snyder for his interpretation of Batman or Superman, but they shouldn’t ever threaten his life over it. By starting a dialogue and pointing out problematic things in a non-violent yet impassioned manner, it’s a step in the right direction to positive change. With that in mind, what do you think about Whedon’s response to the Black Widow criticisms following the release of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’? And how do you feel about the extreme reactions of some members of the fandom towards the writer/director? Let us know in the comments.