Joss Whedon Mysteriously Quits Twitter, Here are Our Theories Why

It’s been just a few days since Avengers: Age of Ultron premiered. The film, directed by Whedon, grossed roughly $440 million worldwide in its opening weekend. Following the movie’s release, Whedon tweeted a cryptic farewell: “Thank you to all the people who’ve been so kind and funny and inspiring up in here.”

So what gives? Why did the blockbuster director and geek guru suddenly leave Twitter? Here are our theories:

(1) He Just Doesn’t Have Time to Tweet

Whedon previously quit Twitter back in August of 2013, telling Entertainment Weekly: “The moment I joined, oh my God, what a responsibility, this is enormous work—very fun, but it really started to take up a huge amount of my head space… 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.”

(2) He’s Done Promoting His Movie

– Whedon admitted that he previously got super-active on Twitter to help promote his independent film “Much Ado About Nothing.”

– Maybe now that he’s done with “Avengers,” he needs a break?

– A recent Buzzfeed article hinted that Whedon was pretty worn out and fatigued by his experience making the epic-scale Age of Ultron.

– Looking back on the experience of making the movie, he said: “I gotta say, it’s been dark. It’s been weird. It’s been horrible… I feel every day like, I didn’t do enough, I didn’t do enough, I didn’t do enough. I wasn’t ready. Here’s failure. Here’s failure. Here’s compromise. Here’s compromise.”

– Sounds like a guy who needs a rest.

(3) Whedon’s Not Happy About His Own Twittering Lately

– Back in early April, Universal dropped a clip from Jurassic World, featuring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard engaging in some light sexual banter:

– Joss Whedon responded: “And I’m too busy wishing this clip wasn’t ‘70s era sexist. She’s a stiff, he’s a life force. Really? Still?”

– The tweet got A LOT of attention, from Time, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian and elsewhere, and sparked a whole wave of criticism of “Jurassic World” months before the movie even came out.

– Whedon later apologized in an interview with Badass Digest, saying it was “bad form” and an example of him doing something he generally does not do.

(4) Joss Whedon Was Hounded Off Twitter By Angry Feminists

– Since “Ultron” was released, there has been some criticism of the film’s depiction of women on blogs and social media.

– Some have pointed out that, despite a recent cultural push to see more female superheroes on screen, and despite Whedon’s promises that the film would feature a number of prominent female roles, the movie still leans heavily towards male heroes.

– Potentially strong female characters like SHIELD Agent Maria Hill and Scarlet Witch are largely sidelined

– As well, the argument goes, the entire plotline around Black Widow – the most prominent female Avenger in the film – revolves around her romance with Bruce Banner, and not her ass-kicking skills.

– There has also been controversy around one particular joke from the film. When Tony Stark tries to lift Mjolnir and become ruler of Asgard, he asks if he can reintroduce Prima Nocta, the king’s right to sleep with any bride in the kingdom on her wedding night, made famous by Braveheart.

– There have also been widespread claims that Whedon received death threats from feminists and their supporters, but so far, this has been inconclusive.