DIRECTOR Joss Whedon has deleted his Twitter account, following criticism of his latest film, “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

    Its portrayal of female characters such as assassin Black Widow by Scarlett Johannsson had been called sexist.

    Comic-book fans had also criticized Marvel’s “Avengers” superhero film’s plot on the social network.

    Immediately prior to deleting his account, Whedon tweeted: “Thank you to all the people who’ve been so kind and funny and inspiring up in here.”

    Soon after, a search for an account under the @josswhedon handle returned a “page not found” error.

    One critic had created a widely shared montage image showing many of the messages sent to Whedon. Many called him sexist and misogynistic and said he had done a “hatchet job” on Black Widow, also known as Natasha Romanoff.

    But many of Whedon’s fans have now turned on the critics, subjecting some to harassment and abuse.

    (SD-Agencies)