Although Mark Ruffalo opened the floor to Reddit users to discuss the "a growing concern of using oil field water to raise crops," the actor's reaction on the backlash suffered by Avengers: Age of Ultron director, Joss Whedon, was inevitably raised and eventually became the topic of conversation, according to Variety.
When asked by one user, named CrimsonKing1029, about the recent Twitter attack launched against Whedon regarding the character of Scarlett Johansson's character, Black Widow. Ruffalo, the actor who portrayed the role of the shy Dr. Bruce Banner and his alter-ego, The Incredible Hulk, said that the entire debacle was a "sad" turn of events.
Ruffalo went on to add that he is personally aware of how Whedon perceives women, saying that the director has always "made it a point to create strong female characters." The Hulk actor also shared his two cents on the issue of gender inequality in the world of superheroes. "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," he elucidated.
Connecting his comment to the issue involving Whedon, Ruffalo said, "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," the actor pointed out, possibly referring to the inability of The Hulk and his human counterpart to control his emotions which frequently leads to more problems.
He then remarked, "I think it's a misplaced anger." Ruffalo posited that "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," shared the Avengers: Age of Ultron star.
He concluded, "I just don't think that people should get personal with Joss, because he really is - of anyone - an advocate for women." Ruffalo even went on to reassure fans that Whedon is, in fact, "a deeply committed feminist."
