Joss Whedon’s relationship with Justice League has been much-discussed over the past few months, since we first learned that the Avengers director was helming the reshoots for DC’s team-up movie after Zack Snyder had to step down due to a family crisis. Recently, we were told that only about 15-20% of the finished product belongs to Whedon and so he hasn’t been given an official co-director’s credit, only a writing credit alongside Chris Terrio.
Even if he isn’t associated with Justice League enough to call it his own though, a surprising move of his on Twitter suggests that he has some personal problems with it. Though it’s been removed from his account already, DC fans noticed that Whedon had liked a Tweet from writer Joanna Robinson that criticized the film. Specifically, it lambasted Ciaran Hinds’ Steppenwolf as one of the worst comic book movie villains, ever. Apparently, Whedon agrees.
Of course, this could easily be explained away as the director accidentally liking a Tweet he didn’t mean to. After all, we’ve all done it. However, it’s worth noting that he’s a very savvy Twitter user, frequently hopping on the platform to make political posts and to praise and critique movies and TV shows. Still, he’s been bizarrely quiet on social media when it comes to Justice League.
Even if Whedon doesn’t feel right promoting the film because he sees it as Snyder’s baby, you’d imagine posting a Tweet of something to that effect would be a good idea. Instead, his continued silence on the project, and this new Steppenwolf debacle, has earned him a lot of flack.
As it happens, few would disagree with the contents of the Tweet in question. Though fans have been largely positive so far, certain critics have torn into Justice League for many things, chief among them its lack of a great antagonist. So, the comparison to Thor: The Dark World‘s limp Malekith is an apt one. It’s just shocking that one of the movie’s architects thinks so, too.
Justice League arrives in theatres tomorrow, November 17th.