In a tweet that was deleted soon after it was posted, director Josh Trank appeared to deny all blame for the negative reviews that have greeted “Fantastic Four,” and to distance himself from the film.

Whom does he hold responsible? They remain nameless, and you can draw your own conclusions. But he insisted that he had “a fantastic version of this,” one he was certain would have been critically acclaimed. But, he glumly concludes, “you’ll probably never see it.”

That isn’t quite walking up to the nearest bridge and shouting “Flame on!,” but no doubt Fox would look askance.

To be sure, Trank has had a tumultuous few months. On May 1, he walked away from the then-untitled Star Wars anthology film he was developing, with signs pointing to tensions between him and Disney/Lucasfilm for unspecified reasons.

Following his exit, reports of trouble on the set of “Fantastic Four,” as well as rumors about Trank’s continuing role on the film — rumors, it should be noted, which were denied viciferously — generated much discussion among fans and the press alike.

Whatever the case, Trank at least seems to have suggested that he wasn’t in final control of his film.

Trank may have deleted it, but the yanked tweet lives on in a screencap taken by Andrew Todd.