Age of Ultron director Joss Whedon has denied that he closed his Twitter account this week following feminist criticism of his new film, calling the claims “horseshit”.

He told BuzzFeed News that speculation he had left Twitter because feminists criticised his portrayal of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in the film had angered him so much he decided to speak out. “Believe me, I have been attacked by militant feminists since I got on Twitter. That’s something I’m used to. Every breed of feminism is attacking every other breed, and every sub-section of liberalism is always busy attacking another sub-section of liberalism, because god forbid they should all band together and actually fight for the cause,” he said.

“I saw someone tweet it’s because Feminist Frequency pissed on Avengers 2, which for all I know they may have. But literally the second person to write me to ask if I was OK when I dropped out was [Feminist Frequency founder] Anita [Sarkeesian].”

Whedon said he removed his account so he could focus on his personal life and creativity after making the Marvel sequel. “I just thought: ‘Wait a minute, if I’m going to start writing again, I have to go to the quiet place,” he said. “And this is the least quiet place I’ve ever been in my life.”

Whedon says he had “a great time” on Twitter and may consider a return but for now, he wants to focus on other things.

“The real issue is me,” he said. “Twitter is an addictive little thing, and if it’s there, I gotta check it. When you keep doing something after it stops giving you pleasure, that’s kind of rock bottom for an addict. I just had a little moment of clarity where I’m like, ‘You know what? If I want to get stuff done, I need to not constantly hit this thing for a news item or a joke or some praise, and then be suddenly sad when there’s hate and then hate and then hate’.”