Avengers: Age of Ultron stars Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner apologise for slut-shaming Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow

The actors are sorry for making 'tasteless jokes' about the female superhero

Jeremy Renner and Chris Evans laugh at their Black Widow joke in an Avengers: Age of Ultron interview (Digital Spy)

When the superhero world is under fire for not promoting its kick-ass women enough, Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner’s slut-shaming of Scarlett Johansson’s awesome Black Widow could not have been much more stupid.

Both actors have apologised after “jokes” they made during an Avengers: Age of Ultron interview with Digital Spy outraged many fans.

When questioned about the female character’s possible romance with Bruce ‘Hulk’ Branner, Renner (Hawkeye) simply deadpanned “she’s a s**t”, making Evans (Captain America) laugh loudly and add: “I was going to say something along that line, she’s a complete w***e”.

“She’s a s**t. She has a prosthetic leg anyway,” Renner continued, clearly fuelled by Evans’ enthusiastic reaction.

“We were asked about the rumours that Black Widow wanted to be in a relationship with both Hawkeye and Captain America,” Evans said in a statement after the controversy broke.

“We answered in a very juvenile and offensive way that rightfully angered some fans. I regret it and sincerely apologise.”

Renner also issued an apology: “I am sorry that this tasteless joke about a fictional character offended anyone. It was not meant to be serious in any way. Just poking fun during an exhausting and tedious press tour.”

Unsurprisingly, many people are criticising the duo for not defending Black Widow against sexism, particularly when Marvel is heavily white male dominated....

Renner posted a photo of himself with Johansson yesterday, perhaps in a bid to make amends for his derogatory remarks about her character.

Avengers: Age of Ultron was released in UK cinemas on Thursday and has been met with mixed reviews.