Joss Whedon has picked a fight with Gwyneth Paltrow throwing shade at her new cookbook

Joss Whedon really does not seem to rate Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook. Photos / AP

Avengers director Joss Whedon has surprised fans by taking aim at actress Gwyneth Paltrow - who appeared in the 2012 instalment of the superhero franchise.

Whedon directed Paltrow in The Avengers, where she played a small role as Pepper Potts, reprising her character from the Iron Man films. At the time, Whedon admitted he was "pushed" by Robert Downey Jr to include Paltrow in the film - and she didn't appear in further Avengers instalments.

It seems there's no love lost between the pair after Whedon tweeted a picture of lifestyle guru and GOOP creator Paltrow's latest cookbook It's All Easy: Delicious weekday recipes for the super-busy home cook with the caption 'WHERE DO I START.'

WHERE
DO I

S T A R T pic.twitter.com/pjQoxBfEOG

— Joss Whedon (@joss) December 19, 2016

As his followers queried whether Whedon was mocking Paltrow's efforts, the director seemed to confirm it, favouriting a tweet from one fan who alleged Paltrow's co-author did all the heavy lifting: "Take away 'With Thea Baumann' and I'll bet it gets harder fast," they wrote.

At a 2012 junket to promote The Avengers, Whedon spoke to reporters about working with Paltrow.

"You need to separate the characters from their support systems in order to create the isolation you need for a team," the Los Angeles Times reported.

"But Pepper, this was really Robert's thing. He pushed hard ... He really thought Gwyneth would bring something great to the table and we all thought so as well, but he was the one who convinced her to come and do it."