Evangeline Lilly, who plays Hope Van Dyne/The Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is criticizing Disney for recent layoffs at Marvel Studios, which saw 1,000 staff laid off across Marvel Studios.
“Where is the law to remove all human artwork from the AI bank?? Why are they stealing our talent and using it to make executives rich and the artists responsible for feeding the robots go hungry??” the “Avengers” actress, 46, wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday, along with a video showing her reaction to the news.
“Disgusting. California Congressman…where are you!?!?”
Lilly went on to give words of support to the artists at Marvel Studios who “designed and brought to life Marvel’s glory days.”
“I salute you,” he wrote with a salute emoji. “I was there. I know what you did. I know how passionately you worked around the clock to make the magic happen. No matter what happens in the future with our new Wizard of Oz, you are a magician. I will never forget.”
After announcing her retirement from acting in June 2024, she focused on Disney and criticized Disney in an explosive message.
“Shame on you for turning your back on those who built power and now disposing of them,” she said, tagging the company.
She called on her followers to show Marvel Studios visual development director Andy Park some love and concluded by thanking Patrick Caligiuri, who shared the news of Disney’s “bloody” firing on his Instagram Reels.
On April 14, Deadline reported that approximately 8% of employees at both Marvel Entertainment in New York and Marvel Studios in Burbank, California, were hit by layoffs.
The closures affected most departments, including film and television production, visual development, comics, franchising, finance, and legal.
The changes are reported to be significant in the visual department, with only a small team left to oversee the hiring of artists who will now be external contractors on a project-by-project basis.
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro confirmed that up to 1,000 employees across the company were affected by the layoffs.
The last time Marvel underwent a round of layoffs was in 2024.
