Ant-Man star Evangeline Lilly blasts Disney for ‘disgusting’ Marvel Studios layoffs as it fires 1,000 staffers

by

As someone who keeps a close eye on the entertainment industry and company culture, I was really struck by Evangeline Lilly’s recent comments. She publicly called out Disney after they announced layoffs impacting around 1,000 employees earlier this month. It’s a tough situation, and her speaking up really highlights the human side of these big corporate decisions.

Lilly passionately questioned the rules allowing AI to use artists’ work without compensation. In a long post, she asked why there aren’t laws protecting human creativity, especially when AI companies profit from it while the artists themselves struggle financially.

‘Disgusting. California lawmakers…where are you?!?!?’ she added in a call for help.

The Daily Mail has contacted Disney for a statement, but has not heard back yet.

I was so sad to hear Lilly was retiring from acting this year, but I really admire her! It meant a lot to me to see her publicly support the incredible visual effects artists at Marvel, especially those who work on the Ant-Man movies. She and Paul Rudd have been fantastic in those films, and the VFX team truly makes them shine, so it was wonderful to see her acknowledge their hard work.

I want to give a shout-out to the incredible artists at Marvel Studios who created the amazing visuals we all love. I was there with you, and I saw firsthand the dedication and tireless effort you put in to bring those stories to life. It was truly magical.

Lilly wrote, ‘No matter what happens or what others say, you are the truly remarkable ones. I’ll never forget what you’ve done.’

She angrily criticized Disney, accusing them of betraying the people who originally helped the company become successful, and now being discarded by it.

She asked her fans and other Marvel enthusiasts to show support for Andy Park, a Director of Visual Development at Marvel Studios, after she contacted him following the recent layoffs.

‘He was responsible for designing SO many of your fav @marvelstudios characters,’ she wrote.

Lilly also expressed her gratitude to Patrick Caligiuri, a producer for reality television, for sharing information about how Disney’s layoffs were affecting people.

In her video, Lilly expressed continued frustration about the layoffs and recounted calling Park to verify the firing reports.

The Avengers: Endgame actress said Park confirmed the reports were true and that he was one of the people who had been laid off.

He’s one of approximately 1,000 Disney employees and workers across its related companies who have recently lost their jobs.

Lilly has worked extensively with Disney and Marvel Studios in the Ant-Man franchise.

Evangeline Lilly played Hope van Dyne in the 2015 movie Ant-Man, which received great reviews. Her character is the daughter of Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas, and Janet van Dyne, played by Michelle Pfeiffer.

In the 2018 film Ant-Man and the Wasp, Evangeline Lilly’s character got to join the action as a superhero, and she returned to play the same role in Avengers: Endgame the next year.

Let’s talk about Evangeline Lilly’s recent role! Her last big appearance as the Wasp was in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ in 2023. Unfortunately, that film didn’t quite land with critics – it actually received some of the lowest ratings of any Marvel movie, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting only about 38% positive reviews from top critics. It’s a reminder that even big franchises have their ups and downs!

This movie is currently the last acting role for Lilly, who shared in 2024 that she is retiring from acting.

In a recent memo reported by Variety, Disney’s new CEO, Josh D’Amaro – who was chosen by Bob Iger as his replacement in February and officially appointed in March – explained that the company’s recent layoffs were due to the rapidly changing nature of the entertainment industry.

D’Amaro explained that we need to continually evaluate how to build a more flexible and tech-savvy workforce to prepare for future challenges.

He explained that the job cuts were meant to make Disney more efficient across different areas, so they can continue to provide the high-quality, creative experiences their audience expects.

Since Bob Iger became CEO again in 2022, after a short and difficult period under his replacement Bob Chapek, the company has already cut over 8,000 jobs.

As of September 2025, Disney had approximately 230,000 employees, including both full-time and part-time workers.

Disney had roughly 230,000 full and part-time employees in September 2025.

Deadline reports that the recent layoffs affect about eight percent of Marvel’s employees.

Layoffs significantly impacted both Marvel Entertainment in New York and Marvel Studios in Burbank, affecting almost all departments within the companies.

However, the layoffs are reportedly particularly devastating for the visual effects department.

The report indicates that only a limited number of employees remain at the studio. Instead of handling a large portion of the visual effects work internally for upcoming Marvel films, these remaining employees will need to outsource that work to other visual effects companies.

Media companies have seen many layoffs recently, and if Paramount successfully buys Warner Bros., another significant round of job cuts is likely.

Read More

2026-05-01 04:04