Evangeline Lilly stings Disney for laying off Marvel's visual design team

All is not quiet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ahead of Disney’s Hail Mary attempt to get the somewhat beleaguered behemoth back on its feet this year, the company kicked things off with a bloodletting, firing eight percent of its workforce and snapping Marvel’s visual development team out of existence. Two weeks ago, the company decided to “streamline our operations in various parts of the company to ensure we deliver the world-class creativity and innovation our fans value and expect from Disney,” according to incoming CEO Josh D’Amaro. One of the people streamlined out of work was Andy Park, who created the Wasp suit for Ms. Evangeline Lilly. And she’s not happy about it. 

Lilly, who’s never been afraid to speak her mind, whether on the topic of vaccine skepticism or her friend getting laid off, posted a stingers-out video on Instagram. “I can’t quite believe Disney has let go of the artists who brought the current Marvel Universe to life through their imagination and their genius,” Lilly said, after confirming Park’s dismissal. She went on to accuse the company of replacing the artists “who designed these characters in the first place” with AI. Those artists, Lilly continues, “have been considered obsolete now, after building the Marvel Empire.” She goes on to encourage fans to think about, pray for, and honor the “people who created the world that you fell in love with. These were human creations, and they shouldn’t be stolen by tech giants so that their robots can replicate them.” 

Lilly retired from acting in 2024 to focus on her family. Her last appearance in the MCU occurred the year prior in Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, a movie that came under fire for how the outsourced VFX team was mistreated during production. Unlike practically everyone else in the MCU, Lilly’s name did not appear on one of the Avengers: Doomsday director’s chairs, which are still being filmed on a soundstage somewhere in Atlanta.