“Ant-Man” and “Avengers” star Evangeline Lilly has condemned Disney’s decision to lay off 1,000 employees this month, a significant number of which were Marvel workers, calling it “disgusting and horrible.”
Lilly made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Janet Van Dyne, a.k.a. The Wasp, in 2015’s “Ant-Man” and has reprised the role a number of times since then, most recently in 2023’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” Her comments come just a little over two weeks after Disney announced it was laying off 1,000 employees across its company.
It was reported that 8% of Marvel’s workforce was cut as part of the sweeping layoffs, but Disney disputed those reports, telling TheWrap the number was “much smaller.”
“I reached out to my good friend Andy Park, who was the genius behind creating the original Wasp supersuit and the original Wasp concept drawings for the film ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp,’ and just said, ‘Is this true? Is this really what’s happening?’” Lilly revealed in an Instagram video shared Wednesday. “And he said, ‘Yeah, it’s true. I have been let go.’”
“I can’t quite believe that,” Lilly said. “That Disney have let go of the artists who brought the current Marvel Universe to life through their imagination and their genius.” She went on to offer condolences to Park and other Marvel employees who “have been considered obsolete now after building the Marvel Empire.”
In a memo sent to Disney employees when the layoffs were implemented, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro said the cuts were done as part of a larger effort to “streamline our operations.” For her part, Lilly lamented on Instagram how many human artists are “now being replaced by AI.”
The actress is currently in the midst of a self-imposed hiatus from acting, which she announced back in 2024.
“If you’re a huge fan of Marvel, just take a moment today to think about them, to send up a prayer for them, to honor them, to honor the people who created the world that you fell in love with,” Lilly urged her Instagram followers. “That was a human invention. These were human creations. And they shouldn’t be stolen by tech giants so that their robots can replicate them.”
“I think it’s disgusting and horrible, and I stand with all the artists,” the actress added. “And Andy, I’m so sorry, and I love you guys.” In the caption of her Instagram post, Lilly went on to call on California lawmakers to enact laws that remove “all human art from the AI bank,” asking, “Why do they get to steal our brilliance and use it to make executives rich while the artists responsible for feeding their robots go hungry??”
“To the @marvelstudios artists who designed and brought to life the glory days of Marvel … I salute you,” Lilly’s caption continued. “I was there. I know what you did. I know how passionately you worked round the clock to make magic happen. You are the magicians, no matter what the Wizards of our new Oz make it look like going forward. I will never forget.”
Addressing Disney directly, Lilly wrote, “SHAME ON YOU for turning your back on the people who built the power you are now using to throw them away.”
You can watch her full statement in the video above.
