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Avengers actress Evangeline Lilly condemned Disney for its recent Marvel layoffs, calling the decision “disgusting and horrible.”
The actress, who plays Janet Van Dyne/The Wasp, said she couldn’t believe Disney let go of “the artists who brought the current Marvel Universe to life through their imagination and their genius.”
“These were human creations,” she said of the MCU and its heroes, “and they shouldn’t be stolen by tech giants so that their robots can replicate them.”
Avengers star Evangeline Lilly is condemning Disney for its recent layoffs.
The actress, who plays Janet Van Dyne/The Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, slammed the company for letting go of 1,000 employees earlier this month. The cuts heavily impacted Marvel, in particular, with Deadline reporting that 8 percent of its workforce was eliminated and its visual development team was significantly gutted.
In an Instagram Video published Wednesday, Lilly explained that she first learned of the layoffs via social media and wanted to confirm the news herself before sharing it with the world.
“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?'” she said. “And he said, ‘Yeah, it’s true. I have been let go.'”
Evangeline Lilly in 2023
Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
The development took Lilly by surprise. “I can’t quite believe that,” she said. “That Disney have let go of the artists who brought the current Marvel Universe to life through their imagination and their genius.”
The superhero star, who announced that she’d be stepping away from acting in 2024, went on to claim that the artists “who invented these characters in the first place — who designed them in the first place — are now being replaced by AI.”
However, in a memo sent to Disney employees and obtained by Deadline, CEO Josh D’Amaro made no reference to AI being the reason behind the layoffs, saying the decision was part of a greater move to “streamline our operations.”
Lilly offered her apologies to Park and other employees affected by the layoffs, “particularly the entire team at Marvel, who have been considered obsolete now after building the Marvel Empire.”
“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,” she said. “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.”
Reflecting on Disney’s decision, she added, “I think it’s disgusting and horrible, and I stand with all the artists. And Andy, I’m so sorry, and I love you guys.”
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In the post’s caption, Lilly called upon California lawmakers to protect artists’ work from artificial intelligence and voiced her support for the Marvel team. “To the @marvelstudios artists who designed and brought to life the glory days of Marvel…I salute you,” she wrote. “I was there. I know what you did. I know how passionately you worked round the clock to make magic happen.”
Lilly continued, “You are the magicians, no matter what the Wizards of our new Oz make it look like going forward. I will never forget.”
She also reiterated her disapproval of Disney’s choice, writing, “@Disney SHAME ON YOU for turning your back on the people who built the power you are now using to throw them away.”
Lilly made her debut in the MCU as Janet Van Dyne/The Wasp in 2015’s Ant-Man, starring opposite Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas. She reprised her role as the stinging superhero in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp and 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and joined in the fight to save the universe from the evil Thanos in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
Watch Lilly slam the Disney layoffs in the clip above.
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