The Studio Behind A Beloved Marvel TV Series Is Closing For Good
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been on a downfall in recent times, but overall, it's still a multi-billion juggernaut franchise that's owned by Disney — a company that you'd expect to be able to eat the occasional loss with little issue. However, as a quick look at any big movie's credits will reveal, a major Hollywood endeavor is rarely a uniform monolith. Instead, it's a sprawling sphere of tiny entities that consist of various individuals and companies pulling more or less in the same direction.
This, in turn, means that not all of those entities are as big and financially secure as the parent company. Still, it's surprising to find out that one of the MCU-adjacent smaller companies has now folded, despite having a hit Marvel show under its belt. Per documents obtained by Forbes, said company is Axis Studios, a Scottish animation house that provided the visuals for 2025's eye-popping "Eyes of Wakanda" miniseries. The "Black Panther" spin-off was a critical darling that rose to the top of most viewed shows on Disney+. It was also a mere cherry on the top of the studio's extensive résumé, which makes the fall particularly disheartening.
Axis Studios worked on many excellent projects, but ultimately, it just wasn't enough
If the name Axis Studios rings a bell, it may be because many consumers of popular culture have bumped into the studio's work at some point. It has worked on video games like "League of Legends," "Halo," and "Gears of War," as well as numerous TV shows — notably Netflix's must-watch anthology show "Love Death + Robots." It was also known for visual effects and trailer work.
Despite such a great CV, the reason behind Axis Studios' downfall was ultimately simple: Money trouble. The studio wasn't big enough to handle very many projects at a time, which meant its income depended on large individual paydays. Such paydays were fewer and further between after the dual impact of the COVID-19 pandemic — which caused the video game industry to tighten its outsourcing belt — and the 2023 Hollywood strikes, which in turn took a toll on production schedules.
While work was still coming in, rising costs and assorted delays started hurting Axis Studio's cash flow. The situation spiralled until the summer of 2024 made it clear that filing for bankruptcy was the only viable solution. The studio folded with over $2.5 million on the red. Sadly, $608,000 of this hefty sum is owed to its 151 former employees, who are unlikely to ever see the money.