Ant-Man Star Evangeline Lilly Blasts Disney For Firing Marvel's Visual Development Team

Earlier this month, Disney fired 1,000 employees, including most of the visual artists responsible for bringing the Marvel Cinematic Universe's movies and TV shows to life. Evangeline Lilly, who plays Wasp in the franchise, has since taken to Instagram and blasted Disney's decision, claiming that the company has turned its back on many of the people who deserve credit for the MCU's success. In her own words:

"I can't quite believe that. That Disney have let go of the artists who brought the current Marvel Universe to life through their imagination and their genius. That the people who invented these characters in the first place, who designed them in the first place, are now being replaced by AI. AI that will take their designs and take what those artists created, and use it to create iterations of that ... I think it's disgusting and horrible."

The "Avengers: Endgame" and "Ant-Man" movie series star also called out Disney in the accompanying caption, telling those responsible for the layoffs that they should be ashamed of their actions. Without the visual development team, Disney wouldn't wield the power it has today, as its workers created the art that will now be exploited by artificial intelligence. With that in mind, let's delve deeper into the story that prompted Lilly's response.

Disney's layoffs arrived in the wake of Asad Ayaz becoming the company's new chief marketing and brand officer. This led to corporate restructuring, which Disney has described as a means to consolidate its brands and streamline its processes. The downside is that it appears to have resulted in cut backs across the board, and the long-term effects of that remain to be seen. Andy Parks, Marvel's director of visual development for over 16 years, was among those who were let go. He also confirmed the story to Evangeline Lilly, inspiring her aforementioned post.

Despite the layoffs, Marvel reportedly still plans to work with actual human beings on its movies and shows — or so it says. However, they will seemingly be hired based on the manpower needed for each project, as opposed to having a full-team in place like before. Could this mean more AI being used as well?

Considering that Marvel used AI for the opening credits sequence of "Secret Invasion," it wouldn't be shocking if Lilly's fears come true. Plus, let's not forget that Disney struck a deal with OpenAI for the latter to use AI-generated images of characters owned by the House of Mouse on platforms like Sora and ChatGPT — an agreement that only fell apart when OpenAI shuttered Sora, prompting Disney to back out. The evidence points toward Lilly's concerns carrying some weight, and that probably isn't good news for the MCU's future. After all, who wants to watch AI slop instead of the work of talented artists?