Overview
- Lilly posted an Instagram video Wednesday blasting Disney for cutting Marvel artists and warning that AI will take their designs and churn out imitations.
- Disney’s Josh D’Amaro disclosed the layoffs in an April 14 memo that cited a push to streamline operations, with roughly 1,000 jobs eliminated across the company.
- Marvel’s longtime visual development lead Andy Park confirmed he was laid off, becoming the most high-profile departure fans have identified.
- Reports said Marvel’s visual development team was heavily reduced as the studio keeps a smaller in-house core and hires artists on a project basis, though Disney disputed claims that 8% of Marvel’s staff was cut as too high.
- Lilly’s AI concerns draw on recent examples that stoked debate, including an AI-made credits sequence in Secret Invasion and reporting on Disney’s exploratory talks about AI tools, even as Disney has not said AI drove these layoffs.