Evangeline Lilly, who played Janet Van Dyne/The Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before deciding to step away from acting in 2024, has taken to social media to put Disney on blast for its recent round of Marvel Studios layoffs.
The Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania star called the Mouse House out for letting go of 1,000 employees earlier this month. The cuts heavily impacted Marvel, with reports indicating that the studio's visual development team, in particular, was significantly gutted.
In an Instagram Video, Lilly says that she contacted longtime (former) Marvel Visual Development Supervisor Andy Park, who was laid off as a result of the cuts.
"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.'"
"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. 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." Lilly 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."
Lilly might decide to return to acting one day, but reprising her MCU role now seems highly unlikely.
Last May, Lilly took to social media to announce that she blacked out and smashed her face on a boulder. The initial diagnosis was a concussion, a TBI, tooth damage, and facial bleeding/bruising, but she would later reveal that the situation was a lot more serious than she realised at the time.
Back in January, the Lost star took to Instagram to share the following update with her fans.
“I’m entering into this new year, the Year of the Horse, with some bad news about my concussion. A lot of you asked how I’m doing. The results came back from the scans, and almost every area in my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity. So I do have brain damage from the TBI and possibly other factors going on.”
“But now, my job is to get to the bottom of that with doctors and embark on the hard work of fixing it," Lilly continued. "Which, I’m not looking forward to because I feel like hard work is all I do. But that’s OK. My cognitive decline since I smashed my face open has helped me to slow down and helped me to have a more restful finish to my 2025.”
You can check out Lilly's comments in full below.
Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible.
Directed by Peyton Reed and produced by Kevin Feige and Stephen Broussard, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania also stars Jonathan Majors as Kang, David Dastmalchian as Veb, Katy O'Brian as Jentorra, William Jackson Harper as Quaz and Bill Murray as Lord Krylar.
The MCU threequel is now available to stream on Disney+.