Disney announced it’s firing over 1,000 employees, and to the surprise of many, Marvel Studios’ visual development teams have been among the hardest hit. An internal memo to the affected employees from Disney’s new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, which notes that the layoffs were made to “streamline operations,” already has some fans worried that AI is to blame.
As initially reported by Deadline last night, the broad layoffs have affected employees in many different Marvel Studios departments, including “film and TV production, comics, franchise, finance, legal, as well as visual development,” with an estimated 8 percent staff let go. However, not long after Deadline’s report, several outlets, including Forbes and Reuters, reported on an internal email from Disney’s CEO trying to explain the massive cuts as the result of the “fast-moving pace” of the industry.
the irony of having a one-on-one HR layoff meeting in the conference room with my Loki mural on it https://t.co/94sLrfojOj pic.twitter.com/llKhz5pO61
— Wesley Burt (@wesburt) April 15, 2026
“Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs,” D’Amaro told employees. “As a result, we will be eliminating roles in some parts of the company.”
“I know this is hard…These decisions are not a reflection of their contributions or of the overall strength of the company. Rather, they reflect our continual evaluation of how to more effectively manage our resources and reinvest in our businesses.”
“Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs.”
This feels like AI talk without them actually just saying it. https://t.co/CXpcpHuFNk
— Reid Southen (@Rahll) April 15, 2026
Some super-passionate Marvel fans, whom Disney has invested billions in cultivating, took the vaguely worded statement about needing a “technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs” to be an oblique reference to the rise of generative AI. “I doubt this is a move to improve anything I’d put money on them leaning HARD into AI,” one fan posted on X. “Yet they’re still looking for AI companies to invest in. You can’t make it up. This is literally what we feared,” stated another.
It’s also unclear how the mass cuts will impact Marvel’s ongoing slate of blockbusters and streaming shows, which are expected to ramp up alongside the next phase of the MCU beginning with Avengers: Doomsday this holiday. “I can’t comprehend it,” wrote former Marvel artist and current Wizards of the Coast art director Karla Ortiz. “These are the folks who have created the first visuals for every. Single. Marvel Studios film. Ever. A really small team of people, some have been there for over a decade. They are a HUGE part of Marvel Studios’ success, to just be let go like that?”
While nothing has been confirmed as of yet, and Forbes even stated in its report that “it does not appear that these specific jobs were eliminated for reasons involving AI,” it’s easy to see why Marvel fans have come to this conclusion. Disney has made several attempts to invest in AI over the past year, with the most famous example being its $1 billion investment into the now-defunct AI video generation app Sora.
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