In April, my 16-year journey at Marvel Studios effectively came to an end through a layoff that became far more public than I ever expected.
After I shared my own announcement on social media, the news spread quickly. Articles were written. Friends and colleagues spoke up publicly. Fans, peers, and people from every corner reached out with messages of support.
It was overwhelming. It was deeply moving. And it truly helped me through a difficult time.
It was a strange experience to have such a personal ending become so public.
For 16 years, Marvel Studios was my creative home. I joined during the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, near the tail end of the first Captain America film and just before pre-production began on The Avengers.
I had the honor of helping build the visual language for characters and stories that reached audiences around the world. I worked alongside incredible artists, filmmakers, producers, costume designers, production designers, VFX supervisors, actors, and countless craftspeople who poured their lives into those projects.
Eventually, I became Director of Visual Development / Visual Development Supervisor and helped lead what was called the ‘Vis Dev’ team on many of our films.
It was a dream job.
It was surreal. And it was definitely challenging and exhausting at times.
But it was rewarding beyond words.
Then, like all chapters, it ended.
I have no regrets.
I’m grateful for the work, the people, the memories, and the opportunity to have contributed to something that meant so much to so many.
And I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who reached out after the news became public. To everyone who followed the work. To everyone who reminded me that these images, characters, and stories meant something.
But when a chapter closes that publicly, the question naturally becomes:
What comes next?
I’ve been thinking about that question a lot. And I have to be honest, I didn’t know how to answer that when people asked me.
So I did a lot of soul-searching, and it led me to look back over my more than 30 years as a professional artist—to think about the choices I made, the risks I took, and the unexpected turns that brought me here.
And now, after 16 years at Marvel Studios, I find myself standing at another one of those moments.
It’s familiar, but it’s also very different.
I know where I’ve been.
I know what I’ve learned.
And for the first time in a long time, the road ahead is completely open.
That can be exhilarating… but it also can be terrifying.
But I’m ready to start walking down it.
Today, I’m launching AndyParkArt.com—a new home for my work, my story, and everything that comes next.
And over the next couple of newsletters and social media posts, I’m going to start sharing more of that story with you.
Because before I can really answer the question everyone keeps asking me—
What’s next?
I think I need to show you how I got here.
This is the beginning.
— Andy Park
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