As Marvel Studios ramps up production on Avengers: Doomsday, one of the film’s key production partners is quietly shedding staff with mass layoffs.
AGBO, the independent studio founded by Joe and Anthony Russo, has confirmed layoffs impacting roughly 15% of its workforce—about 20 employees—according to reporting from Deadline. The move comes as the Russo Brothers are actively developing Marvel’s next major ensemble blockbuster, raising uncomfortable questions about priorities, studio bloat, and the current economics of Hollywood’s blockbuster machine.
While AGBO has framed the decision as a “realignment,” the timing places these Avengers Doomsday layoffs squarely in the middle of Marvel’s most high-profile production push since Avengers: Endgame.
AGBO Confirms Layoffs Amid “Realignment”
Per Deadline, AGBO’s workforce had grown to more than 130 employees prior to the cuts. The layoffs reportedly affected approximately 20 staffers, with most of the reductions occurring at the middle management level.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: (L-R) Louis D’Esposito, Co-President, Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, President, Marvel Studios, Robert Downey Jr., Joe Russo and Anthony Russo attend the Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H at SDCC in San Diego, California on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
READ: Ryan Reynolds Pushes for Deadpool 4 as Blake Lively’s Legal Fallout Threatens His Hollywood Image
The company has not publicly detailed which departments were impacted, nor has it released an official statement beyond characterizing the move as a restructuring intended to position the studio for long-term sustainability.
That language has become familiar across Hollywood over the past two years, as studios large and small attempt to walk back aggressive expansion that occurred during the peak of the streaming wars.
The Awkward Timing of the Avengers Doomsday Layoffs
What makes this round of layoffs particularly notable is when they occurred.
AGBO is currently attached as a producer on Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel Studios’ next flagship crossover film, slated for release on December 18th. The project represents Marvel’s attempt to stabilize a franchise that has struggled with declining audience enthusiasm, inconsistent box office returns, and mounting skepticism toward its post-Endgame direction.
Steve Rogers in the Avengers: Doomsday trailer – Marvel Entertainment, YouTube
READ: RUMOR: Marvel May Be Splitting ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ Into Two Films – WDW Pro Rumor Confirmed?
From the outside, the optics are difficult to ignore. A studio with over 130 employees trimming 15% of its staff while attached to one of the most expensive films ever produced shows just how distorted Hollywood’s internal economics have become.
A Studio Built on Blockbusters, Now Pulling Back
AGBO has been associated with some of the most commercially successful projects of the past decade, including Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which together grossed billions worldwide. The company has also built a significant presence in streaming, particularly with Netflix, where titles like The Gray Man and the Extraction franchise have performed well by platform-specific metrics.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: (L-R) Joe Russo, Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Russo speak onstage during the Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H at SDCC in San Diego, California on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
Yet even with that track record, the studio is now tightening its belt—an implicit acknowledgment that scale alone is no longer sustainable in an industry where budgets ballooned faster than audiences.
The layoffs suggest AGBO may have expanded beyond what its current slate realistically supports, a problem not unique to the Russo Brothers’ operation.
Hollywood’s Middle Management Problem
One recurring theme in recent layoffs across entertainment is the targeting of middle management. Studios built sprawling hierarchies during the streaming boom, layering executive titles, coordinators, and development roles on top of one another in anticipation of nonstop content pipelines.
Now that those pipelines have slowed—or collapsed entirely—those roles are increasingly viewed as expendable.
Cyclops releasing his optic blast in the Avengers: Doomsday trailer – Marvel Entertainment, YouTube
The Avengers Doomsday layoffs fit neatly into that pattern, reinforcing the sense that Hollywood is belatedly correcting for years of unchecked expansion rather than responding to a short-term downturn.
What This Means for Avengers: Doomsday
There is no indication that the layoffs will directly impact production on Avengers: Doomsday. However, the move does highlight the fragile state of the ecosystem supporting Marvel’s next phase.
Magneto in the Avengers: Doomsday trailer – Marvel Entertainment, YouTube
Marvel Studios needs Avengers: Doomsday to perform not just as a hit, but as a statement—proof that the franchise can still command cultural attention. When one of its primary production partners is simultaneously cutting staff, it sends a signal that confidence behind the scenes may not be as solid as the marketing will suggest.
Another Warning Sign for the Blockbuster Model
Ultimately, the AGBO layoffs are less about one studio and more about the industry at large.
Big names, massive IP, and billion-dollar box office histories are no longer insulation against contraction. The fact that a studio tied to Marvel’s biggest remaining brand is reducing headcount underscores how dramatically Hollywood’s risk tolerance has shifted.
Secret code from the Steve Rogers Avengers: Doomsday trailer – Marvel Entertainment, YouTube
As Avengers: Doomsday moves forward, the film may carry more than the weight of audience expectations—it may also be carrying the financial anxieties of an industry still reckoning with its own excesses.
How do you feel about these Avengers Doomsday layoffs? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
UP NEXT: Daisy Ridley Casts Doubt on Rey Star Wars Movie News in 2026 — Has This Film Been Canceled?
