From joining the Mighty Avengers to falling into Wonderland, there's a whole lot that
Cassie Lang — also known as Stature — has done and seen in the Marvel comics universe.
Many Marvel movie-goers learned about Cassie Lang in the first "Ant-Man" film,
in which her father Scott had to rescue her from the villainous Yellowjacket.
"I want my daddy!"
"I want your daddy too."
Casual comic fans may also know that Cassie's alter ego, Stature,
is a relatively modern creation of Marvel Comics,
debuting in 2005's "Young Avengers" #6. Despite what you might think, though, Cassie herself is
no newcomer — she made her first appearance all the way back in 1979's "Marvel Premiere" #47.
In this issue, Cassie Lang makes her debut alongside her father Scott,
who makes his own first appearance as the second Ant-Man. Unlike the first "Ant-Man"
film, in which Scott steals the Ant-Man suit because he can't hold down a job,
comics Ant-Man turns to a life of crime to try and make money to fix Cassie’s heart defect. When
he learns that the only doctor who can save her is being held hostage by Darren Cross,
he steals Henry Pym's old super-suit to save Doctor Sondheim and cure his daughter's ailment.
After Lang becomes the new Ant-Man full-time,
he inadvertently leaves Cassie with superpowers of her own. It's later
discovered that constant exposure to the Pym Particles that power the Ant-Man suit gives
Cassie her father's ability to change in size — without the need for any special equipment.
Ant-Man himself has gone by a few different names, and so too has Cassie Lang.
Stature is just one of a few superhero names that she's adopted over the years:
she was briefly nicknamed Ant-Girl after her father, too.
However, Cassie also has another super-identity: Stinger. The first version of Stinger doesn’t
exist in the main Marvel universe, Earth-616. Even longtime readers may not remember that
Cassie's Stinger persona has its origins in the MC2 universe, Earth-982, as seen in the
pages of "A-Next" #1. There, she fights as a member of a future off-shoot Avengers team.
More than a decade after that appearance, Cassie Lang would
officially take the name Stinger in the main Marvel Universe. This occurs after
an incident in which she is kidnapped by Darren Cross and has her heart stolen,
leaving her without her powers. Desperate to regain them, Cassie resorts to extreme measures,
making a deal with the villainous Power Broker for a suit that will restore her shrinking powers.
As Stinger, she dons her purple jumpsuit and classic Ant-Man helmet,
giving Cassie the iconic Wasp look complete with bug-like wings.
Even superheroes need best friends, and comics history has given us plenty of buddy pairings,
from Superman and Batman to Spider-Man and the Human Torch. Cassie Lang has her own superhero
bestie — Hawkeye, her teammate and the leader of the Young Avengers. We're not talking about
Clint Barton, but his protege, the teenaged Kate Bishop, who took up the name and title
of the Avenging Archer in the mid-2000s. While Lang and Bishop have had romances with different
superhero teammates over the years, they always took solace in each other's friendship as BFFs.
More than just superhero colleagues, Kate and Cassie support each other
through good times and bad. When Cassie has her powers taken away,
it's Kate who comes to her side to remind her that she doesn't need superpowers to
be special or to be a hero — something she can personally attest to as the non-powered Hawkeye.
"Being a hero isn't just for people who can fly or
shoot lasers out of their hands, it is for anyone."
Given the pair's history in the comics, it's fair to speculate that their friendship could
find its way to live-action now that both are heroes in the MCU.
Those familiar with Cassie Lang’s Stature probably know that she was
one of the earliest members of the Young Avengers. First appearing in the mid-2000s,
the group has become one of the most popular teams of young heroes in Marvel Comics — much
more than a mere collection of sidekicks. However, the Young Avengers aren't the
only team that Cassie Lang has been a part of during her colorful history as a hero.
During Marvel's Civil War storyline, Stature is rescued by the resistance and fights on
Captain America's Secret Avengers team . However, she's also one of the earliest members to defect,
quitting the team in "Civil War" #4 after becoming disillusioned at the prospect of
fighting other heroes. When SHIELD teams up with Iron Man to establish officially
sanctioned superhero groups for every state, Stature is one of their first recruits.
Later, in "The Mighty Avengers" #21, the reappearance of the Scarlet Witch spurs
Stature and the newly reborn Vision to join the re-assembled Mighty Avengers team — although it’s
later revealed that the person they thought was Wanda Maximoff was actually Loki in disguise.
In "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," Cassie Lang and her father square
off against the most diabolical villain the MCU has ever produced:
Kang the Conqueror. As odd as it may sound, the teenaged Cassie Lang was
actually romantically involved with Kang for a time in the comics — well, sort of.
This connection comes from Cassie's time with the Young Avengers,
where one of her teammates was a new character known as Iron Lad. While initially introduced as
a mystery hero who some speculated might be related to Iron Man, it is eventually
revealed that he is actually a time-displaced younger version of the temporal despot Kang.
After a story in "Young Avengers" #5 in which the youthful Iron Lad kills Kang — a future
version of himself — he is forced to return to his proper place in the time stream. Before he does,
he gives Cassie a kiss — and programs his armor to become a new version of the former
Avengers hero Vision, and gives it both his and the Vision's memories. Eventually,
this new, somewhat more naive — and vaguely younger-looking — version of the Vision
begins a new romance with Stature, rekindled thanks to his memories of being Iron Lad.
Kang the Conqueror wasn't the only Marvel supervillain that Cassie Lang had eyes
for — it seems her attraction to enemies of the Avengers is something of a pattern. However, like
her relationship with Iron Lad — who wasn't quite Kang — her love for another one of Marvel's evil
tyrants isn't quite what it seems. In this case, she was smitten with Kristoff Vernard, the young
ward of Doctor Doom who would eventually take up the mantle of the Latverian dictator himself.
You'd be forgiven if that name doesn't ring any bells, as many of Vernard's appearances were in
the '80s and '90s when he was still a child. Initially, he comes into Doom's care after his
parents are killed in a violent revolution. After the real Doom is apparently killed,
Vernard is brainwashed by Doombots in "Fantastic Four" #278, leading him to believe he is Doctor
Doom. After being defeated by the Fantastic Four, the team takes the child to live with them — and
that’s where he meets the young Cassie Lang. A childhood crush soon develops between them.
It's hardly a true romance, but an alternate future offers a glimpse of what their relationship
could have been. In the MC2 universe, Vernard — now a heroic Doctor Doom — and Cassie have an
adult romance in the pages of "Fantastic Five" #5, where they do some pretty passionate lip-locking.
Cassie Lang doesn't seem to have many longtime enemies or
rivals in the first two “Ant-Man” movies — except maybe Agent Woo.
"Why can't you just leave my daddy alone?"
"Oh, Cassie…"
In the comics, though, her long history has left her with bad blood
for several major characters. There's one notable bitter enemy of hers that
might surprise you — Wanda Maximoff, better known as the Scarlet Witch.
While the two haven't met on screen yet, they were well acquainted in the Marvel Comics continuity.
Wanda was a longtime coworker of Cassie's father before she sparked a few company-wide
events in a 1998 issue of "The Avengers" that left Cassie holding a serious grudge.
In "Avengers" #500, a hero known as Jack of Hearts — who had been dead
for some time — returns unexpectedly. He kills Scott Lang in a scheme orchestrated by Wanda,
who has begun to lose her grip on reality.
While others are able to forgive Wanda,
as she is revealed to have been mind controlled, Cassie never does.
As Stature, Cassie Lang has the power to grow to tremendous size,
much like her father. This gives her the ability to take on some of the strongest
villains around — and even some fellow heroes during the Civil War storyline. However,
even after the Civil War ends and Stature joins the 50-State Initiative, she has one
last hero-on-hero fight when she clashes with her father's Ant-Man replacement, Eric O'Grady.
This happens at Camp Hammond, when the Initiative is training new recruits,
including Stature. In "Avengers: The Initiative" #8, O'Grady begins mocking the previous Ant-Man
to impress Taskmaster, pushing Cassie over the edge. Growing to giant size,
she calls out her father’s replacement — and he super-sizes himself,
unwilling to back down. What follows is a brutal hand-to-hand fight between
skyscraper-sized heroes. Unfortunately, the more experienced O'Grady comes out on top.
Years later, Cassie gets a kind of revenge in "Ant-Man" #3. There, Black Ant — a villainous
Life-Model Decoy posing as Eric O'Grady — briefly takes her hostage. In the ensuing fight, Black Ant
is no match for Cassie, who grows to a massive size and squishes him with the palm of her hand.
After Scott Lang is killed through the machinations of the Scarlet Witch during
the Avengers Disassembled storyline, Cassie is inconsolable. Though she would eventually
find solace — and family — with the Young Avengers in the ensuing years,
she never lets go of the bitterness she feels after the death of her father. However,
Cassie gets a second chance with the help of Iron Lad, who takes her and a group of
Avengers back through time to try and restore Wanda Maximoff to her old self.
Finding themselves back in the past before the death of her father,
Cassie is compelled to whisk him away into the future before he can meet an untimely demise.
This leaves the Avengers of the past to believe that Scott has been killed by Jack of Hearts.
As a result, history remains unchanged — but Scott returns to the land of the living in the present
day, where he and Cassie get another chance to be a family. In some ways, this storyline shares
similarities to Cassie and Scott's relationship in the MCU, where Scott reunites with his older,
more mature daughter after returning from five years in the quantum realm.
"Cassie…"
"Dad…"
Sandwiched between massive crossovers “House of M” and “Avengers vs. X-Men,” "Avengers:
The Children's Crusade" sees the resurrection of Scott Lang lead almost directly to Cassie's
own demise. After the time-traveling adventure to restore Scarlet Witch,
momentary ally Doctor Doom winds up stealing Wanda's reality-warping
abilities. Armed with some of the most incredible powers he's ever wielded,
Doom attempts to force the X-Men and the Avengers to join him in his quest for ultimate domination.
As you might expect, the two groups can’t reach an agreement,
and the Avengers find themselves engaged in battle with a super-charged Doctor Doom.
Stature attempts to take on Doom directly in "Avengers: Children's Crusade" #8,
but it’s far from a fair fight — he ends up killing her on the spot.
Though her father seeks revenge, it is Doom himself who returns Cassie to life. A subsequent
story in the pages of "Avengers World" #16 sees several major Marvel foes turn good, and Doctor
Doom hopes to right his previous wrongs. Chief among them is the death of Stature, which he
chooses to be the one and only action he reverses thanks to the help of Scarlet Witch's power.
Stinger isn't the only variant of Stature we've seen in a parallel world — there's
also the Cassie of the Ultimate universe, Earth-1610. While originally launched to
be a more realistic version of the mainline Marvel universe, Ultimate also got increasingly
wacky over time. When they brought in Scott Lang, for example, he was introduced as part
of an entire team of Giant Men — and Cassie was a member of their Giant-Women Brigade.
Appearing first in "Ultimate Comics Ultimates" #17 in 2012, this version of Cassie joins up
with SHIELD alongside her father. She has quite a few adventures of her own,
though. She was once mind-controlled by Thor’s villainous son Modi, and she eventually joined
a new Ultimates team that took on the appropriately named Dark Ultimates.
If you're looking for the weirdest version of Cassie Lang in the Marvel Multiverse, sit down
and listen to this tale — specifically, "Marvel Fairy Tales." Written by C.B. Cebulski, this short
series introduced readers to Marvel-ized versions of famous stories and folklore. In "Avengers Fairy
Tales" #4 from 2008, we find Marvel characters populating a retelling of "The Wizard of Oz,"
while "Avengers Fairy Tales" #1 explores the world of "Peter Pan." There's also "Avengers Fairy
Tales" #3, a retelling of "Alice in Wonderland" that stars none other than Cassie Lang.
In this version of the Lewis Carroll tale, illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa,
Cassie takes the role of Alice while the other members of the Young Avengers team of that era
play various roles in the story. It begins with Stature's shrinking ability sending her tumbling
into the same kind of rabbit hole as in the original book, bringing her to Wonderland.
There, she finds Patriot and Hawkeye taking on the roles of the King and Queen,
while Tigra is the Cheshire Cat, Wiccan is the March Hare,
and Hulkling is the Mad Hatter. Even Scott Lang pops up as the Caterpillar in what is
easily one of the weirdest takes on the Marvel heroes you'll ever see.