Stature (Cassandra Eleanor "Cassie" Lang) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. The daughter of Scott Lang (the second Ant-Man), Cassie Lang has been a member of the Young Avengers and The Initiative. She has the same powers as her father, the ability to shrink and grow in size, but lacks her father's helmet which allowed telepathic communication with insects. However, she manifested her powers much later than her first exposure to Pym Particles.
Publication history
Cassie Lang first appeared in Marvel Premiere #47 (April 1979), and was created by David Michelinie and John Byrne. She first appeared as Stature in Young Avengers #6.
Fictional character biography
Ant-Man's daughter
Cassie Lang was introduced to the Marvel Universe as the ill daughter of Scott Lang. Her congenital heart condition forces her father to steal Hank Pym's Ant-Man equipment and Pym Particles, which he uses to rescue Doctor Sondheim, the only doctor able to cure Cassie's condition, from Cross Technological Enterprises.
After the divorce of her parents, Cassie lives for most of her childhood with her father, whom she loves and admires greatly. She is fascinated by his life as a superhero once she learns of it, and generally has a good relationship with his colleagues; when she was younger, she even called Tony Stark 'Uncle Tony'. However, her mother and stepfather fear that his life as an Avenger was unsafe for a child, and they claim custody over Cassie.
Scott's time as an engineer for the Fantastic Four brought Cassie to the team's then headquarters of Four Freedoms Plaza. In the spectacular environment Cassie once called home she forged a strong friendship with the former ward of Doctor Doom, Kristoff Vernard. For the time they shared a home with the Fantastic Four, Cassie helped Kristoff adjust to life outside of Doom's castle, and she developed something of a crush on the boy.
After the Fantastic Four went missing and Scott found himself without a job, he found employment at Oracle, Inc. with the Heroes for Hire (H4H). It was while working with the Heroes for Hire that Cassie had further adventures, accidentally activating the Super-Adaptoid and receiving horrifying visions of things to come. The H4H easily defeated the Adaptoid, and Cassie's participation in these dark events helped her father and his allies defeat Master of the World in a battle for the fate of the Earth. All of these adventures gave Cassie a taste for the action-filled life of a superhero, but it caused her mother to take sole custody from Scott.
As a result of Cassie being kept away from her father Scott, she grew more and more bitter towards her mother, and even more so towards her stepfather, Blake Burdick. As a police officer, he could not stand the world of superheroes the young girl loved, and he unsuccessfully tried to keep Cassie and Scott apart. For years, Cassie visited her father whenever possible, much to her mother and stepfather's chagrin, until the events of Avengers Disassembled, when Scott Lang was apparently killed due to the actions of an insane Scarlet Witch.
Cassie retreated into herself, blaming Blake for being unable to understand her as her father always did. Blake Burdick tried unsuccessfully to be a caring stepfather, being however sometimes distant toward her, seeing his stepdaughter as a "less than brilliant" girl. Some time after her father's death, and after another confrontation with her mother and stepfather, Cassie decided to run away to Los Angeles to join the Runaways, but after seeing the "Young Avengers" on television just before leaving, she subsequently changed her plans, as she later told Jessica Jones.
Young Avengers
Iron Lad, a younger version of classic Avengers foe Kang the Conqueror, desperate for help against his future self after learning what he would become, used the Vision's database, stored in the remains of his synthezoid body, to track and recruit young superpowered individuals connected to the Avengers' history; however, Cassie was not one of the individuals on the list. Wishing to join the Young Avengers, she and Kate Bishop met the young heroes at the Avengers Mansion; when they refused to let them join or to let her take her father's gear, she angrily rebuked, only to discover much to her own shock that by doing so she had increased her size. She later confessed to Iron Man that she had repeatedly stolen Pym particles from her father for years, but until then it seemed they never had any effect on her. Cassie later displayed the ability to also shrink as had her father.
Iron Lad assured her that if Vision had known she had developed powers, she would have been part of his plans for the Young Avengers, thus accepting her as a teammate; she therefore took part in the battle against Kang, which ended in the villain's defeat. However, as the timeline caused several of them to disappear, Iron Lad realized that he had to return to his own time and accept the fact that he had to become Kang, much to Cassie's sorrow, as she had got a crush on him.
While Captain America and Iron Man ordered the team to disband, both Cassie and Kate refused to accept that and convinced the others to keep the team active; after initially considering "Ant-Girl" or "Giant-Girl", she ultimately adopted the codename Stature, along with a new costume (which however kept the same pattern as her father's, that she had initially used). Despite this, she felt guilty when overhearing her mother and stepfather discussing the possibility of her being a member of the team, also showing that rage or guilt made her respectively grow or shrink, metaphorically reflecting her being a shrinking violet about her family issues. After th.
When Jessica Jones asked Cassie if there isn't even a small part of her wishing for a normal life, Cassie replied, "Ms. Jones, my dad was Ant-Man. I never had a normal life."
In the Civil War limited series, Cassie, along with her fellow Young Avengers, joined Captain America's resistance to the Superhero Registration Act; she and the rest of her team stayed at a safe house, while Nick Fury arranged new secret identities for them. During this time, she participated in a rescue effort, which turned out to be a trap of Iron Man: during the subsequent battle, Goliath was killed by a clone of Thor and her teammate Wiccan was captured. Afterwards, Cassie opted to leave Captain America's side and to register, citing her reasons as wishing to fight villains rather than cops and other heroes.
The Initiative
Cassie joined the Initiative, as a trainee. Along with fellow Initiative members Dusk, Tigra, Silverclaw, and Araña, she was ensnared by the Puppet Master. Although she (along with the others) was mindcontrolled into fighting Ms. Marvel, she was eventually freed from the mind control.
Her time at Camp Hammond brought her in to contact with her father's successor as Ant-Man - Eric O'Grady. O'Grady made several disparaging remarks about her father, not realizing that she was within earshot; this caused a literally giant-sized brawl between the two as both grew to their giant forms. After O'Grady picked up a bus and hit Lang with it, after tricking her by telling her she had stepped on Stingray, Henry Pym intervened. Taskmaster broke up the fight by attacking their now giant-sized Achilles tendons, bringing all three crashing to the ground.
Later, Cassie was visited at Camp Hammond by the Vision, who disguised himself as Tony Stark in order to take her out on a date. After fighting off an attempt by A.I.M. to steal the Vision, he confessed that he shares Iron Lad's attraction to her, and hopes that she can love him; Cassie was unsure, but did not reject him, telling him to give her time to sort things out.
Cassie accidentally injured her stepfather Blake, while stopping the Growing Man. Her guilt caused her to continue shrinking down, and the other Young Avengers attempted to snap her out of it before she shrinks into non-existence. With the help of Patriot, she came to terms with the responsibilities and risks of her position as part of the Young Avengers and the Initiative, reasoning that Blake also faces the risks as a policeman.
Secret Invasion
Stature fought against the Skrull invasion of Manhattan as part of the Initiative. She grew larger than the Skrull Yellowjacket and punched him out.
Dark Reign
In the aftermath of the Skrull invasion, Cassie left the Initiative at the start of the Dark Reign storyline and rejoined the Young Avengers. Cassie and Vision (now seemingly into a relationship) flew to the Avengers Mansion ruins, having been summoned by Wiccan with warnings of a great magical threat. After finding their teammates turned to stone, they encountered the Scarlet Witch, who transported them away to be a part of The Mighty Avengers, led by Hank Pym. Despite her evident and vocal distrust of Scarlet, which she helds responsible for her father's death, in the end she remained in the team. During a confrontation with the Fantastic Four for a device of the late Bill Foster, she refused to participate in the attack and instead went to warn them about what was really happening, citing her reluctance on fighting those she felt were like family. Eventually, Cassie's distrust of Scarlet led her to expose that she was in reality Loki in disguise. While part of the team, Lang also fought a demi-god at Mount Wundagore, and a homicidal ancient Inhuman.
Normon Osborn later mounted a full-scale attack on Asgard, which eventually led to his demise. Teaming up with the rest of the Mighty Avengers one last time, Cassie and Vision helped to stop the Thunderbolts for taking Odin's Spear (an Asgardian weapon of virtually limitless power) to Osborn; in the battle, she also fought the new Ant-Man again.
Heroic Age
At some point, Cassie applied for a babysitter job with Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, though more in the hope of eventually finding her way into the ranks of the New Avengers rather than any dedication to babysitting itself; she was dismissed in favor of Squirrel Girl.
The Children's Crusade and death
When Wiccan's uncontrolled magical energy nearly killed several members of the Sons of the Serpent, the Avengers began to fear that he may become another Scarlet Witch; they explained to the Young Avengers how the Scarlet Witch went insane after the loss of her twin boys, resulting in the death of the original Vision and Scott Lang, and rendering nearly all of the world's mutants powerless. When Wiccan felt unsure about what to do, Cassie suggested that they could try and find Scarlet, believing that if they can show her that her children are alive, she may be able to reverse everything she has done, including her father's death.
During the team's foray in Latveria, Cassie was reunited with Iron Lad, and when he took the team back to the period of Avengers Disassembled, she was able to bring her father forward in time from the moment he was about to die from the Jack of Hearts' explosion to the present; after she manifested her powers in front of him, Scott told her he's proud of her.
Dr. Doom stole Scarlet Witch's reality warping powers and fought the combined forces of the Avengers and X-Men. As Doom seemingly killed her father (who actually managed to shrink down and escape with minor wounds), a distraught Cassie charged the super powered dictator, gaining time for Scarlet and Wiccan to prepare a joint spell to deprive him of his new powers; however, Doom retaliated by blasting Cassie with an explosive spell, killing her. Although Iron Lad offered to take her into the future to save her, his offer was rejected by the other Young Avengers, as it was more in line with what Kang would do than what an Avenger should do. While contemplating rebuilding the Vision (who was destroyed by Iron Lad when he protested against his plans), the Young Avengers realized that they would have to tell a restored Vision about Cassie's death, and thus decided not to follow through with the rebuilding. Kate expressed her desire to believe that Vision and Cassie are somehow together in the afterlife. Together with the Vision's, and everything that happened, her death lead to the team's disbandment; a statue in Cassie's and Jonas' honor was later built in the gardens of the mansion.
Resurrection
Bentley 23 (a clone of Wizard) of the Future Foundation later postulated that due to the unstable nature of Pym Particles, Cassie's body could conceivably regenerate into an ionic form similar to the resurrection of Wonder Man; he suggested digging up the corpse to check, stating that he's sure his classmates were thinking the same thing.
During the AXIS storyline, Doctor Doom was transformed into a more heroic, altruistic form as a result of the battle with the Red Skull. Seeking redemption for his past crimes, Doctor Doom used the Scarlet Witch's powers to resurrect Cassie; she is then seen tearfully reuniting with her father and his new girlfriend Darla Deering.
In the Ant-Man ongoing series, she is shown as living a normal life as a middle-school student; her mother, however, worried that Scott's lifestyle and actions might attract more danger to her, decides to relocate to Miami despite Cassie's reluctance. Scott nonetheless decides to relocate there as well, to stay near his daughter.
Powers and abilities
Cassie has the ability to increase and decrease her size. She can become roughly 40 feet (12 m) tall and can shrink to the size of an ant. Her abilities seemed to be fueled by her emotions. She grows when she gets angry and shrinks when she feels guilty. Cassie seems to have become more powerful since first demonstrating her powers, as she has in recent issues surpassed her previous growth limit. At first she struggled to shrink to 6 inches and grow to 10â€"15 feet. She has been seen growing larger than the Skrull Yellowjacket, who could grow to at least 100 feet (30 m) tall. It was established that she and Hank Pym share an upper limit of somewhere around 250 feet (76 m) in height, and that, if she keeps her bigger dimensions for too long, Cassie will suffer from strains that will eventually force her to shrink back down.
Other versions
MC2
In MC2, Cassandra, now a doctor, operates under the name Stinger on the group A-Next. Although she is the oldest member of A-Next, in her mid-20s, and the only one on the original team with a professional life and a scientific background, she is still doted on by her father, who constantly worries about her newfound superhero life. She possesses many abilities originally engineered by Henry Pym, including resizing, flying, communication with insects, and firing bioelectric "stinger" blasts (as well artificial "stingers" sedative darts), all based on her costume and helmet. She does not seem to be capable of increasing her size and strength, unlike her main continuity version.
Avengers Fairy Tales
In issue 3 of Avengers Fairy Tales, Cassie is portrayed as Alice of Alice in Wonderland. She encounters Wonderland versions of the Young Avengers. At first her emotions cause her to grow and shrink beyond her control. She also meets Wonderland versions of Ant-Man (Scott Lang) and Tigra.
What If?
In "What If Iron Man Lost the Armor Wars", Cassie is taken hostage by Justin Hammer to force her father's cooperation against his benefactor Tony Stark. When Hammer is later assassinated and his knowledge over the Iron Man armor claimed by A.I.M., Scott and Cassie are taken hostage by them as well, but are eventually freed by Stark clad in the Firepower armor.
In the "What If Civil War Ended Differently" segment titled "What If Captain America Led ALL the Superheroes against the Registration Act," Cassie was among the first superheroes killed in a confrontation with government-launched Sentinels during the first battle.
Children's Crusade
Cassie Lang, under the codename Stature went with her team on the search for the Scarlet Witch.
In the alternate future timeline glimpsed during the Children's Crusade, Cassie was shown as a member of the future Avengers under the codename Stinger. It was later revealed that it had been Wiccan, now renamed Sorcerer Supreme, posing as Stinger to get Iron Lad to go back in time.
Ultimate Marvel
The Ultimate Marvel version of Stature appears in Ultimate Comics: Ultimates as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Giant-Woman" squad. While brainwashed by Thor's son Modi, Stature battles the new Spider-Man and is defeated. She later recovers and rescues the Helicarrier after it is shot down during a skirmish with HYDRA. Monica Chang subsequently offers Stature a spot on the Ultimates due to the bravery she displayed during the battle with HYDRA. For unknown reasons, she did not end up joining the Ultimates, but later resurfaced as a member of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos.
In other media
Television
- Cassie Lang appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "To Steal an Ant-Man", voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey. After recovering from an illness which had driven her father to crime in order to support her treatment, she is kidnapped by his former criminal associates led by Crossfire in order to blackmail him. However, Hank Pym, Power Man and Iron Fist make short work of this plan, rescue Cassie, and defeat Crossfire and his men.
Pop culture references
- Cassie is referenced in the mc chris song "Nrrrd Grrrl": "Wanna conquer her like Kang, When you kiss like Cassie Lang".
References
