It’s almost been a full year since Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicked off Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and most of us still have yet to forgive this transgression.
Indeed, after a rocky but still relatively stable end to Phase Four, many were looking to Quantumania to confirm that the spring was back in Marvel’s step, only for Ant-Man’s third solo outing to implode by way of some infinitely questionable writing topped off with an ending that gutted Cassie Lang’s character arc potential in one daft move.
Speaking to Screen Rant while promoting her upcoming film Lisa Frankenstein, Cassie Lang actress Kathryn Newton spoke candidly about exploring her MCU character in the future, particularly in the context of finally coming into her own as a superhero.
Cassie Lang in Ant-Man, she’s someone’s daughter, so I’d like to see who she is as her own little adult. But we’ll find out. Who is that girl? Maybe she’s crazy, maybe she’s not.
But, in a more just world, this would have begun in Quantumania; the film we all saw ended with the heroes escaping the Quantum Realm, Kang getting his comeuppance, and consequences going all but extinct.
If the film had been interested in serving itself and its story, it would have ended with at least Ant-Man getting trapped in the Quantum Realm, and it’s widely believed that a variation of this ending was in the original Quantumania script, which would only make the situation worse if true.
The alleged original ending would have skyrocketed the nuances of Cassie’s arc by several orders of magnitude; after spending so much of Quantumania chewing out her father for not being a hero anymore despite people still needing help, how might she have changed as a character if Scott’s choice to be the hero she wanted him to be meant he had to effectively sacrifice himself, especially when his Ant-Man antics have historically played such a huge role in their father-daughter estrangement?
Indeed, it certainly would have complicated Cassie’s views on heroism, and it would have been far more interesting to see her carry that turmoil forward with her as the MCU seemingly sets up the Young Avengers. In any case, here’s hoping the next project featuring Cassie Lang works overtime to do her character the justice she’s owed.
(featured image: Marvel Studios)
