The first “Ant-Man“ movie was one of the few MCU superhero projects to showcase a wholesome parent-child relationship through the titular hero, protagonist Scott Lang, and his daughter Cassandra “Cassie” Lang. The way the central narrative of the movie integrated the father-daughter relationship was unique, and it continued through the characters’ arc in sequels and crossover movies, reaching its culmination in the third movie of the trilogy, “Ant-Man and the Wasp:Quantumania.” Let’s go through Scott’s relationship with his daughter in the course of three phases of MCU storytelling to better appreciate the character dynamic between the two in “Quantumania.”
Spoilers Ahead
Scott And Cassie Through MCU Phase Two To Phase Four
In “Ant-Man” (2015), we meet ex-con Scott Lang, fresh off of his three-year-long sentence. A Robin Hood-esque everyman, Scott’s tendency toward theft (albeit for a good cause) has led to his divorce. Even though Scott struggles to keep a straight face, his eight-year-old daughter Cassie looks up to him and has an endearing relationship with her father. Scott laments missing his deserved time to be with her daughter, but even after getting released, he is cut off from visiting his daughter unless he pays child support. This prompts Scott to set up a heist at quantum physicist Professor Hank Pym’s place, where he steals the shrinking tech-enabled Ant-Man suit and gets his first taste of the miniature world. Later, Hank requests Scott that he take up the mantle of Ant-Man, and both Hank and Scott’s wife, Maggie, motivate Scott into shouldering the superhero life by urging him to be the hero his daughter believes him to be. In the end, when Scott, in his Ant-Man attire, accidentally shrinks himself to the quantum realm, Cassie’s voice anchors him to the outside world and makes his return successful.
In the sequel, “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” we see Scott living under house arrest for two years, thanks to the shenanigans he pulled off in “Captain America: Civil War” by joining Captain America’s side. But this time, Scott got to spend some quality time with his daughter. The end of the movie coincides with the mega-crossover MCU event “Avengers: Infinity War,” and the effect of Thanos snapping half of the existence away is felt in Scott’s life too. Scott remains stuck in a time vortex in the quantum realm, while Hank, his wife Janet, and their daughter, Scott’s girlfriend Hope, vanish from existence, along with Maggie and her current husband, Paxton. The aftermath of the sequel is directly connected with the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” where we find that, like Scott, his daughter Hope, too, was spared from getting wiped from existence. Scott returns from the quantum realm and finds out that while stuck in the vortex, he hasn’t aged a day, five years have passed in the surface world, and his daughter has now become a teenager. Once again, Scott has missed the formative years of his daughter’s life, and the worst part of it is that he had no control over the situation that led to this.
The Parent-Sibling Dynamic In ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’
By the third part of the “Ant-Man” trilogy, in “Quantumania,” Scott’s life has taken a drastic turn, all for the better. The M.Tech ex-con who struggled to find a decent-paying job has been recognized as a hero by the public after joining forces with the global, intergalactic might of heroes against Thanos in “Avengers: Endgame.” Making a living off of his superhero experience, Scott has managed to bag a lucrative career. But at the same time, he knows he has missed out on the experience of being a father to Cassie twice in his life. This has led to a significant distance growing between Cassie and Scott, as she feels more at ease confiding with grandpa Hank than with her father. The lack of time Scott was talking about in the first movie has returned to haunt him once again.
Like Father, Like Daughter
As Scott’s autobiographical book’s title, “Look out for the little guy,” in the movie indicates (aside from the obvious lame Ant-Man pun), a teenage Cassie has found a career in helping the underprivileged by acting as a vigilante, much like her father. Like her father, she has become quite the Robin Hood jailbird herself, serving time for noble causes. Cassie had looked up to her father since childhood, even before he became a superhero, and it is fitting that she has chosen a career in vigilantism willingly. Scott, however, isn’t willing to let Cassie risk her life by taking up vigilantism as a career and wants her to have a regular life. Despite his deeds inspiring her in the first place, Scott tries to dissuade her from this hero lifestyle as much as possible.
Like her father, Cassie is persuasive. With the help of Hank and Janet, she has researched more about the quantum realm and created a quantum navigator machine. Cassie regrets not having a mechanism like this earlier, which could have helped her find Scott when he was stuck in the quantum realm. Unfortunately, this very invention accidentally takes the Ant-Man family to the quantum realm, where Scott and Cassie get separated from the rest of the group and have to make peace with their differing perspectives to survive. The tyrannical ruler of the quantum realm, Kang’s forces annihilate the natives and their habitat, and Cassie’s first instinct is to help them instead of fleeing. Scott, who is now even more worried about his daughter’s security, initially turns a blind eye to the natives’ predicament but finally joins forces with them. He also comes to terms with Cassie living a dual life, not only as a vigilante but as a superhero (which he knows after entering the quantum realm), and even shows her the ropes.
As the father-daughter duo gets captured by his forces, Kang offers Scott a deal of allotting him time in exchange for retrieving the power core of Kang’s multiversal vessel. As Scott refuses, Kang threatens him with Cassie’s life, which forces Scott to make a deal with the Devil. Unsurprisingly, Kang betrays Scott and holds Cassie captive. Later, Cassie uses her wits to free herself, and with the help of native rebel leader Jentorra, she takes hold of the control room of Kang’s capitol. She motivates the rebel natives with her words, which reflect her father’s influence on her since her younger days. Inspired, the rebels take the fight to Kang and decimate his forces. Her actions throughout the course of the movie inspire Scott, too, as even while getting beaten to a pulp by Kang, he is determined enough not to let Kang escape from the quantum realm, knowing how dangerous a threat he could become. The events come full circle as Cassie uses the same quantum navigator device to locate and rescue Scott and Hope at the end.
Much like the first movie in the “Ant-Man” franchise, the third one uses the father-daughter relationship to further its plot, and it succeeds in balancing the character growth through the years while keeping the core intact. At the end of the movie, we see Scott celebrating the belated birthday of Cassie, even though there’s a significant sense of caution and worry in the face of the usually happy-go-lucky persona, which leads us to ask the question of whether, once again, their happiness will be short-lived or not.
