Relationship Spotlight Scott & Cassie Lang (Ant-Man and the Wasp)

*Scott-Cassie-related spoilers, including for Quantumania.*

After Quantumania came out, I did a long-overdue write-up about Cassie Lang, and even though I very naturally talked quite a bit about Scott there, I wanted to write a dedicated post about their relationship as well. Family stuff—of both the biological and found variety—looms large in the MCU, and Scott and Cassie’s father/daughter relationship is crucial to the Ant-Man and the Wasp franchise.

Honestly, without Cassie, I’m not sure if Scott ever would’ve become Ant-Man. Or at least, if Hank was still determined to give him the suit and enlist his help, he would’ve had a trickier time getting Scott involved. After his release from prison, Scott is desperate to be with his daughter, but Maggie isn’t willing to entertain visitation, let alone joint custody, until he can prove he’s gotten his act together. And a lot of that means money: child support, an apartment, a job, etc.

(Side note: I’m not sure if it’s ever stated how long Scott was in prison or how much contact he had with Cassie while he was inside, whether he was able to call her or if Maggie brought her for visits.)

Even though Scott has vowed not to get into any more trouble, because he knows how much time he’s already missed with Cassie, it’s tough for him to get steady employment as a formerly incarcerated person. Every setback just makes him think of how much longer it’ll be before he’s able to see her. So, when Luis proposes a big one-time score—unbeknownst to him, one deliberated orchestrated and dangled by Hank in order to reel Scott in—Scott agrees. It’s over the course of this burglary that he discovers the Ant-Man suit, is arrested, and, with a nudge from Hank to use the suit, breaks back out. Now he’s been swept up into something bigger than he's ever experienced, and Hank has him on the hook.

I mentioned in my Cassie post that her relationship with her dad is almost marked more by the time they’re separated than the time that they’re together, but despite all the various forces that conspire to keep them apart, I really love it when we do see their relationship in action. Scott is Cassie’s hero and she doesn’t care that he was in prison. His goofiness tickles her, and he gets that she’d rather have or do something interesting than something cool or pretty, like the “ugly” stuffed animal he gives her for her birthday. When he’s on house arrest in Ant-Man and the Wasp, I love that he constructs elaborate pretend Ant-Man missions for them to do together at his place, that he spends hours taking an online course in close-up magic, just so he can give her fun things to do when she stays with him.

There’s a great moment in Ant-Man and the Wasp where Scott is wrestling with the task before him and Cassie suggests that he needs a partner. Assuming she means Hope, he says, “Well, she’s made it clear that’s about the last thing she wants.” But Cassie shyly admits that she was talking about herself. Realizing that his reaction hurt her feelings, Scott reassures her while letting her down gently, saying, “Aww, peanut. You would be awesome. And if I let you, I would be a terrible dad.” The whole scene is so sweet and lovely.

By the time Quantumania rolls around, a lot has changed. Scott and Cassie were separated again, this time for five years when he was stuck in the Quantum Realm during the Blip. It doesn’t feel like that much time for him, because timey-wimey, but he’s suddenly confronted with the fact that his daughter is now a teenager. In Quantumania, it’s obvious that both still love each other hugely, but they don’t have the same easy closeness that they did when Cassie was a kid. Cassie is more independent now, and Scott worries about some of what she gets up to, like getting arrested after she shrinks a cop car during a peaceful protest. While Cassie thinks she’s doing what her dad does—helping people by doing what’s right, not by following the rules—Scott only sees a daughter who’s getting in trouble and fears he’s not doing enough as a parent.

Things come to a head when the whole Ant-Man/Wasp crew is sucked into the Quantum Realm. Once they realize the state of affairs there, Cassie thinks the time has finally come: she can fight by Scott’s side and be his partner. But allowing his daughter to be put in even more danger is the last thing on Scott’s mind. He’s in full protective-dad mode, basically wanting Cassie to stay quiet and do exactly as he says until he’s able to get them out. But that’s not going to fly this time. Cassie’s a teenager, she has her own suit, she’s trained with it, and she learned a lot about the Quantum Realm during the Blip. She has skills she can contribute and wants to stand beside her dad, not hide behind him. Over the course of the film, she has to learn to listen better and defer to his experience, but he also has to learn to treat her like a capable young person and not a little girl.

Relationship Spotlight: Hope Van Dyne & Scott Lang (Ant-Man and the Wasp)

Even as I enjoyed the heck out of the first Ant-Man, loved Scott, adored Hope, and couldn’t wait until Ant-Man and the Wasp, it would’ve been hard for me to believe, prior to seeing the new movie, that it would get me shipping Scott/Hope.  Big kudos to the production for righting this ship (see what I did there?) in a major way (a few spoilers.)

Romance in Marvel movies has always been hit-or-miss.  I’d previously have said that their best romantic relationship was Cap and Peggy, and that benefits from the frozen-in-amber aspect of ending before it properly starts, leaving it as this lovely might-have-been tinged with wistfulness.  I still like Peggy/Steve, of course, but now there’s a more tangible ongoing relationship in Hope/Scott to give them a run for their money.

As I said, I loved the first Ant-Man, as well as Scott and Hope.  Scott/Hope, on the other hand?  Not so much.  While I liked their interactions and how they came to understand each other, the last-minute makeout shot felt to me like the epitome of out-of-nowhere.  Not even that the dynamic the film was setting up didn’t have any potential for romance – I could see it, but given what we’d seen so far, it was way too soon.  The moment felt irritatingly tacked-on, and I wasn’t a fan.

Cue my surprise at watching Ant-Man and the Wasp and finding myself loving Hope/Scott together almost as much as I love them both individually.  Possibly, it helps that the film starts with them on the outs, as Scott’s escapades in Civl War have gotten them both in trouble (plus Hank,) and Hope and Hank have been on the run while Scott has been unable to contact them as a condition of his house arrest.  In a way, it resets the somewhat-more-combative vibe they had for much of the first movie, which I think works.  Not because I think happy couples are inherently boring, though – rather, I think it works because it’s a chance for the film to back up on these two and bring their relationship forward more organically this time.

Even as Hope starts off being cold to Scott and he’s initially wary around her, you can see that it’s not exactly like it was before.  Hope is angry that Scott’s impulsiveness blew up her and Hank’s life, but she’s also hurt that he didn’t trust her to back him up in Civil War, didn’t ask her to join him.  There’s an investment in her anger that’s sharper than it would be if she didn’t care about him, and it hints at the relationship they had offscreen in between movies; we see the shape of it in Hope’s disappointment that it wasn’t everything she hoped it was.

This provides groundwork for their eventual reconciliation when circumstances bring them back together for a mission.  It’s more than just their previous “they spar (verbally and otherwise,) but they’re also kind of hot for each other!” dynamic, which is fine but fairly typical and, like I said, not all that fleshed out.  Instead, we get this tug between him, watch them dance slightly around each other as they work together again. 

Scott tries to apologize, and Hope blocks him.  Hope makes overtures, and Scott gets honest.  Hope throws up walls, and Scott tries to ease the tension.  And as they get into the rhythm of their mission, both of them suited up, relying on each other and sharing ideas, we see them start to fall back into what they must have been as a couple.  The edges soften, their sparring becomes more playful, and you can hear the care in their voices as they urge the other to watch out.  Then, almost as quickly as it starts, someone (often Hope) pulls back again, and they’re on their guard once more.  But each time it happens, the new distance they build between them isn’t quite as far as it was before, and they’re ever so gradually making their way back to each other.

Additionally, I love that Hope has equal footing in the partnership.  This is something Marvel has been moving toward in its recent movies (see also T’Challa/Nakia and the possible Thor/Valkyrie,) with the “love interest”/potential “love interest” standing beside the hero instead of behind him, but I think Ant-Man and the Wasp is the first movie where that’s fully achieved.  I love seeing a man and a woman fighting alongside each other, both of them strong, smart, and capable, the two of them sharing the lead, and, yes – them having romantic feelings for each other as well.  I hope that this pairing provides a new framework for Marvel romances going forward.

Favorite Characters: Scott Lang a.k.a. Ant-Man (The Avengers)

As I’ve said before, the only real knock I have against Scott is that Hope is so awesome, I don’t get why he’s in the suit instead of her (yeah, I know, Ant-Man gives an in-story reason for it, but still.)  Aside from that, however, he’s proved a nice addition to the MCU hero gang, and Civil War shows he works well within the whole team (some basic spoilers for Ant-Man.)

To me, the first thing that makes Scott stand out is the fact that he’s a father.  Aside from a certain someone and their Secret Family! reveal in Age of Ultron, none of the Avengers or their satellites have kids.  Granted, he’s no longer with Cassie’s mom (so he’s free to acquire a new love interest) and his ex has custody (so he doesn’t have to worry about who’s watching the kid when he’s out superheroing,) so it doesn’t noticeably change the way he functions as a hero, but it does change his motivations.

When we meet Scott, he’s just coming out of jail after a stint as a whistleblower-turned-hacker/cat-burglar (he Robin Hooded money from his shady former employers and gave it to the people they’d cheated,) and getting back on his feet has been tough.  No one wants to hire ex-cons, and his ex-wife has made it clear that he can’t see his daughter until he proves to her that he can provide his share.  At first, Scott’s instinct is to return to crime in his desperation to see Cassie, getting the money he needs quickly from a score off of some allegedly-unsavory character, and I’m guessing it’s a well he would have gone back to as many times as he needed to, if it weren’t for Hank Pym.

In addition to paying him well for his assistance, Hank offers Scott something else.  Not just the money he needs to see Cassie, but the chance to become someone that his daughter can be proud of.  He gives Scott the opportunity to choose right instead of choosing crime, and that’s important to Scott.  As much as Cassie loves him regardless of what he’s done, he knows how other people judge him, and he’s not entirely immune to judging himself, either.  At times, he probably feels undeserving of Cassie’s devotion (especially when people keep reminding him what a screw-up he is.)  By agreeing to Hank’s job, Scott has a chance to make good.

Because really, I think that’s the only thing that could convince Scott to go along with it.  His first excursion in the Ant-Man suit freaks him out so much he tries to get rid of it, and once he’s brought to Hank’s home, everything somehow gets even weirder.  To him, Hank seems nuts and his science is insane, and if it weren’t for Cassie, I doubt Scott would want anything to do with it.

But once he does get on-board, Scott takes to being Ant-Man quite well.  He has a great knack for knowing exactly when to go from small to big to small again (his fight scenes are so much fun to watch,) he does a nice job wrangling the ants, and he’s good at thinking on his feet.  This last point is a skill he already honed in his cat burglar days, having to improvise in the middle of jobs, and it serves him well.  His criminal history is also a major help in the planning of the heist.  While Hank and Hope think they’ve got everything worked out, Scott sees possibilities they don’t.  Not to mention, he knows when the job is getting too complex and they need to expand their operation.  Both Hank and Hope have a tendency to think of Scott as a tool they instruct and use for their purposes, but he soon proves what he brings to the table.