Cassie Lang is the only MCU character who has been played by three different actors. Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced us to Cassie in Ant-Man 2015 as Scott Lang’s daughter. She was played by Abby Ryder Fortson. Though the character was just 8-years old at that time, she immediately won the audience. Not only was she adorable but Cassie was Scott’s best friend. She supported her father and believed in him from the beginning. Cassie always had a charm and power about her character which is why her presence mattered to fans.
There was a long gap between the first Ant-Man film and Avengers: Endgame. Additionally, the storyline in the latter took place five- years after Thanos’ snap. Such a huge gap and time jump into the future meant that Cassie had aged several years. She was a teenager by then and Marvel had to recast her to fit her true age. So, after Scott got out of the Quantum Realm, he was welcomed by a grown-up Cassie, played by Emma Fuhrmann.
Emma’s performance during the emotional reunion with her dad was definitely something. The powerful and memorable scene had touched the audience. But, despite her sincere acting, MCU recast her for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
When Fuhrmann appeared in Endgame, it was naturally assumed that MCU was setting her up for future movies. In the comic books, Cassie eventually grows up to become a significant part of Marvel as a superhero. She carries forward her dad’s baton as Stature/Stinger/Ant-Girl and joins the Young Avengers. With Kid Loki, Wiccan, Tommy, and Hawkeye, it was assumed that Fuhrmann’s Cassie would have a prominent role in the future. But clearly, that isn’t happening anymore.
The studios replaced Emma Fuhrmann with Kathryn Newton and nobody knew why. Some believe that it’s because of Newton’s rising prominence and fame. She has starred in well-known works like Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, Big Little Lies, Freaky, and The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, and more. She obviously has a big fanbase, and perhaps Marvel Studios wanted to cash on that. But MCU has previously cast lesser-known actors too and made them stars overnight.
So, it doesn’t explain why they would take a huge decision of recasting. Scheduling conflicts doesn’t seem like a reason since there’s reportedly not many projects in Fuhrmann’s planner.
On the other side of the fence, things have been all about timings for Newton. Before getting her call from Marvel, the actress was starring on her own show, The Society, on Netflix, but the show got nixed abruptly due to the uncertainty during the pandemic. She said in an interview,
“But in the middle of quarantine, we were supposed to go film [season 2], and the show got cancelled. It got cancelled! My future was shot. I had no idea what I was going to do. And then a week later, I got a call from Marvel.”
Whatever the reasons were, we are super excited to watch Newton take up the role of Stature. With her acting chops, star power and passion to become one of the best superheroes, fans are in for something great.
