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Quote1 I'm not going anywhere. My father was an Avenger. This was his home. And one weekend a month, it was mine, too. Now he's dead. And all I have left of him is inside the mansion. So I don't care who you are--or what powers you have... I'm not leaving without it! Quote2
Cassie Lang[src]

History

Origins[]

As a young child, Cassie suffered from a congenital heart defect. To save her life, her father, Scott Lang, stole Henry 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.[12]

Cassandra Lang (Earth-616) from Marvel Premiere Vol 1 47 0001

Cassie's childhood

As Cassie became older she wanted to become a hero just like her father. With Ant-Man for a dad, Cassie was able to encounter the world's greatest heroes on a frequent basis. 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 Kristoff Vernard, the former ward of Doctor Doom. 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.

When the Fantastic Four went missing and Scott found himself without a job, he found employment at Oracle, Inc. with the Heroes for Hire. It was while working with the Heroes for Hire that Cassie had further adventures, accidentally activating the Super-Adaptoid, and receiving terrifying visions of things to come.[13] The H4H easily defeated the Adaptoid, and Cassie's participation in these dark events helped her father and his allies defeat the Master in a battle for the fate of the Earth itself.

After the divorce of her parents, Cassie's father joined the Avengers. Cassie spent much of her time with her father living in Avengers Mansion. She loved and admired her father, and formed a strong relationship with his colleagues (she even referred to Tony Stark as "Uncle Tony").[14] Unbeknownst to anyone, Cassie used this time to secretly expose herself to Pym Particles, in the hopes that she could be a superhero like her father.[15]

However, when Cassie's mother Peggy remarried, she and her new husband, Blake Burdick, continued to harbor a growing resentment towards superhuman heroes and worry for Cassie's safety. Peggy was able to obtain a court ruling limiting Scott's time with Cassie to supervised visits.[16]

Cassie went through a traumatic experience during this time, being kidnapped and held hostage with the looming threat of violence from a deranged individual hanging over her head. Scott arrived in time to save Cassie, and nearly took the life of the crazed man who had taken Cassie from her school. Her father's teammate Jack of Hearts had followed closely behind his fellow Avenger, unwilling to let Scott make a fatal mistake before Cassie's very eyes. Jack did the avenging for Scott and did so at the cost of his own life.[17]

Death of Scott Lang[]

Having felt responsible for Jack of Hearts' death, Scott ran out to greet his fallen comrade when he inexplicably landed on the Avengers Mansion grounds. Scott was then incinerated when Jack suddenly exploded, leaving some skeletal remains of Ant-Man in the newly formed crater. The Avengers lost a great deal during the coming hours, leading to the apparent end of the team itself. Cassie Lang was left without the love and support of her father. He was her parent, her inspiration, her hero and more. The man who had meant so much to her had died. Cassie was very saddened by her father's death, but as one hero would leave this world, another would take his place.[18][19]

Young Avengers[]

After Scott's death, Cassie began living with her mother and step-father. Tensions were high, and Cassie constantly fought her mother. One night Cassie planned to leave home and join the Runaways.[20] However, that same night Cassie learned about the Young Avengers.[20] Intent on joining them, Cassie sought out Kate Bishop, the young woman rescued by the Young Avengers. Together the pair went to the Avengers Mansion and found the four teen boys called Iron Lad, Patriot, Hulkling, and Asgardian. An argument soon erupted about Young Avengers membership, and Cassie began to grow at an alarming rate to everyone's surprise, including Cassie's.[21] Captain America, Iron Man, and Jessica Jones arrived to quell the argument and help Cassie.[15]

While alone in the Avengers Mansion, Cassie confided to Tony that she had been secretly taking Pym Particles for years, and Tony told her the truth about her father's murder. Not long afterward, the Mansion was attacked by Kang the Conqueror.[15] During the battle both Cassie and Kate joined in, and a brief romance sparked between Cassie and Iron Lad. After defeating Kang and saving the world, Cassie and Kate remained on as permanent members.[22]

Young Avengers (Earth-616) from Young Avengers Vol 1 6 001

Stature with the Young Avengers

Captain America and Iron Man ordered the team to disband and refused to train them. However, Kate used some of her family's money and connections to procure a new lair, costumes, and weapons for the team. Although codenames like "Ant-Girl" and "Titan" were suggested, Cassie adopted the title Stature.[23]

After deciding to continue her life as a superhero, Cassie's stepfather and mother began to suspect that she is secretly Stature. Later, Jessica Jones confirmed Cassie's dual identity to her mother in an effort to stop the Young Avengers.[24] Despite her mother and stepfather's objections, Cassie remained with the Young Avengers helping to avert a new Kree-Skrull War, rescue Speed and battle the Zodiac.[25][26]

Civil War[]

During the Superhero Civil War, Cassie originally sided with the other Young Avengers in rebelling against the Registration Act.[27] When Goliath was killed by a clone of Thor and her teammate Wiccan captured by Iron Man, Cassie decided to leave Captain America's side. She cited her reasons as being a "desire to fight villains rather than cops and other heroes".[28]

Cassandra Lang (Earth-616) from Young Avengers Presents Vol 1 4 001

Stature training at Camp Hammond

Initiative and Secret Invasion[]

Cassie later joined the Initiative and began training at Camp Hammond, Connecticut.[29] During her time at Camp Hammond, Cassie met her father's successor Eric O'Grady, the new Ant-Man. O'Grady made several disparaging remarks about her father, not realizing that she was within earshot. This caused a literal giant-sized brawl between the two. Henry Pym grew to his giant size and quickly intervened. Taskmaster used the distraction to attack, but after a brief brawl, O'Grady and Cassie was able to reconcile.[30]

After journeying around the world, Vision arrived at Camp Hammond disguised as Tony Stark to visit Cassie. In order to take her out on a date. Vision confesses that he shares Iron Lad's attraction to her, and hopes that she can love him. Cassie is unsure of her situation, but open to the possibility.[31]

Cassie once accidentally injured her stepfather Blake, while stopping the Growing Man. Her guilt causes her to shrink and the other Young Avengers attempt to snap her out of it before she shrinks into non-existence. She comes to terms with the responsibilities and risks of her position as part of the Young Avengers and the Initiative, reasoning that Blake also understands the risks as a policeman.[26]

During the Skrull invasion, Stature fought against the Skrulls in Manhattan as part of the Initiative.[32] She grew larger than the Skrull Yellowjacket and punched him out.[33]

Mighty Avengers 0002

Stature and Vision as part of the Mighty Avengers

Mighty Avengers[]

When Stature and Vision received an ominous message from Wiccan, they arrived at the Avengers Mansion to find the other Young Avengers apparently turned to stone. However, Loki, disguised as the Scarlet Witch appeared to whisk them away and offer them positions on her new Mighty Avengers.[8] For a time, Stature and Vision split their time between both Mighty Avengers and Young Avengers.

During the Siege of Asgard, the Young Avengers joined the battlefield alongside all the heroes available. Stature and Vision assisted the Mighty Avengers,[34] while the other Young Avengers helped elsewhere.[35]

The Children's Crusade[]

After Wiccan's powers overloaded and the Avengers decided to keep him under observation, the other Young Avengers broke Wiccan out of holding and began the search for the Scarlet Witch. Accompanied by Magneto and Quicksilver, the team traveled to Transia and then to Latveria before discovering a depowered and amnesiac Wanda engaged to Doctor Doom. The rediscovery of Wanda did not go unnoticed though, as the Avengers soon arrived on the scene. A battle with Doom's Doombot army soon broke out and was only stopped by the arrival of Iron Lad.[36]

Cassandra Lang (Earth-616) and Victor von Doom (Earth-616) from Avengers The Children's Crusade Vol 1 9 0001

Stature battling Doctor Doom

Iron Lad took the Young Avengers and Wanda into the timestream in an attempt to regroup and restore Wanda's memories. The group arrived at the Avengers Mansion, shortly before the Scarlet Witch originally killed some of her fellow Avengers. Cassie used this opportunity to save her father's life from Jack of Hearts. This trip was successful in restoring all of Wanda's powers and memories. Returning to the present Avengers Mansion, Wanda and the Young Avengers were met by Beast, Jessica Jones, and Hawkeye.

With Wanda's memories restored, she desired to make amends for M-Day, but was unsure how. To determine if she could repower any mutants, a volunteer was needed: Rictor from X-Factor Investigations. Wanda was successful in restoring his powers, but the celebration was cut short by the arrival of both the Avengers and the X-Men.[37]

With tensions high, a brawl broke out between the Avengers, Young Avengers, X-Factor, and X-Men over the custody and fate of the Scarlet Witch, forcing Wanda to put everyone to sleep in an attempt to quell the fighting. Next, with the Young Avengers, Wanda returned to Doom in Latveria to regain her reality warping powers. However, during the ritual to restore her powers, Patriot intervened, but Doom betrayed them, stealing the power for himself.[38]

Scott Lang (Earth-616), Cassandra Lang (Earth-616), and Nathaniel Richards (Iron Lad) (Earth-6311) from Avengers The Children's Crusade Vol 1 9 001

The death of Cassie Lang

Armed with the reality warping powers, Doom returned to New York City to offer the Avengers and X-Men a choice: join him or perish. During the ensuing battle, Doom's powers were overloaded and depleted. Unfortunately, Stature gave her life to defeat Doom.[39]

Iron Lad proposed saving Stature by traveling into the timestream, but Vision refused, resulting in his destruction at the hands of Iron Lad. Although Wiccan warned of the danger of becoming Kang the Conqueror, Iron Lad left with the intent of altering the timestream to suit his will and promising he would be much better than Kang.[10]

In the aftermath of the battle, the Young Avengers disbanded and remained low profile for some time until Captain America officially inducted all the remaining Young Avengers (Hawkeye, Hulkling, Speed, and Wiccan) as full-fledged Avengers, and a memorial to Stature and Vision was unveiled.[10]

Cassandra Lang (Earth-616) from Avengers World Vol 1 16 001

Cassie returns

Rebirth[]

Soon after the World War Hate, an inversion spell affected the moral axis of numerous superheroes and villains. One of them was Doctor Doom, who became noble, and set out to fix the mistakes of his past.[40] With the help of several heroes he assembled as a team of Avengers, Doom condensed a portion of the inverted Scarlet Witch's power to manipulate reality into a device in order to right his wrongs, but only had enough power to right one sin and chose to revive Cassie. Cassie was brought back to life, and soon re-encountered her father.[11]

Becoming Stinger[]

After her return, Cassie resumed middle school and apparently suspended her superheroic activities, presumably following her mother's wishes; she then reluctantly moved to Miami with her, as her mother wanted her to be safe from the dangers brought by her father's activities. However, Scott chose to move out to Miami as well to be with Cassie.[9] She was unfortunately kidnapped by Crossfire on behalf of Augustine Cross, who believed that her Pym Particles-irradiated heart would be perfect to sustain the body of his father Darren, which he intended to revive;[41] Scott arrived too late to prevent the transplant, but with Dr. Erica Sondheim's help he was able to make her body accept a new heart, thus saving her life. Sondheim told Cassie, Blake and Peggy that Cassie had a heart attack and Scott saved her life. However, Scott was so shaken by this experience that he decided to leave Cassie, not wishing to put her in harm's way again and wanting her to live a happy and normal life.[42]

Cassandra Lang (Earth-616) from Astonishing Ant-Man Vol 1 8 004

Cassie Lang as Stinger

Scott couldn't resist the urge to accompany his daughter, and started stalking her while in miniature size,[43] something that enraged Cassie after Scott confessed his behavior, and led her to resent her father even more than when she simply believed he had distanced from her.[44] Cassie's increasing frustration prompted her to enlist in a mobile app developed by the Power Broker called Hench that facilitated anybody a super villain career, with the intention to shut it down from the inside. However, Power Broker's revelation of the truth behind Cassie's latest health problem ensured her collaboration in infiltrating Cross Technologies as Stinger, in order to shut down Cross's own app, a copy and rival of Hench called Lackey.[1]

Stinger's mission resulted in her abduction at the hands of Cross,[45] but Ant-Man assembled a group of hired super villains to retrieve her.[46] The rescue mission was successful, but the police were alerted of the intrusion.[47] In order to protect Cassie, Scott took the blame for the situation and was arrested.[48]

Shortly after Scott faced trial, Cassie confessed to Peggy that she hadn't been kidnapped and used by Scott as he made people believe, and insisted her father's predicament was her fault.[49] Once Peggy understood Scott had been a good influence on her daughter, and that she couldn't keep Cassie from adventuring, she allowed her daughter to carry on a superheroic career together with her father, who eventually walked free from the trial, as the duo of Ant-Man and Stinger.[50]

Secret Empire[]

When Hydra took over the United States under the leadership of a Cosmic Cube-altered Captain America,[51] Scott forced Cassie to take refuge in France[52] while he joined the resistance efforts of the Underground.[53] Unfortunately, Hydra's forces got hold of Cassie, and used her as leverage to force Scott to become a mole.[54]

World Hive[]

Cassie continued to work with her father as Stinger, although she was a little embarrassed by how he lived at an anthill. Dr. Sandra Stulley later contacted Scott to travel to Johnson County and find some bees that went missing.[55] Cassie was invited by Kate Bishop to join the West Coast Avengers, but her mother didn't allow it as she urged her to spend more time with her father instead.[56]

When Cassie told her father that she wanted to move to join Kate's team, Scott revealed to her that during his mission to investigate the bees he found out about Macrothrax and his plan to eradicate humanity with the Bug Lords. After going to the Avengers for information, they told the duo that Felicia Hardy would know about Buchanan Mitty, who maybe had a connection to Macrothrax.[57]

Stinger and Ant-Man eventually traveled to the Savage Land after seeing that one of Scott's ants gave Macrothrax the location of his Pym Particles.[58] Stinger defeated Macrothrax while her father stopped the giant Bug Lords after getting help from every bug from the Savage Land.[59]

Attributes

Power Grid[65]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Some Training:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Regenerative:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (25-75 ton):Category:Power Grid/Strength/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Powers

Pym Particles: Cassie was born as a normal human without any superpowers, but through intentional, repeated exposure to Pym Particles,[15] she gained the following abilities:

  • Size Reduction: Cassie possessed the power to reduce herself to the size of an ant, approximately one-half inch in height.[15]
  • Size Addition: Cassie possessed the power to increase size to gigantic heights, requiring the rapid acquisition of body mass (presumably from an extradimensional source). This extra mass fortifies all of her cellular tissue, including her bones and muscles, enabling her to support her increased weight and giving her superhuman strength and durability. The exact limits of Cassie's abilities were not initially determined, but it was later established that she can grow to around 250 feet (76 m) in height (even though she is not able to keep such a size for long before the strain forces her to shrink back down).[60]
  • These abilities are similar to those of her father, Giant-Man, Wasp, Goliath, Yellowjacket, Atlas, and the new Ant-Man.

Abilities

Hand-to-Hand Combat: She has above-average combat skills from taking self-defense classes, because of how many times she was kidnapped as a child. She was also trained by Captain America and Wolverine as well.[1]

Initiative Training: She has received militaristic strategies and training during her time with the Initiative.[61][62]

Weaknesses

Weak Points: When Cassie grows bigger, her Achilles tendons and nerve clusters grow in proportion, creating large, easy-to-hit targets.[30]

Emotional State: Cassie's abilities appear to be affected by her emotional state, as her anger has caused her to increase on a few several occasions,[21][14] and guilt caused her to shrink.[26][14]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Cassandra Lang (Earth-616) from Ant-Man Vol 2 4 001

Stinger using her helmet

Stinger's Suit: Cassie's new costume, like her old one is made of unstable molecules, allowing it to grow and shrink along with her.[63]

  • Stinger's Helmet: Cassie also wears a cybernetic helmet that allows her to communicate with and control of insects, said helmet seems have been upgraded with an amplified signal.[57]
  • Bio-Synthetic Wings: Cassie now has a pair of wings on her back that allow her to fly.[63]
Stature's Suit: Cassie's former costume was made of unstable molecules, allowing it to grow and shrink along with her. It appears to be based largely on her father's uniform. Rather than the insect-controlling helmet of her father and his predecessor, Cassie wears a domino mask.[2]

Notes

Trivia

  • Cassie's first two crushes were on villains. The first crush was on the former ward of Dr. Doom, Kristoff Vernard. The second crush was on Iron Lad, the teenage version of Kang the Conqueror.
  • 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.[64]
  • According to solicitation text for She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #1, Cassie was to be known as "Titan" rather than "Stature".[7] It is unknown the reason behind the change, although speculation leans towards too great a similarity the Teen Titans title from DC Comics.
  • Cassie was 9 years old during her first appearance[12] and almost 15 by the time she joined the Young Avengers.[21]
    • Cassie's birthday is in June.[21]

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Astonishing Ant-Man #6
  2. 2.0 2.1 Young Avengers #6
  3. Young Avengers #5
  4. Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #10
  5. Young Avengers #8
  6. Ms. Marvel (Vol. 2) #20
  7. 7.0 7.1 She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #1
  8. 8.0 8.1 Mighty Avengers #21
  9. 9.0 9.1 Ant-Man #1
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Avengers: The Children's Crusade #9
  11. 11.0 11.1 Avengers World #16
  12. 12.0 12.1 Marvel Premiere #47
  13. Heroes for Hire #10
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 I Am an Avenger #4
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Young Avengers #3
  16. Avengers (Vol. 3) #62
  17. Avengers (Vol. 3) #76
  18. Avengers #500
  19. Avengers: The Children's Crusade #5
  20. 20.0 20.1 Young Avengers Special #1
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Young Avengers #2
  22. Young Avengers #45
  23. Young Avengers #56
  24. Young Avengers #78
  25. Young Avengers #912
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 Young Avengers Presents #5
  27. Civil War #2
  28. Civil War #4
  29. Avengers: The Initiative #1
  30. 30.0 30.1 Avengers: The Initiative #8
  31. Young Avengers Presents #4
  32. Secret Invasion #3
  33. Secret Invasion #7
  34. Siege #23
  35. Siege: Young Avengers #1
  36. Avengers: The Children's Crusade #14
  37. Avengers: The Children's Crusade #56
  38. Avengers: The Children's Crusade #7
  39. Avengers: The Children's Crusade #8
  40. Avengers World #15
  41. Ant-Man #4
  42. Ant-Man #5
  43. Astonishing Ant-Man #1
  44. Astonishing Ant-Man #4
  45. Astonishing Ant-Man #8
  46. Astonishing Ant-Man #9
  47. Astonishing Ant-Man #10
  48. Astonishing Ant-Man #11
  49. Astonishing Ant-Man #12
  50. Astonishing Ant-Man #13
  51. Secret Empire #0
  52. Secret Empire #2
  53. Secret Empire #1
  54. Secret Empire #6
  55. Ant-Man (Vol. 2) #1
  56. Ant-Man (Vol. 2) #2
  57. 57.0 57.1 Ant-Man (Vol. 2) #3
  58. Ant-Man (Vol. 2) #4
  59. Ant-Man (Vol. 2) #5
  60. Mighty Avengers #24
  61. Avengers: The Initiative #18
  62. Dark Reign: Young Avengers #3
  63. 63.0 63.1 Astonishing Ant-Man #7
  64. New Avengers #7
  65. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 11
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