Following accusations of Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man committing a #JanetVanCrime by not including fan-favorite character The Wasp, director Peyton Reed has confirmed that not every important woman connected with the character has been lost in the transition from page to screen.
In a conversation with Screen Rant, Reed talked about the personal nature of the story for Paul Rudd’s character, Scott Lang. “In the comics, Scott Lang has a daughter, and that’s part of the movie too, in terms of the character dynamics that are going on,” he explained. “That really appealed to me.”
The mention of Scott’s daughter likely comes as small comfort to fans of the comic book Ant-Man mythology. In his original appearance in the comics, Scott Lang is a scientist who becomes a thief — and also Ant-Man — in order to save the life of his daughter, Cassie. Years later, she became a superhero in her own right, using her father’s size-changing technology and calling herself “Stature” in the critically acclaimed Young Avengers series.
If Ant-Man does feature Cassie Lang, it’s not likely to completely calm down the fans declaring the movie sexist for dropping Janet van Dyne, but it might lessen the complaints somewhat — at least until Marvel announces that the daughter won’t be called Cassie for some entirely unknown reason (cf: Hope Van Dyne).
