Why was Cassie Lang recast for ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’?

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is no doubt the most talked-about Ant-Man movie of the trilogy. As both the opening chapter of Phase Five and the project that’ll properly introduce Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror into the MCU for the first time, there’s so much to look forward to about the Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly vehicle. The only damper on things is the somewhat controversial treatment of Cassie Lang.

Quantumania will be an important one for Scott’s daughter as Cassie is likely to finally step up and become a superhero herself, no doubt taking on her comic book mantle of Stature, as she preparesto take her place among the Young Avengers. While you’d think fans would be hyped for this, there is some disappointment that the role has been recast since her last appearance in Avengers: Endgame. While many are excited to see Kathryn Newton join the franchise, some folks remain loyal to erstwhile actress Emma Fuhrmann.

So, how did the Cassie Lang recast come about and why did it happen in the first place? Let’s take a look under the microscope to inspect Quantumania‘s biggest mystery.

The many faces of Cassie Lang

Plenty of MCU characters have been played by two actors; Terrence Howard and Don Cheadle as War Machine, Josh Dallas and Zachary Levi as Fandral, and obviously Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo as Hulk. However, Cassie Lang is fairly unique in the franchise after receiving not one but two recasts and hence portrayed by three different actresses.

Abby Ryder Fortson embodied the part for both 2015’s Ant-Man and 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, with the young actress doing a terrific job of bringing the young Cassie to life and sharing an adorable father/daughter chemistry with Paul Rudd. However, it was necessary to recast the role for Cassie’s brief return in 2019’s Endgame — as that film jumped forward in time — with Scott emerging from the Quantum Realm to find his daughter, Cassie, who was now a teenager (Emma Fuhrmann).

In 2020, Ant-Man 3 was announced with Kathryn Newton confirmed to be Cassie Mark III. To date, however, no one involved with the film has addressed the reason behind this second, and less necessary, recasting. So, it’s up to us to speculate why the decision was made.

Why was Cassie recast for Ant-Man 3?

First of all, let’s clear up one rumor surrounding Fuhrmann’s absence from Quantumania. One version of events that circulated the fandom claims that the actress herself elected not to return because she wanted to step away from the industry to go to college. There seems to be little truth to this, however, as Fuhrmann reacted to the news when Newton was first cast, admitting that she was “sad” to find out — along with the rest of us — and stressing that acting remains her “#1 passion.”

Clearly, then, Fuhrmann would have welcomed a comeback as Cassie in Quantumania if the offer had been presented. So, why did the Ant-Man 3 team not invite her aboard? One possible answer could be that Marvel were simply searching for a more famous name to take over the role and generate more star power. Newton, for example, has made her mark on Hollywood in recent years in notable projects such as Detective Pikachu, Freaky, and Netflix’s The Society.

What’s more, filmmakers may have wanted an actress with more comedy experience. While Fuhrmann’s performance in her Endgame scene was undeniably heartbreaking, it didn’t accurately showcase how she would handle the humor-heavy dialogue and comedic style of the Ant-Man movies. Meanwhile, Newton has proven her own expert comic timing, as well as an ability to nimbly hop between comedy and drama, in many of her previous roles.

Ultimately, though, the reason Fuhrmann was dropped and Newton was hired is likely to do with the director changeover between Endgame and Quantumania. While Fuhrmann was hired by the Russo Brothers for their production, it was ultimately Peyton Reed who decided Cassie’s future in his trilogy-ender. Reed simply had a different vision in mind for the character and that’s probably all there was to it. Although, it’s a real shame that Fuhrmann’s departure from the film was handled so impersonally.