Anyone who’s ever dealt with ants knows those pesky buggers just seem to multiply out of control, and even the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t immune.
Since the release of 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” fans have noticed what looks like a major editing goof in which not one, but two, Ant-Men/Scott Langs (Paul Rudd) show up to the final battle against Thanos.
The supposed error occurs when Lang takes a break from the fighting to hot-wire a van and get the Quantum Tunnel working. A short while later, another giant Ant-Man can be seen in the background fighting one of Thanos’ Leviathans. (Yes, there is a lot going on in the background of “Endgame,” but an extra skyscraper-sized Paul Rudd is hard to miss.)
It seems like a giant (literally, giant) mistake, but what if it’s not an error at all?
A recent popular theory on Reddit, posted by Ranker writer Stephan Roget, argues that the second Ant-Man isn’t Lang, but rather his fast-talking BFF Luis (Michael Peña).
You just didn’t realize it.
Roget lays out the case:
There are four KEY pieces of evidence that support this theory:
The goof itself.
That mean left-hook that “Scott Lang” throws at the Leviathan in “Endgame.” Luis is perhaps the best non-powered puncher in the MCU.
Luis has professed a desire to get a suit of his own in the past, and we know there are multiple Ant-Man suits out there to be had.
We already have the perfect method through which to reveal all this in “Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantamania” via a classic Luis soft jazz voiceover recap.
The post isn’t shy on details.
According to the theory, sometime in the five-year gap before Lang returns from the Quantum Realm in “Endgame,” Luis gets his hands on one of Ant-Man’s suits. After Lang returns, he checks up on Luis offscreen and lets him know about the Avengers’ plans before heading off to the Time Heist. Luis then shows up for the final battle against Thanos:
He shows up moments after Thanos’ attack, puts on the suit, and hears Scott’s calls for help through the helmet. It is Luis, not Scott, who goes giant-sized to rescue Hulk, War Machine, and Rocket (along with Scott, who is too small to see on screen), demonstrating how much skill he’s picked up in the five-year gap.
At this point, some of you are probably like, “But wait. Wouldn’t we be able to tell that it’s Luis in Ant-Man’s suit?” Good question. But obviously nope:
He also got in shape, by the way, enough so that you can’t immediately distinguish his figure from Paul Rudd’s lithe frame. From there on out, there are two Ant/Giant-Men on the scene, and it’s just too chaotic for anyone to really notice (except astute viewers).
Now you may be thinking, “If there were two Ant-Men, wouldn’t we see Luis after the battle?” Sorry, it’s a nope to that too:
When it’s over, Luis peaces out, rather than deal with the heavy emotional burden of watching Iron Man die.
Is it far-fetched? Sure. Does it take huge leaps of faith? Absolutely. But is it any less believable than Hawkeye’s wife’s cellphone still being charged after she was gone for five years? Because she calls him right after returning from being snapped. Also, wouldn’t Hawkeye have canceled their family cellphone plan in that time? (That’s the real plot hole we should investigate.)
Fans clearly liked the Ant-Man theory. A top comment on the Reddit post reads, “Even if it was just a goof on the producer’s/director’s part, I could see this becoming the retcon explanation for what happened.”
For his part, Roget told HuffPost he’s under “no illusions” that the Russo brothers, directors of “Endgame,” actually intended Luis to be in that scene.
“It’s definitely a continuity error, but Marvel Studios usually has fun with its properties, and if they wrote this into a future film, it wouldn’t be the first time they ‘fixed’ an error with a fun gag,” Roget said.
Marvel does have a tendency to retcon old scenes, so it’s possible the studio could explain the two Ant-Men in the future — perhaps even in a way that resembles this explanation.
It’s that or Captain America should probably think about calling pest control.