Marvel continues to add to its growing list of cameos for its upcoming animated series What If…? The show, which is expected to hit Disney+ sometime in mid-2021, will explore different “what if” scenarios within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For example, what if the worlds of Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy somehow collided?
So far, some of the confirmed actors who will lend their voices to the series include Josh Brolin as Thanos, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and The Hulk, and the late Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, among many others.
While the roster is filling up, there is one Marvel character that has been overlooked: Luis (Michael Peña) from the 2015 superhero movie Ant-Man and the 2018 sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp. If anyone is deserving of a cameo in What If…? it’s Luis, and we’re hoping he’s added to the series before its premiere.
For those who aren’t familiar with Peña’s fan-favorite character, he’s the best friend and former cellmate of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). Scott takes on the role of the superhero Ant-Man when he puts on the Ant-Man suit that gives him the ability to shrink to the size of an insect.
Luis is a former criminal (he was sent to San Quentin for stealing a pair of Smoothie machines), but he is also a businessman and entrepreneur. He started the company X-Con Security Consultants with Scott and their ex-con friends Kurt (David Dastmalchian) and Dave (T.I.) because no one would hire them with their criminal records.
In the original movie, it’s Luis who tells Scott about a plan he’s devised that could land them millions of dollars. He hears from his cousin Ernesto about a CEO who has a “big ass safe just sittin’ in the basement just chillin’.” Apparently, Ernesto tells Luis this information because he knows Luis has “mad thieving skills.”
Unfortunately, the heist doesn’t go as planned. Instead of money, Scott finds the Ant-Man suit while breaking into the safe. Since the series What If…? puts Marvel characters into scenes they’ve never experienced before, Luis should get the opportunity to be Ant-Man for an episode.
Besides, why is Scott the only one that gets to play superhero? When Scott finds the suit in the first movie, he doesn’t tell his best friend Luis what he found. He tells the entire team that the mission was “a bust.” What if Scott told Luis about the suit and Luis was the first one to try it on? It was a cool-looking motorcycle jacket, after all. Luis would’ve had to take off his baseball cap to put the helmet on, but he could’ve pulled the look off easily.
In the sequel, Luis even tells Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), a.k.a. the Wasp, that he wished he had a suit like hers – even with “minimal powers.”
“Or maybe just a suit with no powers,” Luis says.
Instead, all Luis gets to do is dress up like a fake security guard for another heist later in the movie. During the series, he does get to coldcock a couple of guys and even gets to shrink for a few seconds during a car chase, but imagine the possibilities if he had a chance to get inside the Ant-Man suit and test his full superhero powers. Let’s be honest. El Homiguero would lead the Avengers into the new phase of the Marvel franchise like a boss.