Creative world building and a compelling villain performance from Jonathan Majors helps Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania deliver as a solid superhero movie, albeit one that doesn’t match up against previous MCU entries.

Perhaps it’s a case of superhero movie fatigue, but there are moments in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania that don’t click. The third movie in the Ant-Man franchise, and the first to launch Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU for the cool kids) shrinks when it depends on its assemblage of heroes to see it through. Even the ever-charismatic Paul Rudd has an air of “been there, done that” about him.

Thankfully, the “Quantum” in the “Quantumania” picks up the slack. The MCU has delivered numerous exotic and strange worlds ranging from Asgard in the Thor movies to the varied planets featured in the Guardians of the Galaxy film series, and the Quantum Realm is a highlight among them. A blend of 1960s sci-fi kitsch and 1980s post-apocalyptic grunge, the Quantum Realm is filled with an array of wacky characters: there is a walking, talking blob with an obsession with holes; a warrior whose head is a supernova contained within a thick glass cylinder; and a large floating head that had been mechanised into a killing machine. At every turn zanier creations feature that will no doubt be a future action figure collector’s item.

Into the Quantum Realm drops Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and his family of scientist heroes: Hope Van Dyke aka the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly); her parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janey Van Dyne (Michelle Pfieffer); and Scott’s teenage daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton.)

Like raisins on an inner-galactic pizza, the Ant-Man regulars are a bland pack of squares in a vibrant world that deserves a better kind of hero. Douglas and Pfieffer are going along with the motions while no doubt pondering how their careers have been reduced to small parts in green screen spectacles; Lilly is all scowl and no charisma; and MCU newcomer Newton is tirelessly annoying as a know-it-all teen, whose woke-infused delusions of grandeur almost makes us root for her characters demise.

Thankfully salvation arrives in the form of a time-lord, with Jonathan Majors’ turn as the new MCU chief villain Kang the Conqueror bringing with it a weight and danger that brings with it stakes worth investing in.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the third Ant-Man film to be directed by Peyton Reed, and it is clear he is running out of creative juice here. A change of direction is needed for the Ant-Man series to reignite that fun, creative spark that the first Ant-Man film had. Otherwise, perhaps it is time Marvel squash this bug.