“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania” is a disappointing stepping stone for Marvel’s Phase 5 due to its lackluster villain in a comedy-heavy film with little to no action.

The film centers around Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) as he adjusts to the events following Avengers: Endgame. The opening scene of the film depicts Scott narrating how he has dealt with fame after saving the world.

Others were able to live and grow up as a result of the snap in Endgame, including Scott’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), who is now a teenager. Scott is now struggling to navigate being a good father to a teenager in today’s world after missing five years of her life and her sudden maturation.

Cassie, who, like her father, wants to help others, often participates in protests to make her voice heard. Cassie’s willingness to take action over real-world issues causes conflict between herself and her father, as she yells at her father for his lack of action when it comes to real-world issues and only focuses on his superhero duties.

Scott is dealing with the new big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). Kang, who first appeared in the Disney+ series “Loki,” is the film’s antagonist.

And, while the actor shines in this role, giving a very dramatic performance, it is uneventful, due to the level of hype surrounding his character. One would expect his character would cause some real damage, but he does not.

The writers of this film missed the opportunity to make Kang being the big bad of the MCU believable with how they let Kang be so easily defeated. Kang will return, as there are multiple variants of him, but if he was easily defeated by Ant-Man, he no longer looks as powerful and strong as he was supposed to be.

Nonetheless, the film was supposed to set the tone for the rest of the MCU, but it did not live up to expectations. It was less action-packed and more of a comedy film, which was amusing at times but stifled Kang’s development.

Due to the film’s excessive length, it took far too long to get to the point. We spend the entire film waiting for action and don’t see anything worthwhile until the final 30 minutes.

Marvel films have recently veered toward comedy rather than action, which makes me fearful for future releases, as Marvel has lost touch with its roots. I don’t think Marvel knows where to go or how to keep audiences as entertained as they were when Avengers: Endgame was released because there have been only two good films since.

In all honesty, I dreaded seeing this film after hearing reviews, and after watching it with a somewhat open mind, I understand why fans were so disappointed. I rate the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and hope that Marvel gets their act together.