It seems entirely logical if you’re accustomed to the oddball word of Marvel Comics that if you can create a successful character who is more than a little bit spider, you can pull off the same trick with a little bitty ant.

That’s what Stan Lee did way back in 1962, but it’s fair to say that Ant-Man has been one of the lesser characters in his canon.

While Spidey stormed his way on to TV and a huge movie franchise, Ant-Man stayed on the fringes – but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have his fans.

For years, the whispers in sci-fi circles were that when he did make his leap into the big time it would be a very British affair.

Edgar ‘Shaun Of The Dead and let’s not mention The World’s End’ Wright was pencilled in as director, while Joe ‘Attack The Block’ Cornish was on script duties as the project languished in development hell.

When they both jumped ship for other projects late in the day, leading man Paul Rudd – best known as an amiable member of the Judd Apatow comedy company rather than an action hero – picked up the gauntlet and involved himself in a swift script shuffle helped by experienced Anchorman hand Adam McKay, with Peyton Reed plonking himself in the director’s chair. That meant a sea change from oddball adventure to mainstream action comedy.

Ant-Man, in case you didn’t know, is a reformed con-man with a superpower suit that allows him to shrink in size while boosting his strength.

He has to help his scientist mentor (Michael Douglas) to pull off an audacious heist and the story rolls on from there predictably enough.

There are two problems – Rudd can’t master that Robert Downey Jr combo of tough guy and quipmaster, and the swift changes between normal sized ex-con and tiny crimefighter are just confusing.

It’s fair to say that it hasn’t exactly set the box office alight and the chances of a sequel look limited, but you can catch it at Royston’s Picture Palace on Saturday afternoon at 3.30pm.

The weekend’s main movie is 45 Years, the much-praised drama starring Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling as a couple coming up to a milestone wedding anniversary wondering whether they really know each other.

The trigger to their disquiet is the discovery of the perfectly-preserved body of the husband’s former girlfriend, who died in an Alpine fall before the two even got together. What really happened way back then? It’s showing on Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm. Find out how to book tickets online at www.roystonpicturepalace.org.uk.