“Captain Marvel” is Marvel’s first female-led superhero movie. While this is obviously a step in the right direction, this shouldn’t be as big of a deal as it is.

There are plenty of female Marvel characters who should have gotten their own movies before this. 

For example, Black Widow plays a large role in many Marvel movies, but has yet to receive her own solo film.

After DC Comics released “Wonder Woman,” the idea of a female-led superhero film is less novel. It almost feels like Marvel was playing it safe—like they waited to see if “Wonder Woman” would succeed before taking the “risk” of making a female superhero film.

Now, after “Wonder Woman’s” box office success, Marvel has released “Captain Marvel.”

Although it isn’t as revolutionary as Marvel is trying to make it seem, “Captain Marvel” was an enjoyable film with plenty of feminist moments.

For example, in one scene, a biker guy tells Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) to smile for him. 

While including a scene where the main character is catcalled may not seem feminist, the scene was an important way to show audiences that “Captain Marvel” wasn’t just a guy’s superhero film with a female character pasted in as the lead. 

The movie sought to include a reality that many woman face.

Also, there were multiple strong female characters, as opposed to just the lead. Carol’s best friend Maria, for example, is an Air Force pilot and single mother. Carol’s old boss was also female.

Another thing that made this movie stand out from other Marvel films was the setting.

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken fans everywhere from alien planets to top-secret government facilities, “Captain Marvel” was set somewhere the MCU had never shown before: the ’90s.

So much about this movie involved ’90s nostalgia. Posters for the Smashing Pumpkins are plastered on the walls, characters use pagers, and a fight scene takes place in a Blockbuster.

While this was necessary for the timeline of the cinematic universe, Marvel took advantage of it and used the time period to make the movie extra fun. 

Marvel is known for adding humor to their movies, and “Captain Marvel” wouldn’t seem complete without jokes about RadioShack.

Everything else aside, “Captain Marvel” was as good as any other Marvel movie. 

From a special opening dedicated to Stan Lee that made audiences tear up, to the protagonist fighting aliens, this movie had everything that Marvel fans look for in a film.