Emma Stoltzfus — Staff Writer

Filled with chuckle-inducing one-liners, sleek action scenes and backstory gems for fans, Captain Marvel is a perfect balance of humor and heart.

Contributed Photo

In the movie, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) battles green-skinned aliens on Earth as she attempts to unlock her past.

Also making appearances are much younger and less-scarred versions of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), both S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and longtime fan favorites.

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel exceeds expectations. While some viewers might cringe from what could have been another space movie filled with gags and throwbacks like Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel rises above and delivers. A few inside jokes will have true fans blowing their minds, but the humor is kept to a manageable level and isn’t overt. While there are throwback references found throughout, they manage to remain tasteful and serve to time stamp the movie firmly in the ‘90s.

The movie’s website even threw it back to an era only ‘90s kids remember. Jammed with popping WordArt titles, low-res media, and neon colors, the site serves as a precursor to the Easter eggs scattered throughout the movie.

As the first Marvel movie since the passing of Stan Lee in November, the regular intro sequence of heroes was replaced with clips of Stan Lee in his many MCU cameos. The actual cameo of Lee in the first quarter of the movie is a touching one.

While die-hard fans of the MCU will enjoy several backstory revelations, especially surrounding a certain eye-patch-wearing S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, newcomers to Marvel will still find it enjoyable.

Captain Marvel, the 21st Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie is the first to either feature a female lead or have a female director. With its March 8th release date falling on International Women’s Day, Captain Marvel endeavors to make up for lost time. Up to this point, Marvel has been slow to release a female-led movie in the MCU. DC beat Marvel to the punch with Wonder Woman in June of 2017.

Blowing away past box office records and landing in the atmosphere, Captain Marvel reached 6th place in biggest grossing openings worldwide at just under $457 million. At its third week with $760 million global gross, Captain Marvel seems poised to reach a billion by the end of its showing. Additionally, the movie is the third highest grossing film directed by a female in recorded history.

Overall, Captain Marvel stuck the superhero landing in theaters and is a great movie for new fans and die-hards alike.