The release of Captain Marvel was met with a lot of hype and publicity because it was the first Marvel movie starring a female lead. These expectations were most definitely met in the blockbuster film, making over a billion dollars worldwide.

In Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is caught in the middle of a galactic war, and must figure out which side to fight for using her powers she gained through the explosion of a powerful lightspeed engine. To unlock the full potential of her powers, she must first reconnect to her human roots, and remember who she was before she became a soldier.

One of the most dynamic parts of the storyline are the many strong female relationships. The relationship between Carol Danvers and Maria Rambeau, played by Lashana Lynch, was the kind of friendship that fans deserved. Often in movies, we see the two strong female characters tearing each other down, so it’s about time we see women building each other up! Moreover, Carol Danvers relationship with Maria Rambeau’s daughter, Monica Rambeau played by Akira Akbar, was one to live for. The greatest thing about their relationship is that it showed that Carol Danvers can be a badass, but she’s also human and can interact with kids in a cute and sympathetic way.

For a Marvel comics nerd like me, the Kree-Skrull war was an interesting part of the storyline. If you’re a super Marvel nerd, you’re probably familiar with this war, for it’s known in the Marvel universe for being one of the longest, most controversial wars fought. The Skrull and Kree were both introduced as villains in the Fantastic Four storyline. Captain Marvel did a wonderful job of offering a new perspective of the war. When the movie starts off you think you should be supporting the Kree because you are only seeing their side, but as you learn more about Carol Danvers and the history of the war, you are left supporting the Skrulls. This idea of casting the “bad guys” in a new light is something that Marvel does a lot in their movies, but even still they do it very well in this movie.

One of the most important takeaways from this movie were the powerful messages of women’s rights. One of my favorite scenes  was when Carol got knocked down and then it showed a sequence of all the times she has gotten up throughout her life. She’s basically telling little girls everywhere (or anyone watching the movie for that matter) that you’re going to fall down in life, but the most important thing is that you continue to get up. This is the kind of message that we need to be sending in the world, especially to women who are watching this movie. This is such an important message for women because we have to understand that we will get knocked down a lot in life, and it’s going to hurt. The fact that Carol, like many women, get back back after falling consistently through their life reflects that this is what makes women stronger. This is a message that is forgotten a lot of the time, because it’s hard to “fall down” or make a mistake, but in order to continue to grow, people, especially women, need to take this message to heart.

To top it all off, Larson had such a presence when she was on the screen. As I was watching the movie, I noticed this presence in the way she fought, interacted with other characters and held herself. She knew she was a badass and there was a feeling that she didn’t have to prove this to anyone. She didn’t care what people were thinking of her as she was fighting, all she was thinking about was how she was going to kick said person’s ass. This has to do with the fact that Larson played the role with such authority, in essence she was a badass, playing a badass, who knew she was a badass. This feeling definitely translated throughout the entire movie.

We see Carol Danvers again in Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, when she takes on Thanos with the remaining Avengers. Given her pivotal role in the Marvel galaxy, fans of comics, especially women, may anticipate that other superhero movies may continue to more accurately capture representation of people, not just men.