Why Captain Marvel Will Forever Change The MCU

4. Representation

Well, first of all, representation matters. Marvel actually almost made a female-led stand-alone comic book movie even before Kevin Feige's MCU was born. Back when they'd sold off most of their rights for paltry amounts, they were weighing up making Black Widow, but they balked at the prospect when Neon Flux - that forgettable sci-fi starring Charlize Theron - struck out at the box office.

Unbelievably, the project was killed solely because of studio reluctance to lose more money, as it was believed that solo female characters couldn't sell movies. That might sound entirely outdated, but the same insidious thinking was behind the under-representation of Black Widow in the Captain America: Civil War merchandise lines.

Things have changed at Marvel Studios now and some of the alleged toxic elements have been removed (those who don't believe in marketable female characters apparently) and now Kevin Feige is looking at giving us more female characters in leading roles. In fact, he says he wants that to be the new normal.

In terms of the audience, that is a huge deal. In the same vein as Wonder Woman appealing to the young, female demographic and Black Panther finding a huge response with black audiences, this added representation gives a new audience an image of themselves on-screen and also gives Marvel a new revenue stream. And crucially, as both of those movies proved, the "traditionally" dominant demographic of white men weren't alienated.

It matters that Marvel are making films for everyone and giving their female characters something genuine to do is a massive step towards that. There'll be no more quietly shuffling Jane Foster or Pepper Potts out of films when they don't serve purposes to "their men", this is an era where girl power matters as much as machismo.