For most of us, I think, the superheroes we grew up with were Batman, Superman and to some degree, the Justice League. That is to say, DC Comics really dominated the 80s and 90s, from TV shows, including cartoons to movies. Heck, they probably had a firm grip on things before that, too. Spider-man was perhaps the lone Marvel superhero in the mainstream, and that turned into two different movie franchises, even predating the current glut from Marvel.
Now just think about how the comic industry has turned on it's head in the last decade plus. Sure, we were vaguely aware of, if not terribly excited by, Iron Man, Captain America, and the Incredible Hulk. Now, they are the centerpieces of a historic movie franchise, which is presently dominating the silver screen.
Sure, next month the next round from the Avengers is going to be released, and that gets its fair share of fanfare. But it's Captain Marvel, this months blockbuster, that is most indicative of the success of Marvel's franchising.
I'm not particularly surprised that a superhero movie with a female lead is doing well. Wonder Woman was an excellent film and did very well at the box office. The difference is that people heard of Wonder Woman before Gal Gadot donned the outfit. Until the movie was announced, I had never heard of Captain Marvel, despite the enthusiasm of so may comics aficionados.
Even other lesser known characters, like Black Panther, had been introduced before their standalone movie, but Captain Marvel's logo was merely seen on Nick Fury's beeper in an credit cut scene. The best comparison, I think, would be Ant-Man, a not so well known character who now has a pair of movies.
And they both did great. Hype was created essentially from nothing, and these movies, first Ant-Man and now Captain Marvel did very well. Heck, Captain Marvel was eagerly anticipated. It's pretty clear that the excitement is simply that Marvel is releasing a new movie, rather than the desire to see a particular character (at least for the general public). Marvel's reputation is wonderful after a long track record of good movies. They aren't getting lazy, only better, and we're all just going to keep eating them up until they stumble.
