The hotly anticipated film arrives in theaters Thursday night with a lot of promises: racial diversity on screen, a story about social justice, and Michael B. Jordan’s bare abs on the big screen. And it brings many firsts worth celebrating.

It’s the first big studio tentpole to feature a predominantly black cast. It’s the first Marvel movie to center on a character who isn’t a white man (or, for all intents and purposes, played by a guy named Chris): Chadwick Boseman plays the titular hero, a.k.a. T’Challa. It’s the first superhero film to boast four Oscar nominees or winners: Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Daniel Kaluuya, and Forest Whitaker. It’s shaping up to be the top February launch of all time at the box office. And it’s perhaps the first superhero movie that is a movie first and foremost.

And that’s exactly what could change this franchise — and, hopefully, the industry — permanently.

Director Ryan Coogler’s epic is different right from the start. There is the much-discussed representation of African and African-American culture that seeps into every aspect of the story, from the visually stunning set design to the emphasis on African lore to the hair jokes to the fact that audiences finally get to laugh at the token white guy instead. All these qualities are significant for any large-scale, big-budget studio movie, not just one in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But beyond that, the ever-present Marvel formula is toned down enough to make it palatable for comic newbies.

The Big Bad is just a regular person this time around. Granted, we’re playing fast and loose with the word regular here, but Jordan’s Erik Killmonger is so much less absurd than the more traditionally comic-booky Doctor Doom or Yellowjacket or Ultron, that giant pile of metal. The usual MCU gimmicks and crossovers are scaled back, and T’Challa and the fictional African nation of Wakanda take center stage this time around.

The mandatory comedic relief encompasses more than just wisecracks and one-liners. (If this writer had a dollar for every time someone complained to her about the lame throwaway jokes during Avengers fight scenes, she could start buy out Tony Stark.) In Black Panther, the humor is rooted in spot-on commentary, whether directed toward the sartorial crime of a grown man in sandals (“Why do you have your toes out in my lab?”) or the political crimes of the white men of history (“Don’t scare me like that, colonizer”).

Black Panther also tugs at the heartstrings, allowing far more emotional connection than the typical superhero movie. (No shade to Captain America, but his emotional journey just doesn’t stack up.) The story is packed with scenes you’d be more likely to find in literally any other project: the struggle of a father to keep his son safe in the projects, gender politics in a relationship between two very strong people, and a standoff between two enemies that makes the audience cry instead of squeal for vengeance. (This writer would be lying if she said it was the first time she cried in a Marvel movie, but the occasion is markedly more rare for the more skeptical Marvel viewers.) We’re living in unprecedented times politically and socially, with the themes of resistance and equality seeping into every bit of pop culture, but it still feels fresh in Black Panther.

Hopefully the filmmakers in the MCU will take more than a few cues from Black Panther. T’Challa and his fellow Wakandans have already broken records, with analysts projecting it could bring in close to $150 million this weekend alone. Twitter announced that Black Panther is currently this year’s most-tweeted movie so far, lending to the feeling that there’s more buzz surrounding this Marvel release than any before.

Hollywood is, sadly, still at a point in which diverse projects of the future hinge on the success of diverse projects in the present, and there’s no better proof that audiences are thirsty for a revamp. The industry makes decisions in dollar signs, and fans are lining up to vote with their wallets.