Captain Marvel‘s Pop-Up Video Stores Lean Into the Film’s 90s Nostalgia

Marvel is banking on 90s nostalgia in their marketing for the upcoming Captain Marvel film release. The film, set in the 90s, has already given us a great dose of nostalgia in the first trailers, which feature Carol Danvers crash-landing through the roof of a Blockbuster video store, as well as sporting a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt.

Now, Marvel is expanding on the premise with Blockbuster-style video stores in Vancouver and Toronto. The pop-ups, called Stanley’s Video, came to our attention after Reddit user /joshuarlee1 posted photos of a pop-up in Metropolis at Metrotown mall in Vancouver. He posted more images of the store on imgur, which featured a selection of Marvel and Disney films.

The pop-up was part of a scavenger hunt, that ends with players winning a limited edition pin. Not surprisingly, you can’t rent anything from the video store, but there’s more 90s nostalgia to be had, including the Geocities-inspired website and a series of Magic Eye posters, designed to give you the migraines of your childhood.

According to Marvel CEO Kevin Feige, the film will be leaning into 90s film styles as well as cultural references. He said, “The answer is, you’ll see in the storytelling of the movie … But it allows us to play in an area that we have never played in before and tapping into a ’90s action genre was fun for us and being able to see an earlier part of the MCU before Nick Fury knew anything about aliens or anything about super-powered people and also tapping into the Kree-Skrull War, which in the comics was a huge part of the comic mythology, seemed like a fun thing to try and a fun way to give Carol Danvers her own standalone origin story.”

In addition, the film is supposed to feature plenty of classic 90s songs, including a Nirvana classic. But why stop there? Here are some suggestions I came up with for Marvel to implement if they want to go full 90s:

– Captain Marvel slap bracelets

– Captain Marvel pogs set

– A Goose Tamagotchi/Virtualpet

– A Nick Fury Walkman

– A Surge soda comeback

– A scene where Monica Rambeau snacks on Dunkaroos.

-SCRUNCHIES FOR ALL

Call us Marvel, we’ve got plenty of thoughts.

(via SyfyWire, image: Marvel)

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Chelsea Steiner

Chelsea was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. An pop culture journalist since 2012, her work has appeared on Autostraddle, AfterEllen, and more. Her beats include queer popular culture, film, television, republican clownery, and the unwavering belief that 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' is the greatest movie ever made. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, with her husband, 2 sons, and one poorly behaved rescue dog. She is a former roller derby girl and a black belt in Judo, so she is not to be trifled with. She loves the word “Jewess” and wishes more people used it to describe her.

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