If you hadn’t heard, a little indie movie called Captain America: The Winter Soldier opened over the weekend, and to no one’s surprise, its $96 million opening shattered box office records left and right. We at The Nerds of Color have been eagerly anticipating the release of The Winter Soldier for months now. Back when the first teaser hit, I was already claiming it as the best movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And now that it’s at a multiplex near you, we’re going to be celebrating, analyzing, critiquing this game changer of a movie all week.

We’re going to start it off by assembling our own team of top secret agents Nerds around the Roundtable and share our first impressions of the Captain America sequel. Caution: there will be spoilers. Read on at your own risk (but seriously, you should go see this already!)

SHAWN S.: Still digesting it. But it’s at least top three. Any movie that can make Falcon that freakin’ badass deserves an automatic bump to first class priority seating.

SHAWN T.: Destroyed The Avengers. Straight up old school S.H.I.E.L.D. comics vibe. Captain America:The Winter Soldier is the best Marvel Universe film. Then the first Cap. Then Iron Man, and The Avengers. We’ll pretend that the Thor and Hulk films (and the second and third Iron Man films) don’t exist.

KEITH: Yeah, our rankings are identical. Winter Soldier is number one, the first Cap is number two, then Iron Man at number three, Avengers is number four, and everything else is tied for fifth.

SHAWN S.: Actually, let’s acknowledge that those not-so-great efforts are out there (says the guy who PAID FULL TICKET PRICE to see Ghost Rider in theaters). I feel like doing so enhances the moments when the studio seems to get it right. The creative team behind Cap 1 and 2 have had the tone of the comic spot-on from the jump. In fact, I’m willing to say Captain America is the only franchise thus far that I’ve enjoyed more than the comic itself. And again — if nothing else — there’s Falcon. Really.

RODRIGO: I thought Iron Man 3 was better then the first. But even my wife disagrees with me. So what do I know?

KEITH: Iron Man 3 better than the first? Yeah, Rodrigo gets a yellow card for that.

RODRIGO: Yellow??? I’ll show you a yellow!!! flips chair

KEITH: For real though, the Pulp Fiction shout out was my favorite part.

Seriously, my biggest question is what will the ramifications of Winter Soldier be on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? I mean no one cares about that show, but its entire premise is upended in this movie. Wonder if the show will address this at all?

JUNKO: I actually do watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I’m surmising that the writers of the show knew this is what was gonna happen within the Marvel Universe. The series began in 2013 and Winter Soldier’s script already existed. I’m behind by maybe two episodes but season two already was giving hints about something amiss at S.H.I.E.L.D. so it’ll tie in nicely with the movie and other future installments.

N’JAILA: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finally became interesting last episode.

PATRICK: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 Shadow Ops! Secret Avengers type stuff!

RODRIGO: Way to resurrect a dead series. LOL!

KEITH: I think the most amazing thing about Captain America: Winter Soldier is that it actually got me intrigued to tune into Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this Tuesday. That’s saying a lot.

SHAWN T.: I. Still. Can’t. Aside from loving Winter Soldier, I just can’t do Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I want to, but I get the same allergic reaction when I watch it as I do when I listen to John Legend.

BAO: I liked when Cap fought against Batrock in the beginning. That dude looked like Algerian Macklemore.

KEITH: True. The other thing I really appreciated about this flick is that it’s the first superhero movie in which the climatic action set piece actually works. That’s what sets it apart from Avengers and Iron Man.

Hell, even Man of Steel and each film in the Dark Knight trilogy had terrible third acts, if I’m being completely candid. I made the point before about how Marvel Studios is trumping WB/DC in the superhero department (though I was talking about costumes at the time), but they’ve raised the bar again.

Speaking of costumes, I also loved how they incorporated the Super Soldier suit from the comics. At first, I was skeptical when I saw concept art last year. I wasn’t sure about using that suit so soon in the sequel, but it really works in context. Also love how they bring back the WWII one too.

JUNKO: They have a good point here.

RODRIGO: I’ve been sayin’…

KEITH: That pic just reminds me how awful his Avengers suit was. Ugh.

RODRIGO: So what, you saying Cap isn’t Puerto Rican?

N’JAILA: I’m not a fan of Captain America at all, but I really enjoyed the movie. More so than the first one that just annoyed me. I love that they trusted the audience to embrace the material.

MICHEL: All I have to add is this: That movie ROCKED.