Finally, 76 years after psychologist William Moulton Marston created the most iconic female superhero in the world, the very first stand-alone Wonder Woman movie made its debut at the glitzy world premiere Thursday night at the historic Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. This highly anticipated film isn’t just the first superhero flick in over a decade to have a woman as the main character—it also boasts the first female director to helm a comic-book movie. For Gal Gadot, who plays the mighty Wonder Woman herself, the milestone project was an opportunity to challenge preconceptions and break barriers.

“I hope Wonder Woman will show girls and boys all the many possibilities of what women can be and what women can do,” Gadot told Vanity Fair at the premiere. “Women are strong, smart, and loving, and can be in powerful positions the same way as men. It’s so important to have strong female figures, and I hope Wonder Woman will show people that women are equal to men.”

Director Patty Jenkins is proud to offer moviegoers a female superhero with a unique perspective. After a decade of men dominating the comic-book movie genre, Wonder Woman offers a distinctive point of view that is based on her strong sense of self-identity.

“The world needs all different kinds of superheroes, especially one like Wonder Woman. She teaches love and the belief in a better mankind,” said Jenkins, best known for directing the 2003 drama Monster, which earned Charlize Theron an Oscar. “That’s the interesting thing. Her versus the other superheroes, she chose to fight for peace. She chose to spend her life to help others, and that’s empowering. She’s the one who took control of her life. She comes into this world and realizes that it’s hard and complicated and difficult, but worth it because she knows it’s her mission. We are seeing this for the first time on the big screen in that way.”

Chris Pine agrees with the rest of the Wonder Woman team. When Hollywood’s foremost Chris was offered the role of Army spy Steve Trevor, who is Wonder Woman’s love interest, he immediately understood the need for a female superhero on the big screen—especially from a male perspective.

“We’ve seen stories told through the male prism a lot. Men are not all that smart. We tend to want to kill each other all the time, so it’s nice to finally have a fresh, female perspective with important themes,” Pine said. “To have a female superhero story that is about love and compassion and nurturing of life than the opposite is very important. At the heart of the movie, it’s about people falling in love and being passionate and being heroic. It’s a great lesson for everyone to learn instead of other movies where shit is blowing up all the time.”

Wonder Woman opens nationwide—finally—June 2.