https://www.cnet.com/news/captain-marvel-could-have-been-a-better-prequel/

But at the same time it gives the filmmakers an exciting extra dimension to play with: audience expectations. We know where certain characters end up -- but we don't know how they end up there. We know Nick Fury from previous movies as a badass with an eyepatch. Rewind to the 1990s and he's entirely ocularly intact. So how did he lose that eye? Captain Marvel answers that question in a playful and extremely unexpected way.

Unfortunately, that's about it. Apart from the question of Fury's eye, the 1990s setting is basically nostalgic set dressing, setting up jokes about Blockbuster and classic girl power anthems like Celebrity Skin by Hole and Just A Girl by No Doubt. Which is all great, especially for viewers of a certain age.