HShortly after that Oasis reunion comes news of the return of another ’90s icon: Lara Croft. She returns to our screens with a new animated series, still with that holy triumvirate of classic ponytail, backpack and combat boots. From the start, she performs seemingly impossible feats in the name of archaeology: she swims faster than a predatory crocodile and uses her signature blend of parkour and gymnastics to avoid a pit full of sharp spines. But this isn’t the Tomb Raider star rather as you may remember her.

The eponymous star of Netflix’s Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft – voiced by Agent Carter’s Hayley Atwell – looks different from how she appeared in the original games. Her thighs are now strong enough to realistically run, climb, stomp, swim and all the other myriad things Lara has to do every day, while her waist is more realistically proportioned. Her shoulders are broader, her arms more defined (biceps, triceps, and flexors; oh my!), and those impossibly perky and oh-so pixelated breasts have deflated to a size that fits somewhere within the realm of reason.

Essentially, she no longer looks as if a strong wind would knock her over. It’s part of a new performance that feels like a major feminist act – something many critics have been shouting about since its first performance in 1996.

The most influential female protagonist of her genre, Lara has redefined what women can and cannot do in the world of video games. “Compared to the burly men shooting guns, she had a real appeal,” says her designer, Toby Gard, who originally intended her as “a man in some graves” before deciding to go in a different direction. “She was mysterious and had a danger within her, and this gave her a real difference from other female game characters who were basically sex objects. I also really wanted Lara to be able to animate well, which no one else was doing at the time. This made her move slowly but look realistic, allowing players to empathize with her.”

Realistic is of course in the eye of the beholder. For her adrenaline rush, Lara wore a tight tank top and tiny shorts – all the better to accentuate those gravity-defying breasts, as well as her slim waist, arms and legs. She moved with the grace of a ballerina, opting for unnecessary handstands and swallow dives whenever she could, and speaking with the clipped, confident cadence of a BBC newsreader – even if all she did was give a stern ‘no’ to gamers who told her tried to force through a closed door. (Hey, she had agency!)

Of course, hers were puzzle games and not RPGs, so we didn’t know much about Lara’s backstory. What we did know was that she was incredibly wealthy and had a passion for ancient relics. She was also probably an avid gymnast. And, more importantly, she was smart, relying on brainpower and survival skills, not just combat (AKA shoot anyone and anything that came between her and her prize) to complete each quest.

As time went on, the marketing around Lara changed – so much so that Gard felt forced to leave the games’ developer, Core Design, completely. “It wasn’t about her breasts getting bigger,” he later insisted, although the character’s objectification was undeniable; aside from the ever-expanding breasts, consider the unforgettable shower scene from Tomb Raider II, the torn little black dress from Tomb Raider Legend, the ever-prevailing promise of the “Nude Raider” cheat code (which has since turned out to be an urban myth) .

Like Wonder Woman before her, Lara Croft was a strong woman created with a male gaze. Yet she managed to symbolize something greater: she was a bona fide adventurer on her own hero’s quest. A savior, not a damsel in need of saving. A woman with much more important things on her mind than romantic side quests. As time passed and ownership of the character changed hands, these key elements never changed. Designers focused more on her facial expressions than her breasts; her backstory was fleshed out. They even gave her friends – it was Lara’s relationship with Sam Nishimura during the 2013 video game reboot that finally allowed her to pass the Bechdel Test with flying colors – and this is in the spotlight in the new series.

From China to Istanbul, from the catacombs of Paris to the Kunlun Mountains, Netflix’s Lara journey around the world has the same appeal as her previous incarnations. Her past is, she admits, “complicated” – and because of that she’s a little more vulnerable and a lot more self-destructive than we’ve seen her before. She wears comfortable cargo pants and high-neck tank tops when the occasion calls for it (with visible sweat stains, no less). She enjoys an unexpectedly ambiguous relationship with a person from her past. She is – to quote her friend Jonah – a “crazy bastard” in a backpack; as fearless and not just focused on raids dig, but also return treasures to their rightful homes.

This Lara has to deal with a messy past. This Lara smells like a professional hiker, is battered and bruised, and carries a lot of emotional baggage. A lot of emotional baggage. This Lara closes herself off from her friends, resulting in questionable decision after questionable decision. This Lara is brimming with power, but must find out who she is before she can regain the cool composure synonymous with the legendary Croft of old. And yes, you best believe that her found family might be the key to that; After all, no woman is an island.

This Lara isn’t perfect by any means, but her imperfections feel revolutionary when compared to her original blueprints. Because, let go by her controller, she is allowed to go through her story on her own terms. She’s finally the undisputed administrator of her own complicated life – all thanks to her new TV incarnation.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is now on Netflix.