People here denied it for years that they would bring in Namor.
And in hindsight I should have given you the benefit of the doubt. Cause it makes sense to take a natural progression and not a leap into another world.
However, I think it was definitely Feige who wanted Namor. And to Feige's credit he knew they were going into the multiverse, they were bringing in some hitters. So he didnt want the stakes to seem "light" compared to the rest of the slate.
So Ryan is a slave to two masters (for lack of a better reference). He has to maintain the groundedness of the OG/progress the story and still give the spectacle to fit the rest of phase 4. Its why removing T'Challa lacks common sense. You're making a complicated issue even more complicated.