Perhaps I sounded a little more harsher than normal with my previous comments and I regret that. It's just that I finally saw the MoM yesterday, and I consider it to be EASILY the worst entry in the MCU in my opinion. I had my problems with the Eternals, but at least I felt it was a labor of love for Zhao and she was really passionate about that project (and she tried her best to make it as different and new as possible). Strange 2 was just dreck for the entire two hours and it added nothing to the MCU. Sam Jackson's post-credit appearance in Iron Man was easily the best best post-credit scene in MCU history. But it felt natural to me. Him surprising RDJ in his "palace" to talk about the Avengers Initiative intrigued people's interest. Julia Louis-Dreyfus's intro was fun, but it felt like a weaker imitation of the Jackson's to me. Clea's intro was the worst one in my opinion. Her appearance felt like a Hallmark movie to me. Strange's love of his life gets married to somebody else, and then while lonely Strange is trying to recover from that loss, a brand new woman walks into his life outta nowhere. CHEESY!
I could live with Parker's introduction in Civil War because Spider-Man is probably now the world's most famous comic book character. I feel Disney had to bring him in sooner or later and I think the Russos did a fairly job with his intro (Black Panther's intro was WAY better though). I agree with you about the cameos from "other universes". If She-Hulk brought in characters like Doc Sampson or Betty Ross, I would be thrilled. The Hulk "franchise" needs more love and I want it to get more attention. It's already too late for Thunderbolt Ross.
There's just too much talk about DD and JJ possibly appearing in this series for my liking. I'm happy for the performers if they DO appear, but I never watched the Netflix stuff so it wouldn't be a comic book "boner moment" for me). The cameos in NWH made sense and Disney/Sony to their credit made them work brilliantly in my opinion. I wasn't thrilled about the Murdock one because that movie just completely dispensed with the the loss of Spider-Man's secret identity in favor of multiversal shenanigans and it would have been cool seeing Matt defend Peter in court. THAT would have been a natural follow-up to Far from Home. Now it's too late to do that kind of film.
I don't think the MCU is collapsing. Box office numbers certainly wouldn't indicate that at all. But it's clearly not as big a part of the cultural zeitgeist as it was even a few months ago. Whatever people's feelings about WandaVision and NWH, they were big successes for Disney/Marvel last year and cemented the MCU's place as top dog in Hollywood in 2021. But I don't feel the same way about the MCU right now. I think we know which film is DOMINATING the box office and cultural discussions right now. Hint: It's not the Multiverse of Madness. I think Disney was getting cocky, talking about how their Marvel movies were gonna "save cinema" in the wake of the pandemic, but since they got their asses fucking kicked by TGM, Marvel Studios execs have gone completely quiet. I thought Strange 2 was one of the laziest efforts put forward by the MCU ever, and I think Marvel Studios should change course quickly in order to regain the goodwill of fans that they have disappointed in Phase Four. It's not too late!