Captain America: The Winter Soldier Trapped the MCU in a Machine of Its Own Making

Back in the early Marvel Cinematic Universe days, the second movies of a sub-franchise weren't much to write home about. Both Iron Man 2 in 2010 and 2013's Thor: The Dark World felt like unremarkable sequels compared to their predecessors, hamstrung by being fast-tracked before they were ready or just not doing much...