It's probably a combination of both. They figured it's time for a big event in order to recapture lost mindshare, get new readers on board for characters like Carol, the Inhumans and the GotG, solidify Iron Man as one of the center characters to follow, and of course, rake in money.
But I don't think they deliberately set out to disappoint - they just do what they think works. This issue reads like a bingo box of (Bendis) story beats. Ultimately they played it safe, and the final product suffers more from it than they probably expected.
Also can we talk about how unbelievably awful and tone deaf the Mighty Captain Marvel #0 solicit is?
I feel like MCU-only fans will love the character next year, because Feige knows what he's doing. But to comics reading fans she's going to be an unsalvageable heel.
This plus the tryhard "spunky girly asskicking" Hawkeye solicit and the tired IvX solicit that doesn't even attempt to hide what it obviously is, paints a really subpar next 4-6 months at Marvel for me.
As I said though, they still do have enjoyable books, I love Marvel generally and historically, but the overarching plot and Inhumans stuff is just bad.
