It doesn't reference other entries in the MCU? It does, and it does it a lot...maybe mainly in the form of dialogue, but it does reference several previous movies and series even with some scenes...Valentina mentions specifically the events of Brave New World. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is referenced a lot regarding John Walker, also, Black Widow with Alexei Shostakov, Natasha Romanov and Yelena Belova's lines and memories, even a little with Antonia Dreykov in dialogue. Also, Ant-man and the Wasp is referenced by Ghost, and a few other movies with the Winter Soldier. Even the final postcredits scenes contains a direct link to First Steps, so, of course the movie makes a lot of references to the wider MCU lol xD

The shawarma scene in The Avengers was horrible...there was zero comradery or family atmosphere in it...sure, it was funny but that was it...So, First Steps is gonna be a great movie because it shows the Fantastic Four having dinner...wow...that's so reassuring xD

MCU movies are meh...No Way Home and Endgame are terrible and really boring. Logan, X2, Spiderman 2 and Deadpool, although flawed somewhat, are true masterpieces of comic book cinema.

Well, that doesnt necessarily rule out a return of Batfleck completely...maybe in ten years, or maybe a little more, Ben will feel better about the genre and could be willing to return for maybe just a glorified cameo or a short appearance in a multiverse film...which would be awesome. I know chances may be slim, but there's hope.