The first movie was a masterpiece of being a deconstruction of superhero tropes while also being a great superhero movie. I don’t think that’s something you can do twice.
I’m glad they went a different route for the sequel, and even though it was not as good (literally impossible to be better, I think). I liked the sequel quite a bit except for the ending set piece.
I’m not expecting them to reach the brilliance of the first, but if they make a good movie, I’ll be happy.
In my head canon, Pippin helped gandalf avoid this fate.