I worry about Marvel Legends continuing for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with Disney / Marvel and Hasbro, but they're part of the problem too. The reaction to this wave here (amongst the linde's most fervent fans) is pretty mixed. Of course, I'm happy for those who are enthused.
IMO, this wave, like many recent Spidey waves, sucks. Cardiac and Owl are frustratingly lousy representations of their most well-known comics versions. Except for Venom Spidey (which I don't care for, but I imagine will sell because Venom / Spidey), the rest are headed straight to RossCon.
It's great to get an on-model figure of an obscure villain like Hypno-Hustler, but they're high if they think he'll sell at target and Wal-Mart (Spidey seems like the one line that both stores can be counted on to stock). I'll get HH eventually, but for under $15. If customizers make better heads for Cardiac and Owl, I'll probably do the same. Otherwise, I don't need them. I wish they'd Haslab box sets of in-demand but obscure villains, like the last Amazon box with Fly, etc. Because, honestly, when are they going to mkae Cardiac and Owl again? It's taken nearly 25 years for these to manifest!
A few other things:
I've known Jesse since the early 90's - good guy. His job is to maximize income for the company he works for (Disney / Marvel, not Hasbro), just like Dwight's job is to maximize Hasbro's income. They may not agree with how their employers want to do that, so both are feeling pressure from each other and the companies they work for. I don't think either is any more responsible for bad decisions than the other. Jesse has a preeliction for absurd charcters like Morg, who probably wouldn't have been made otherwise. YMMV on that stuff.
Releasing placeholders is clearly part of a plan to maximize income from each character - despite the great lists of still unreleased, in-demand characters, the IP pool is not infinite, although repackaging seems to be. Which remoinds me - where's Secret Wars wave 2? Need to get a proper classic Falcon FINALLY (watch it be a first appearance).