Tinseltown podcast, as well as Andy Greenwald, Chris Ryan and Bill Simmons (and a bunch of stuff online) have an described him as handpicked successor

Its been mentioned in a few pods but I think Iger wanted to fix it so that it isn't a stain on his legacy either. Chapek was his handpicked successor

It's not just the writing. It's that the rn hair cast had such good chemistry you could tell they were having so much fun making the show and that energy oozed through the the screen