Books told stories for ages, but movies enhanced the experience and created a new breed of people who pre movies over books.
Similarly we use phones for all our purposes, xr will enhance it
The difference is that your phone is a utility, not a piece of art. So XR would have to be more practical than the current interface, which, maybe advanced AR will be. But even then, that's just an AR GUI, not a "metaverse".
And then on the non-utilitarian side, XR entertainment/storytelling is already a thing. You don't need a metaverse for that.
And then on the non-utilitarian side, XR entertainment/storytelling is already a thing. You don't need a metaverse for that.