Yeah, I think it must be really, really hard for Disney, as a corporate entity, to get behind revolutionary structural change. Nothing smacks of sellout or astroturfing more than a megamillions development and promotion budget! (I actually don't know anything about Wish, so this comment isn't about that movie in particular but just about Dead-Center-Establishment trying to pull off the message of an I-filmed-this-on-my-phone-while-homeless film.

I agree with your analysis of films/stories/comics that do the What-if-Villain-But-Actually-Not? plot. I think any individual one of those can be fun (or not), but as a TYPE, yes: completely what you say. Basically, "What if Villain, but actually not?" undoes itself at step one. Either, yes, villain! In which case, you may feel tremendously for the villainous protagonist, but at the same time, Dude. That was wrong and bad. I feel for you, but. Or no, not actually villain! In which case you're no longer really doing a villain story.