It's hard to believe that a movie that made more than 400 million dollars at the box office could be considered a disappointment, but Disney and Marvel Studios clearly expected more of Eternals. The 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe boasted the reigning Oscar-winning director in Chloé Zhao and an enormous, diverse cast of stars with devoted followings, including Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Game of Thrones alums Richard Madden and Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani and Brian Tyree Henry, just to name a few. Its cosmic stakes rivaled that of Avengers: Endgame and early buzz was that Eternals was as stunningly beautiful as it was original. Then the unthinkable happened: the movie debuted to the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score in the entire MCU and was outgrossed by both 2021 standalone films, Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

The conventional wisdom now is that Eternals was a rare Marvel misstep, especially in the wake of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is on track to become one of the most successful films of all time. But now that Eternals is readily available on Disney+, that narrative could change. Another movie with a few not-so-obvious parallels recently underwent a similar transformation once it hit the streamer. Disney's latest animated offering, Encanto, premiered to little fanfare and underwhelming ticket sales in November. Since its Christmas day release on the streaming service, however, it's become an outright sensation.

RELATED: Disney+ Adds Eternals to Updated MCU Timeline

Initially, some critics bemoaned Encanto's lack of a traditional villain, derivative visual style and what they considered to be forgettable songs. Those reviews may have kept audiences away, though the more likely culprits were COVID caution and a lack of familiarity with the story and characters. If, say, Frozen 3 had been given Encanto's slot, the outcome may have been quite different. But once more people saw it, its critical appraisal and place in pop culture skyrocketed. Those forgettable songs are currently topping the charts. Bruno memes are everywhere. Newfound fans have fallen in love with the Madrigal family and the movie's surprisingly countercultural message: that kids don't have to be extraordinary to be valuable.

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Eternals is also an ensemble piece with a female lead who's trying to figure out the truth and solve a nebulous problem. Just as Mirabel struggles to determine how she fits into her supernaturally gifted family, so does Gemma Chan's Sersi. It could be argued that there are no real villains, only different perspectives.

Both Eternals and Encanto are pushing beyond good-versus-evil tropes and are instead interrogating why something or someone is good or evil. Disney animation and the MCU have both been heading steadily in this direction thematically, but Eternals and Encanto represent big leaps. These types of stories might present a challenge to some upon first viewing, and they simply might never be to others' tastes. But that wasn't the only thing both films had going against them. They also had to contend with high expectations from studios and critics and low theatrical audience buy-in.

RELATED: Eternals Director Reveals the 'Bleak' Alternate Ending That Audiences Hated

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who collaborated on Moana and Encanto, reached heights few artists ever achieve with Hamilton in 2016. Disney couldn't have seen it coming that by 2021, the bloom would be off the rose. Miranda experienced mild backlashes for the film versions of Hamilton and In the Heights. The pandemic condensed what should've been several years' worth of releases into a few months, with Vivo, Tick, Tick...Boom! and Encanto all following shortly thereafter. He was overexposed and suddenly uncool. It had once been impossible to get tickets to hear Miranda's songs. Then nobody seemed to want them. But post-Disney+ release, "We Don't Talk About Bruno" is a bonafide hit.

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Zhao also found herself in a lose/lose situation. The 39-year-old went from being an obscure critical darling to having one of the best Oscar nights of all time with Nomadland. In between, she was charged with helming perhaps the most ambitious Marvel project yet. As sweeping and complex as an Avengers movie, but with completely new-to-the-MCU characters and lore, Eternals was going to be a risk no matter who made it. Her final product has some weak spots (as all MCU entries do), but the discourse that emerged was that the movie was bad and that Zhao had squandered an opportunity.

RELATED: Encanto's Small Details Hide the Disney Film's True Magic

Though Encanto belongs to something like a franchise (one-word-titled Disney cartoons à la Tangled and Coco), it was all brand new to the kids who'd hypothetically want to go and buy the toys, but they (or their parents) didn't feel any urgency to see what the deal was with these Madrigals. Now that subscribers can watch it at home in their pajamas for no additional fee, they think it's delightful. Similarly, no one was clamoring for content about Ajak or Sprite, at least not at ten dollars a ticket plus popcorn in the middle of a pandemic. In contrast, Spider-Man: No Way Home was an extremely spoilable culmination of colliding franchises, with its Disney+ streaming date in the far-off future. With Eternals a mere button-push away, the movie may get a more accurate, tempered reappraisal.

As soon as it appeared on the service, the actors' names began trending on Twitter along with positive comments. Home viewers seem to appreciate Angelina Jolie as Thena in particular, the visuals (especially the Emergence) and the pleasant surprise that the film was considerably better than they'd been led to believe. That's because, while established characters benefit from hype and the preexisting relationships they have with fans, more original and experimental work sometimes benefits from discovery. Maybe the Madrigals and Eternals are just easier to discover and enjoy from the comfort of your living room.

KEEP READING: Disney's Encanto Wins Golden Globe for Best Animated Film