History Deconstruction / MarvelUniverse

* ''{{ComicBook/Daredevil}}'': Matt Murdock got enhanced senses after being blinded by radioactive waste, but his whole life has been an uphill battle from his humble beginnings to being a respected lawyer by day to having his personal and professional lives torn apart time and again, and losing some of the women he loved along the way.
* The ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', the first big Marvel hit, was seen and welcomed as a reaction to other superhero stories. Namely the fact that the team dispensed with the secret identity along with masks. They also in the early stories featured highly dysfunctional figures, with Johnny Storm being a real hothead and ArrogantKungFuGuy about his powers and Ben Grimm/The Thing being the first example of a Monster-As-Superhero who was prone to temper tantrums, frustration over his feelings for Sue and his anger at Reed, with their adventures being the only thing keep them together at least in the Jack Kirby era.

* ''ComicBook/DamageControl'': The central conceit of the series is that somebody has to clean up all those messes.
* The Marvel hero Freedom Ring was meant to be a deconstruction of the way most teen superheroes were handled. His creator, Robert Kirkman, wanted to have a young hero who would struggle to use his abilities and ultimately die early on in his career in order to contrast the ease with which most teenage characters adjust to their powers. Since Freedom Ring was also one of the few gay superheroes Marvel published, this lead to some UnfortunateImplications and an apology from Kirkman.

* ''ComicBook/MarvelUniverseVsThePunisher'': This could be read as a deconstruction on ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies''. In the MZ titles, the titular zombies don't actually [[OurZombiesAreDifferent act like zombies]], but rather intelligent cannibals that happen to be undead (who end up conquering their world). This story kinda runs with that idea, showing a mutating HatePlague that simply makes the infected savage maniacs that are easily dealt with. It also demonstrates a better understanding of the heroes; MZ!Mr. Fantastic loses his mind after the death of his children, whereas the Reed of ''this'' world keeps his sanity and helps establish a safe-zone with the surviving heroes.

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMax'': The entire series is a deconstruction of the entire ''[[Comicbook/ThePunisher Punisher]]'' mythos, as well as the "avenging vigilante" archetype as a whole. Frank, while still sympathetic, [[spoiler: is not really out to avenge his family but is instead driven by a combination of bloodlust and guilt]]. The concept of a badass PsychoForHire is thoroughly debunked: the majority of them are just repulsive sadists, and the ones who aren't are ''genuinely insane'' and not the least bit appealing. The majority of the OldSoldier types have been driven psychotic by their experiences, and there most certainly is no such thing as a NobleDemon.
* ComicBook/RedSkull: Of hammy supervillains in general, and fictional Nazis in particular. Even the original [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] origin story gave a surprisingly sympathetic and to some extent [[FairForItsDay "realistic"]] explanation for why a non-psychopath would want to be a Nazi supervillain, and why he would likely be a LargeHam if he became one. Many early stories nevertheless portrayed him as a more or less generic ranting villain, [[CardCarryingVillain who knew he was evil]]. But later writers [[DependingOnTheWriter (or at least some of them)]] realized that such villainy is unrealistic, so instead they tend to give him a coherent Nazi worldview. The result makes him ''more'' terrifying, since the best stories really manage to show how he can be a genocidal Nazi and still be morally upright [[DeliberateValuesDissonance by the standards of his own culture]].
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates2002''

* The ''ComicBook/MarvelApes'' storyline deconstructs the FunnyAnimal. A reality ruled by non-human primates would most likely be ''far'' more violent than ours, since most primates don't have human-level empathy. Even heroes like Captain America sees nothing wrong with beating villains to death, since that's just how apes are.
* ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'' was one of the first comics to examine how the presence of superheroes would affect modern society and culture with the titular Squadron trying to create a one-world government without war, hunger or crime but gradually become tyrants that clamp down on people's rights. It gets so bad that one of their members even leaves the group and forms his own super-team to oppose them.

* ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'' offers an interesting take on the teenage superhero genre in the fact the hero really couldn't care any less about school or fitting in, claiming it's a waste of time and instead stating that his work as a hero is more important. He then proceeds to cheat on his tests and homework in order to pass, since him being a hero gives him the latitude to do so, and high school is meaningless and doesn't matter once you graduate.

** ''Deconstruction/UltimateSpiderMan''

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMax'': The entire series is a deconstruction of the entire Punisher mythos, as well as the "avenging vigilante" archetype as a whole. Frank, while still sympathetic, [[spoiler: is not really out to avenge his family but is instead driven by a combination of bloodlust and guilt]]. The concept of a badass PsychoForHire is thoroughly debunked: the majority of them are just repulsive sadists, and the ones who aren't are ''genuinely insane'' and not the least bit appealing. The majority of the OldSoldier types have been driven psychotic by their experiences, and there most certainly is no such thing as a NobleDemon.

Many of the Marvel Universe superheroes of the early 1960s could be seen as early deconstructions of the superhero genre [[UnbuiltTrope before their styles and formulas became standard issue genre tropes]], long before Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' (see below), by showing that while gaining superpowers may have allowed ordinary people to do good, even save the world, it didn't necessarily make their lives better. Though this is more true of the early Marvel stories than later on:

* ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'': Bruce Banner turned into the super strong Incredible Hulk thanks to a gamma bomb explosion, endowing him with the strength and stamina to battle threats that even some other super strong heroes may struggle with, but Bruce has little to no control over the Hulk, which often results in a lot of property damage and turning Bruce into a fugitive hunted all over the world by the army.

* The ''Marvel Apes'' storyline deconstructs the FunnyAnimal. A reality ruled by non-human primates would most likely be ''far'' more violent than ours, since most primates don't have human-level empathy. Even heroes like Captain America sees nothing wrong with beating villains to death, since that's just how apes are.

!!Franchise/MarvelUniverse

* ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'' was one of the first comics to examine how the presence of superheroes would affect modern society and culture with the titular Squadron trying to create a one-world government without war, hunger or crime but gradually become tyrants that clamp down on people's rights. It gets so bad that one of their members even leaves the group and forms his own super-team to oppose them.

* The ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'' limited series was one of the first comics to examine how the presence of superheroes would affect modern society and culture with the titular Squadron trying to create a one-world government without war, hunger or crime but gradually become tyrants that clamp down on people's rights. It gets so bad that one of their members even leaves the group and forms his own super-team to oppose them.

* The ''Marvel Apes'' storyline deconstructs the FunnyAnimal. A reality ruled by non-human primates would most likely be ''far'' more violent than ours, since most primates don't have human-level empathy. Even heroes like Captain America sees nothing wrong with beating villains to death, since that's just how apes are.

** Being a giant-sized superhero would not actually be useful on a mission like detaining the Hulk in the middle of New York City. Hank Pym is very easily thrown off balance and is quickly taken out when Hulk causes him to fall into a building. His fight against Captain America doesn't get much done either, as the environment around him ends up constricting him and gets used against him resulting in a CurbStompBattle.

** Mark Waid's run also throws a dark mirror on the Reed-Doom relationship. Both have always been shown with varying levels of NotSoDifferent but Waid accentuates it. Reed takes over Latveria and gets as obsessed with the then-dead Victor as Victor gets with him. Overall it's a fairly chilling look at how isolated and driven two intelligent men are, and how defined by each other they have become.

Many of the Marvel Universe superheroes of the early 1960s could be seen as early deconstructions of the superhero genre [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny before their styles and formulas became standard issue genre tropes]], long before Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' (see below), by showing that while gaining superpowers may have allowed ordinary people to do good, even save the world, it didn't necessarily make their lives better. Though this is more true of the early Marvel stories than later on:

Many of the Marvel Universe superheroes of the early 1960s could be seen as early deconstructions of the superhero genre [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny before their styles and formulas became standard issue genre tropes]], long before Alan Moore's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' (see below), by showing that while gaining superpowers may have allowed ordinary people to do good, even save the world, it didn't necessarily make their lives better. Though this is more true of the early Marvel stories than later on:

Many of the Marvel Universe superheroes of the early 1960s could be seen as early deconstructions of the superhero genre [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny before their styles and formulas became standard issue genre tropes]], long before Alan Moore's ''Watchmen'' (see below), by showing that while gaining super powers may have allowed ordinary people to do good, even save the world, it didn't necessarily make their lives better. Though this is more true of the early Marvel stories than later on:

* Deconstruction/SpiderMan
** Deconstruction/UltimateSpiderMan
* Deconstruction/XMen

* Deconstruction/UltimateSpiderMan

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' in the ''ComicBook/LeeDitkoSpiderMan'' was seen as a very interesting and original take on the superhero stories in that it featured a working class teenager as a superhero whose powers he initially tried to exploit for monetary gain [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism by using his new found power to get rich, albeit on a small scale and use his power to strike back at his tormentors.]] The result? His empowerment fantasy goes to his head and he learns a famous lesson in responsibility. He struggles to pay rent and pay his way to college, take care of his ailing Aunt May and, in the Steve Ditko stories, the tensions between his personal life and superhero-work meant that people saw him as cold, aloof and snobbish which also upsets his early dates with his crushes. In his opening caption introducing ''Amazing Fantasy #15'', Lee admits that his new hero is someone a little different from the usual run of superhero comics, or as he and his friends call them at work, "long-underwear stories" (with little doubt as to which [[Franchise/{{Superman}} other]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} characters]] he was talking about). This aspect was toned down greatly when Steve Ditko left and Peter Parker attracted a circle of friends and incredibly attractive girlfriends.
** The original run of Spider-Man more or less deconstructs the common tropes in Superman and Batman stories. Spider-Man's relationship with the press is entirely the opposite of Superman's. Instead of being adulated by the public for everything he does, he is distrusted by them. Wearing a costume with a somewhat creepy mask and having an animal theme of a creepy creature provokes the exact sense of fear and mistrust as you would expect unlike Batman who is trusted and regarded as an authority figure (in the Golden and Silver Age) despite his nocturnal get-up.
** Superman working as Clark Kent more or less wrote his own PR. Batman has Commissioner Gordon and his wealth to protect him from the fallout of his vigilante actions, but Spider-Man has nothing of that. Superman and Batman have sidekicks, confidants, top-of-the-line fancy headquarters (Batcave, Fortress of Solitude), Peter has none of that. His costume, when it gets weathered he buys a replacement from a novelty store. When his Aunt is sick and he needs a cure, he has to call in favors from people he knows and nearly get killed fighting Octopus to fix it. Bailing on a supervillain battle to go save his Aunt, people call him a coward. Unlike Batman and Superman who are both hyper-competent overly advantaged types fighting a bunch of VillainousUnderdog, Peter is ''the'' underdog hero who punches up and fights characters stronger, more powerful, wealthier, and more resourceful than he is, and faces all the consequences, difficulties and setbacks doing so.
** A proto-Watchmen example where Spider-Man and Human Torch team up and chase the Sandman but their mutual bickering, TestosteronePoisoning, competitiveness prevents them from doing much while Sandman gets distracted enough that regular cops with discipline take him down. Ditko later admitted that he did this to correct and sabotage Lee's constant attempts at getting Spider-Man to team up feeling it would undermine Peter's own capabilities and also to show that just because two heroes are cool and popular doesn't mean their team up would be effective.
* Elsewhere, the ''ComicBook/XMen'' were mutants born with great powers that enabled them to do good when harnessed properly, but they were feared and hated and are generally victims of horrible double standards compared to other superheroes.
** ComicBook/{{Legion|Marvel Comics}}: His solo in ''X-Men: Legacy'' has a number of jabs at usual X-Men conventions. The fact that they only find mutants with "flashy" powers, filling their ranks with combat capable mutations, the fact that they're so ineffective the X-Men still need to be soldiers, and that none of them seem to work on human-mutant relationships anymore like how mutants can not only coexist but also aid society.
** ''ComicBook/NewXMen'': The series explores many of the harsher aspects of how a subculture of superhumans might function in the real world, with abuse of power-enhancing drugs, campus insurrection at the Xavier Institute, the homegrown culture of the "mutant ghetto", and even UsefulNotes/CheGuevara-esque idolization of Magneto figuring into the plot.
** Creator/GrantMorrison apparently tried to deconstruct Cyclops/Scott Summers, the X-Men's fearless leader, following his being possessed by Apocalypse, with his ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run, by trying to show the insecurities and emotional vulnerability behind his stoicism.

** Being a giant-sized superhero would not actually be useful on a mission like detaining the Hulk in the middle of New York City. Hank Pym is very easily thrown off balance and is quickly taken out when Hulk causes him to fall into a building. His fight against Captain America doesn't get much done either, as the environment around him ends up constricting him and gets used against him resulting in a CurbStompBattle.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'': Possibly [[UpToEleven even more of a deconstruction]] than its [[ComicBook/SpiderMan mainstream counterpart]]:
** Peter's ended up in the hospital twice as a result of being Spider-Man. Half the time, injuries go untreated since he can't risk medics finding out his identity.
** Some supporting characters and antagonists put two and two together to figure out his secret identity. This includes Kingpin, who effortlessly uses his information network to find out where he goes to school. He even finds out the names and identities of Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Shang Chi. And {{ComicBook/SHIELD}} was already onto him way before then.
** The fact that Spider-Man is a student at Peter's high school eventually brings a small media circus down on it, with newscrews camped outside almost all the time. Several principals even quit because of the stress involved. By the end of the first volume, the school board is seriously considering shutting the school down entirely, as multiple supervillain attacks have led to it being deemed unsafe.
** Mary Jane breaks up with Peter for a while because his dangerous lifestyle as a crime-fighter becomes too overwhelming for her; She's had a firsthand look at some of the injuries he's sustained in battle, and she's constantly worried sick that he'll wind up dead someday because of it. Her first personal encounter with a super-villain leaves her with post-traumatic stress which she's not able to get help owing to Peter's double life and Peter's own superhero career not allowing him time to actually listen and counsel her. Peter and MJ actually spend a ''lot''' of the comic breaking up and getting back together, usually because one is afraid for the safety of the other (Peter's always facing danger head-on, and there are plenty of times when MJ is put in danger by proxy). The overall effect is that Peter's life as Spider-Man puts a ton of stress on their relationship, and as two teenagers who haven't been in a serious relationship before, they don't have any reference for how to deal with it, and Peter's secret identity means they can't even really talk to anyone about it, much less a qualified therapist.
** Kingpin pulls a KarmaHoudini multiple times just by pulling a few strings. As it turns out, bringing down a mob requires a little more than just punching bad guys in the face. And just to top it off, he promptly copyrights Spider-Man's image and makes him into a merchandising tool. After all, [[CutLexLuthorACheck that guy who keeps a secret identity isn't willing or able to expose his identity by laying down a patent on his costume, let alone raising a lawsuit or complaint]].
** Likewise, a major Hollywood film is made with Spider-Man as the focus, and to Peter's horror the fact that he has to keep his identity secret means he can't sue, complain, offer input, or even get a royalty check.
** Kingpin also winds up on the receiving end of this trope as well; if there are vigilantes operating outside the law in New York, eventually they'll get sick of a KarmaHoudini always getting off on technicalities. When Daredevil assembles various super-heroes to discuss how to handle the Kingpin, Peter actually has to talk the group out of outright ''murdering'' Fisk. Later in the same book Kingpin blows up Matt Murdock's law office, smug in the knowledge that there's no way to prove he did it... Only for Daredevil to break into his home and threaten to very nearly murder his wife. [[spoiler: Eventually, Fisk winds up casually and unceremoniously killed because he caught the attention of an ACTUAL super-villain who didn't give a toss about his KarmaHoudini status.]]
** Shocker is a deconstruction of the HarmlessVillain trope. [[spoiler: His ButtMonkey abuse ends up causing him to snap and horrifically torture Spider-Man. It's all but explicitly said that Spider-Man's constant fights with him have wrecked his mental state beyond repair.]]
** Punisher isn't portrayed as an AntiHero of any sort, he's shown to be exactly what you would expect a man who dresses in skull attire and shoots up criminals to be; a complete psychopath with little to no self-control who does more harm than good.
** Spider-Man ends up with severe emotional and mental scarring from all the traumatic stuff he experiences. Daredevil notes repeatedly that this '''really''' isn't the kind of job a down on his luck teen from the suburbs should be getting into.
** J Jonah Jameson is also arguably a deconstruction of the complete caricature his 616!counterpart is, and whilst utterly abrasive, has been shown to be an objective newsman with incredibly strong morals.
** Daredevil gets a much darker portrayal than his 616!counterpart, having no qualms about killing his enemies and even (in the case of [[spoiler: Wilson Fisk]]) holding their loved ones hostage to get to them. His relationship with Spider-Man is also drastically different; instead of being a close ally that respects and even relates to him, Daredevil treats him mostly with disdain and often chews him out for being, in his own opinion, a naive, inexperienced kid with no business fighting crime. While this could be explained as Daredevil wanting to keep a teenager from getting involved in a life he may not be ready for, it doesn't change the fact that he's very much a JerkAss to Peter (to the point of physically ''assaulting'' him on at least one occasion) and goes to extremes that 616 Daredevil would never go to. It goes to show that Daredevil's brand of vigilante justice wouldn't exactly make him the nicest, or ''sanest'' person.

* Many of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse superheroes of the early 1960s could be seen as early deconstructions of the superhero genre [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny before their styles and formulas became standard issue genre tropes]], long before Alan Moore's ''Watchmen'' (see below), by showing that while gaining super powers may have allowed ordinary people to do good, even save the world, it didn't necessarily make their lives better. Though this is more true of the early Marvel stories than later on:
** ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' in the ''ComicBook/LeeDitkoSpiderMan'' was seen as a very interesting and original take on the superhero stories in that it featured a working class teenager as a superhero whose powers he initially tried to exploit for monetary gain [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism by using his new found power to get rich, albeit on a small scale and use his power to strike back at his tormentors.]] The result? His empowerment fantasy goes to his head and he learns a famous lesson in responsibility. He struggles to pay rent and pay his way to college, take care of his ailing Aunt May and, in the Steve Ditko stories, the tensions between his personal life and superhero-work meant that people saw him as cold, aloof and snobbish which also upsets his early dates with his crushes. In his opening caption introducing ''Amazing Fantasy #15'', Lee admits that his new hero is someone a little different from the usual run of superhero comics, or as he and his friends call them at work, "long-underwear stories" (with little doubt as to which [[Franchise/{{Superman}} other]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} characters]] he was talking about). This aspect was toned down greatly when Steve Ditko left and Peter Parker attracted a circle of friends and incredibly attractive girlfriends.
*** The original run of Spider-Man more or less deconstructs the common tropes in Superman and Batman stories. Spider-Man's relationship with the press is entirely the opposite of Superman's. Instead of being adulated by the public for everything he does, he is distrusted by them. Wearing a costume with a somewhat creepy mask and having an animal theme of a creepy creature provokes the exact sense of fear and mistrust as you would expect unlike Batman who is trusted and regarded as an authority figure (in the Golden and Silver Age) despite his nocturnal get-up.
*** Superman working as Clark Kent more or less wrote his own PR. Batman has Commissioner Gordon and his wealth to protect him from the fallout of his vigilante actions, but Spider-Man has nothing of that. Superman and Batman have sidekicks, confidants, top-of-the-line fancy headquarters (Batcave, Fortress of Solitude), Peter has none of that. His costume, when it gets weathered he buys a replacement from a novelty store. When his Aunt is sick and he needs a cure, he has to call in favors from people he knows and nearly get killed fighting Octopus to fix it. Bailing on a supervillain battle to go save his Aunt, people call him a coward. Unlike Batman and Superman who are both hyper-competent overly advantaged types fighting a bunch of VillainousUnderdog, Peter is ''the'' underdog hero who punches up and fights characters stronger, more powerful, wealthier, and more resourceful than he is, and faces all the consequences, difficulties and setbacks doing so.
*** A proto-Watchmen example where Spider-Man and Human Torch team up and chase the Sandman but their mutual bickering, TestosteronePoisoning, competitiveness prevents them from doing much while Sandman gets distracted enough that regular cops with discipline take him down. Ditko later admitted that he did this to correct and sabotage Lee's constant attempts at getting Spider-Man to team up feeling it would undermine Peter's own capabilities and also to show that just because two heroes are cool and popular doesn't mean their team up would be effective.
** Elsewhere, the ''ComicBook/XMen'' were mutants born with great powers that enabled them to do good when harnessed properly, but they were feared and hated and are generally victims of horrible double standards compared to other superheroes.
*** ComicBook/{{Legion|Marvel Comics}}: His solo in ''X-Men: Legacy'' has a number of jabs at usual X-Men conventions. The fact that they only find mutants with "flashy" powers, filling their ranks with combat capable mutations, the fact that they're so ineffective the X-Men still need to be soldiers, and that none of them seem to work on human-mutant relationships anymore like how mutants can not only coexist but also aid society.
*** ''ComicBook/NewXMen'': The series explores many of the harsher aspects of how a subculture of superhumans might function in the real world, with abuse of power-enhancing drugs, campus insurrection at the Xavier Institute, the homegrown culture of the "mutant ghetto", and even UsefulNotes/CheGuevara-esque idolization of Magneto figuring into the plot.
*** Creator/GrantMorrison apparently tried to deconstruct Cyclops/Scott Summers, the X-Men's fearless leader, following his being possessed by Apocalypse, with his ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run, by trying to show the insecurities and emotional vulnerability behind his stoicism.
** ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'': Bruce Banner turned into the super strong Incredible Hulk thanks to a gamma bomb explosion, endowing him with the strength and stamina to battle threats that even some other super strong heroes may struggle with, but Bruce has little to no control over the Hulk, which often results in a lot of property damage and turning Bruce into a fugitive hunted all over the world by the army.
** ''{{ComicBook/Daredevil}}'': Matt Murdock got enhanced senses after being blinded by radioactive waste, but his whole life has been an uphill battle from his humble beginnings to being a respected lawyer by day to having his personal and professional lives torn apart time and again, and losing some of the women he loved along the way.
** The ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', the first big Marvel hit, was seen and welcomed as a reaction to other superhero stories. Namely the fact that the team dispensed with the secret identity along with masks. They also in the early stories featured highly dysfunctional figures, with Johnny Storm being a real hothead and ArrogantKungFuGuy about his powers and Ben Grimm/The Thing being the first example of a Monster-As-Superhero who was prone to temper tantrums, frustration over his feelings for Sue and his anger at Reed, with their adventures being the only thing keep them together at least in the Jack Kirby era.
*** Mark Waid's run also throws a dark mirror on the Reed-Doom relationship. Both have always been shown with varying levels of NotSoDifferent but Waid accentuates it. Reed takes over Latveria and gets as obsessed with the then-dead Victor as Victor gets with him. Overall it's a fairly chilling look at how isolated and driven two intelligent men are, and how defined by each other they have become.
** ''ComicBook/DamageControl'': The central conceit of the series is that somebody has to clean up all those messes.
** The Marvel hero Freedom Ring was meant to be a deconstruction of the way most teen superheroes were handled. His creator, Robert Kirkman, wanted to have a young hero who would struggle to use his abilities and ultimately die early on in his career in order to contrast the ease with which most teenage characters adjust to their powers. Since Freedom Ring was also one of the few gay superheroes Marvel published, this lead to some UnfortunateImplications and an apology from Kirkman.
** ''ComicBook/MarvelKnights20th'': The story as a whole deconstructs the original idea of Marvel Knights, which told standalone stories in the Marvel Universe. This concept drives the plot of Marvel Knights 20th, as the Marvel Universe has been literally forgotten by its inhabitants.
** ''ComicBook/MarvelUniverseVsThePunisher'': This could be read as a deconstruction on ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies''. In the MZ titles, the titular zombies don’t actually [[OurZombiesAreDifferent act like zombies]], but rather intelligent cannibals that happen to be undead (who end up conquering their world). This story kinda runs with that idea, showing a mutating HatePlague that simply makes the infected savage maniacs that are easily dealt with. It also demonstrates a better understanding of the heroes; MZ!Mr. Fantastic loses his mind after the death of his children, whereas the Reed of ''this'' world keeps his sanity and helps establish a safe-zone with the surviving heroes.
** ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMax'': The entire series is a deconstruction of the entire Punisher mythos, as well as the "avenging vigilante" archetype as a whole. Frank, while still sympathetic, [[spoiler: is not really out to avenge his family but is instead driven by a combination of bloodlust and guilt]]. The concept of a badass PsychoForHire is thoroughly debunked: the majority of them are just repulsive sadists, and the ones who aren't are ''genuinely insane'' and not the least bit appealing. The majority of the OldSoldier types have been driven psychotic by their experiences, and there most certainly is no such thing as a NobleDemon.
** ComicBook/RedSkull: Of hammy supervillains in general, and fictional Nazis in particular. Even the original [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] origin story gave a surprisingly sympathetic and to some extent [[FairForItsDay "realistic"]] explanation for why a non-psychopath would want to be a Nazi supervillain, and why he would likely be a LargeHam if he became one. Many early stories nevertheless portrayed him as a more or less generic ranting villain, [[CardCarryingVillain who knew he was evil]]. But later writers [[DependingOnTheWriter (or at least some of them)]] realized that such villainy is unrealistic, so instead they tend to give him a coherent Nazi worldview. The result makes him ''more'' terrifying, since the best stories really manage to show how he can be a genocidal Nazi and still be morally upright [[DeliberateValuesDissonance by the standards of his own culture]].
** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates2002''
*** The values the "ultimate American hero" had back in World War II would not translate well in the progressed world of today. Captain America's DeliberateValuesDissonance turns him into an outright CowboyCop jerk who thinks every solution to his problems is to beat it up. As cathartic and deserving kicking Hank Pym's ass for his abuse of Janet is, it's still apparent that Cap just assaulted and injured someone without even considering what Janet would've wanted in this situation.
*** Being a giant-sized superhero would not actually be useful on a mission like detaining the Hulk in the middle of New York City. Hank Pym is very easily thrown off balance and is quickly taken out when Hulk causes him to fall into a building. His fight against Captain America doesn't get much done either, as the environment around him ends up constricting him and gets used against him resulting in a CurbStompBattle.
** ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'': Possibly [[UpToEleven even more of a deconstruction]] than its [[ComicBook/SpiderMan mainstream counterpart]]:
*** Peter's ended up in the hospital twice as a result of being Spider-Man. Half the time, injuries go untreated since he can't risk medics finding out his identity.
*** Some supporting characters and antagonists put two and two together to figure out his secret identity. This includes Kingpin, who effortlessly uses his information network to find out where he goes to school. He even finds out the names and identities of Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Shang Chi. And {{ComicBook/SHIELD}} was already onto him way before then.
*** The fact that Spider-Man is a student at Peter's high school eventually brings a small media circus down on it, with newscrews camped outside almost all the time. Several principals even quit because of the stress involved. By the end of the first volume, the school board is seriously considering shutting the school down entirely, as multiple supervillain attacks have led to it being deemed unsafe.
*** Mary Jane breaks up with Peter for a while because his dangerous lifestyle as a crime-fighter becomes too overwhelming for her; She's had a firsthand look at some of the injuries he's sustained in battle, and she's constantly worried sick that he'll wind up dead someday because of it. Her first personal encounter with a super-villain leaves her with post-traumatic stress which she's not able to get help owing to Peter's double life and Peter's own superhero career not allowing him time to actually listen and counsel her. Peter and MJ actually spend a ''lot''' of the comic breaking up and getting back together, usually because one is afraid for the safety of the other (Peter's always facing danger head-on, and there are plenty of times when MJ is put in danger by proxy). The overall effect is that Peter's life as Spider-Man puts a ton of stress on their relationship, and as two teenagers who haven't been in a serious relationship before, they don't have any reference for how to deal with it, and Peter's secret identity means they can't even really talk to anyone about it, much less a qualified therapist.
*** Kingpin pulls a KarmaHoudini multiple times just by pulling a few strings. As it turns out, bringing down a mob requires a little more than just punching bad guys in the face. And just to top it off, he promptly copyrights Spider-Man's image and makes him into a merchandising tool. After all, [[CutLexLuthorACheck that guy who keeps a secret identity isn't willing or able to expose his identity by laying down a patent on his costume, let alone raising a lawsuit or complaint]].
*** Likewise, a major Hollywood film is made with Spider-Man as the focus, and to Peter's horror the fact that he has to keep his identity secret means he can't sue, complain, offer input, or even get a royalty check.
*** Kingpin also winds up on the receiving end of this trope as well; if there are vigilantes operating outside the law in New York, eventually they'll get sick of a KarmaHoudini always getting off on technicalities. When Daredevil assembles various super-heroes to discuss how to handle the Kingpin, Peter actually has to talk the group out of outright ''murdering'' Fisk. Later in the same book Kingpin blows up Matt Murdock's law office, smug in the knowledge that there's no way to prove he did it... Only for Daredevil to break into his home and threaten to very nearly murder his wife. [[spoiler: Eventually, Fisk winds up casually and unceremoniously killed because he caught the attention of an ACTUAL super-villain who didn't give a toss about his KarmaHoudini status.]]
*** Shocker is a deconstruction of the HarmlessVillain trope. [[spoiler: His ButtMonkey abuse ends up causing him to snap and horrifically torture Spider-Man. It's all but explicitly said that Spider-Man's constant fights with him have wrecked his mental state beyond repair.]]
*** Punisher isn't portrayed as an AntiHero of any sort, he's shown to be exactly what you would expect a man who dresses in skull attire and shoots up criminals to be; a complete psychopath with little to no self-control who does more harm than good.
*** Spider-Man ends up with severe emotional and mental scarring from all the traumatic stuff he experiences. Daredevil notes repeatedly that this '''really''' isn't the kind of job a down on his luck teen from the suburbs should be getting into.
*** J Jonah Jameson is also arguably a deconstruction of the complete caricature his 616!counterpart is, and whilst utterly abrasive, has been shown to be an objective newsman with incredibly strong morals.
*** Daredevil gets a much darker portrayal than his 616!counterpart, having no qualms about killing his enemies and even (in the case of [[spoiler: Wilson Fisk]]) holding their loved ones hostage to get to them. His relationship with Spider-Man is also drastically different; instead of being a close ally that respects and even relates to him, Daredevil treats him mostly with disdain and often chews him out for being, in his own opinion, a naive, inexperienced kid with no business fighting crime. While this could be explained as Daredevil wanting to keep a teenager from getting involved in a life he may not be ready for, it doesn't change the fact that he's very much a JerkAss to Peter (to the point of physically ''assaulting'' him on at least one occasion) and goes to extremes that 616 Daredevil would never go to. It goes to show that Daredevil's brand of vigilante justice wouldn't exactly make him the nicest, or ''sanest'' person.

* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates2002''
** The values the "ultimate American hero" had back in World War II would not translate well in the progressed world of today. Captain America's DeliberateValuesDissonance turns him into an outright CowboyCop jerk who thinks every solution to his problems is to beat it up. As cathartic and deserving kicking Hank Pym's ass for his abuse of Janet is, it's still apparent that Cap just assaulted and injured someone without even considering what Janet would've wanted in this situation.
** Being a giant-sized superhero would not actually be useful on a mission like detaining the Hulk in the middle of New York City. Hank Pym is very easily thrown off balance and is quickly taken out when Hulk causes him to fall into a building. His fight against Captain America doesn't get much done either, as the environment around him ends up constricting him and gets used against him resulting in a CurbStompBattle.

** ''ComicBook/MarvelUniverseVsThePunisher'': This could be read as a deconstruction on ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies''. In the MZ titles, the titular zombies don’t actually [[OurZombiesAreDifferent act like zombies]], but rather intelligent cannibals that happen to be undead (who end up conquering their world). This story kinda runs with that idea, showing a mutating HatePlague that simply makes the infected savage maniacs that are easily dealt with. It also demonstrates a better understanding of the heroes; MZ!Mr. Fantastic loses his mind after the death of his children, whereas the Reed of ''this'' world keeps his sanity and helps establish a safe-zone with the surviving heroes.