The Superman arc What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way? is a deconstruction of the "violent superhero", or the idea that superheroes have to be violent and murderous to be realistic, and that they should kill their enemies. It shows that Superman isn't stupid because he follows moral codes. He has considered breaking them, but he decided that would be wrong. He has all the power in the world, and yet he choses to use them for good, while the Elites, the antagonists of the comic, have all the same powers and chose to use them to act like tyrants and petty murderers instead, all the while claiming moral superiority because they hurt bad guys.
Superman: American Alien: Clark's Adaptational Personality Change actually makes him a strange deconstruction of Superman in the 70s and early 80s, who was often portrayed as yearning for Krypton and wishing he had never been sent to Earth. Here this is shown to have made him insensitive to the feelings of his friends and family, and his almost single minded focus in trying to attract the attention of other Kyptonians by being Superman and wearing his symbol means he is paying little attention to how he affects the world.
Superman: Red Son: The story acts as a rebuttal to the oft repeated criticism that Superman doesn't use his powers to fix the world's problems; using an alternate reality to explore what would happen if Superman actually did try to do this: At the helm of Soviet Russia, Superman almost completely eradicates crime and poverty, spreading this prosperity to most of the rest of the world. However, in the process he becomes a totalitarian dictator that lobotomizes dissidents and reprograms them into obedient drones. As a result, there is no individual liberty under his rule.
These two comic story arcs below deconstruct Lex Luthor as a character.
The Black Ring : Of Lex Luthor himself. He claims he wants to save humanity from Superman and other superheroes who are keeping mankind back. Some of the other villains don't seem to buy it. Through the entire arc it is shown that Luthor does not have humanity's best interests at heart despite his lofty goals; he is only after power and has an intense dislike for authority other than his own but insists, even to himself, that he is the hero of the story. Yet he allows people to get killed as pawns, shoots an employee so that he can't be used against him as a hostage and whenever anyone turns their back on him he flips out. He does not believe that Superman empathizes with humanity at all and it is possible he's projecting this trait on Superman. Darkseid says he only wants to rule others and be "the biggest fish". Brainiac outright states that he is doing it for power and mocks his lack of introspection. Even Superman is surprised that Luthor's first act as a physical god is to come after him. Only the Joker believed he had any real potential to do good and feared this as he needs to believe that life is pain and has no meaning. Superman and Mr Mind attempt to reason with him by appealing to his desire to do good but his need to destroy Superman destroys his chances to do any real good as he promised himself he would. All this underscores just how much of a wasted opportunity Lex Luthor's life was. Mr Mind's parting words are more than apt: "I'll leave you to your tragedy."
Lex Luthor: Man of Steel: Throughout the story, in his narration Luthor attempts to deconstruct Superman, attempting to present him as a potential threat to humanity. However, it's actually one of Luthor himself, as the comic clearly demonstrates that, even if we can take his talk about the dangers posed by Superman seriously, he's ultimately become so totally obsessed with defeating Superman for his own ego that he voluntarily undermines any good he does or benevolence towards humanity he supposedly has. The clearest illustration of this is the fact that, for all Luthor's grand speeches about the potential of humanity and how it needs to be protected and nurtured from Superman's negative influence, he ultimately destroys the two clearest examples of said potential presented in the story the Science Spire and Hope for an ultimately petty reason: he's just trying to damage Superman's reputation in the minds of the people of Metropolis by appealing to their darker impulses.
Supergirl (1996): The opening arc of this run climaxed with a deconstruction on the type of superheroes who killed, and why making Supergirl into such a character would not work. When Matrix has decided holding onto morality and goodness and trying to do the right thing aren't worth it anymore after Buzz and Tempus murder Fred and Sylvia Danvers, she's on the verge of murdering Tempus when Buzz asks her if she believes this is truly how she wants to live her life, the way Linda did before she died. Matrix relents and realizes justifying murder and evil for the sake of vengeance and justice doesn't make those actions any less evil.
Films
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Similar to what Lois did in Man of Steel, Lex Luthor is smart enough to follow the chain of clues to figure out Superman was Clark Kent long ago. The smartest man in the world is NOT fooled by Clark Kenting. Neither was he fooled by Bruce Wayne being a Upper-Class Twit.
Batman gets this in regards to how much torment a normal person can handle. After 20 years of crimefighting with no sabbatical, an ever-increasing crime wave and a dead sidekick, Batman has come a long way from the younger and idealistic vigilante audiences are used to.
The concept of the superhero vs superhero fight gets examined and deconstructed as well, shown as how it would theoretically happen in reality rather than glorifying it. it's ugly and brutal, and it's made clear neither participant is enjoying having to battle each other, Batman deems it necessary (even if for misguided reasons) to kill Superman before he gets the chance to snap and kill the entirety of humanity, while Superman comes to apologize for his own misdeeds and arrogance in their costumed first face-to-face meeting, as well as ask Batman for help in saving his mother.
The 2012 straight to DVD animated feature Superman vs. the Elite, based on the story What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, And The American Way? deconstructs both sides of the no killing vs. pro-killing ideologies that bedevil the more mainstream superheroes as well as their anti-hero counterparts. In the first half we see a deconstruction of Superman's no killing rule by seeing what happens when you aren't willing to get your hands dirty protecting the innocent. In the second half we see a deconstruction of "shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out" ideology of the Elite (themselves a deconstruction and mock up of '90s Anti-Heroes) by showing what happens when people become too kill-crazy and can no longer differentiate when to kill and when not to.
Additionally, it also deconstructs the idea of Beware the Superman. The Elite are more than happy to off any criminals they deem fit, finding that Superman is weak-willed for refusing to cross any lines and letting criminals keep coming back to cause harm rather than offing them for good. Superman holds steadfast in his beliefs, but eventually, the Elite get out of hand, and he stops holding back. In doing so, he causes all of them, Manchester Black included, to become scared shitless at seeing exactly what happens when the ideal, all-loving hero stops holding back. When a being with all that power decides he gets to play judge, jury, and executioner on the world, everyone becomes terrified beyond belief. Of course, this is a deliberate act on Superman's part, as he staged much of this to show exactly why the Elite's methods won't work, but it's still worth noting the terrifying prospect that he could (and in some cases, did) go bad could have some drastic consequences for the world.
