a challenge or undermining of a systemic authority.
so in that way, the clone saga wouldn't be subversive (to me) since it was really about replacing one system with another as familiar as possible, a streamlined version of the existing paradigm. it doubled down on all the same constructs.
there can be overlap with some of the other stuff being discussed here, but reinvention, swerves, twists, retcons, reinterpretation, modernising, revamps, heel turns, bait and switch etc aren't subversive per se. they might be tools of subversion, but using them doesn't necessarily lead to it