The thing is, Clark and Superman aren’t contradictions. Clark Kent is what Superman would be if he didn’t have superpowers. Clark is more timid than Superman, more insecure, and more clumsy, but he’s a good man and hard worker, obedient to authority and loyal to his friends, smart and personable.
My point exactly. 
And you said it much more succinctly than I did.
Bah! Me am genius! You am jealous!
Go retro. Use a version of 1938 Superman. Can’t fly. An RPG presents a real threat. Able to run sports car fast. Strong enough to lift a car over his head and pound it into a hillside, but not lift an ocean liner strong.
Set it in one of of those neverwhen milieus where it’s impossible to say exactly when the story is set. BTAS is a good example of that.
In such a story, you can examine what exactly does it mean to be a (somewhat) super hero. How does he use his powers for good? What can he do that isn’t already being done by the police et. al.
Actually, it’d be fun to have it set in the late 1930’s. A period piece.
I think they should get Rosenbaum to play Lex in the next movie, he’s perfect at it.
I’d like a Superman where Lex Luthor is actually a billionare dabbling in politics (ala one or more NYC Mayors) all around smart and powerful guy, NOT a cartoonish buffoon or small time thug with cartoonish henchmen, like all of the previous movies.
Then throw in another villain who is also able to challenge Superman, on both an intellectual level and on another level - either through physical power or through other means. This villain has to be the true threat, and working in concert with Lex Luthor.
Both villains think they are playing the other. The second villain playing Luthor to gain power and establish a position on Earth, Luthor thinking that he is playing that villain to increase his own power and be rid of Superman, who he views as his ultimate nemesis.
No comic relief. No silly plots. No kryptonite. No logic or plot holes large enough to throw a planet through.
Hell, make the enemy be a version of Brainiac that is actually merely the lead element of an invasion by the real Brainiac Armada. Lex thinks he’s using it to get advanced technical knowledge, Brainiac is using Lex to get access to the best facilities we have on Earth to infiltrate them and gain control from the inside so that Earth will not be able to defend itself. You can walk down the Borg/Cybermen path with that one, with people being taken over by Brainiac (or whatever you choose to call it) or you can go with the “intelligent program/terminator” model with it being just machines and/or programs.
The real challenge for that being that Superman cannot be everywhere at once, and/or how does he handle HUMANS that have been taken over against their will.
The challenge for the film maker being that the ending can’t be a Deus Ex Machina where Superman has only to destroy a “master chip” or get someone to write a counter-virus.
And it sets up it’s own continuation as there will always be one or more components that they don’t manage to track down and destroy.
The cheesy “Brainiac” name is easy to get past. Just let that be a nickname the tabloids give the character, and give him another “true” name.