2. There Are No Stakes In Any Of His Battles
This entry can be discussed in two ways. The first is the fact that Superman has no physical stakes in any of his battles but also no emotional or moral stakes to compliment that. Sure, it's a great deal of fun to watch things blow up in brilliantly choreographed set pieces but it rings hollow if there is no payoff emotionally. Whenever Superman has to defeat an enemy we already know he's going to win but the real question is what it will all mean for him to win? What will he have to sacrifice to win? The problem isn't that the audience knows the outcome of the battle. That much is a given. The hero has to win but it's why they have to win that is so exciting to watch. When Batman defeats The Joker he is proving the inherent goodness in humanity, which is something he fights to protect. He is also stopping The Joker from continuing his reign of terror because he has lost Rachel. This gives Bruce Wayne a moral stance in the fight as well as an emotional one. Whenever Superman fights Lex Luthor or Zod he is fighting to save the city because it's the right thing to do and he wants to save Lois. As I mentioned earlier, there are no stakes even if Lois is involved. If she dies he'll just reverse the Earth's rotation and still end up saving her. There are no stakes because we obviously know he's going to win but that excitement of why he has to win is missing. Superman has no grand moral stance or emotional affiliation to make his heroics anything other than hollow and predictable.