10 Things Man Of Steel 2 Needs To Be Great
2. A Villain Who Takes More Than Punching
In all three of his DCEU films so far, Superman has gone up against villains who essentially had the same powerset as himself. Zod was another Kryptonian, Doomsday was just an uglier version of the same Kryptonian, and Steppenwolf's powers were just being able to hit things and look like really bad CGI (I guess?).
The point being, Man of Steel 2 needs a villain that challenges Superman is a less physical way. Everyone and their mother knows Superman can punch really hard. But what happens when he's pushed to his absolute mental limits by a villain who outsmarts him?
Superman lore is chock-full of villains like this (Lex Luthor, Brainiac, etc.) because the comic writers learned the lesson early on that the thrill of watching a man punch another man real hard will only carry you so far. The best Superman stories feature villains who force Superman to make terrible choices that not even his powers can fix the casualties of.
This also leaves room for a much more thrilling and cinematic villain, whose intentions and motivations are more compelling than just 'destroy the world'. Hopefully.