#2 A GOOD VILLAIN
Superman Returns suffers from the same problem Star Trek the Motion Picture did -- lack of a real villain. Think about it Superman Returns for a moment... was Lex Luthor really the villain here? Nope. The Kryptonite Island was... and that's just lame.

Lex was a great villain in the original Superman movie and Superman II to some extent, but after that he's just a crazed buffoon. The movie versions are nowhere near as compelling as the cartoon versions of him, where he's truly a great criminal mind.

There's other villains they could throw into the mix too -- Metallo, Braniac, Live Wire, or maybe even Solomon Grundy. There's no need to limit his villains to traditional Superman stories. But could they pull it off? Maybe. It's really fine balancing act when introducing super threats for the man of steel. Superman II did a great job with General Zod and his lackeys, while Superman III proved that a cold heartless robot that fires Nintendo missiles is just stupid.

The writers have a real tough one on their hands, but it's critical they get a good villain for the next movie otherwise they might end up with another lame "Nuclear Man" like they did in Superman IV: The Quest for a Good Script.