The best thing to come from Superman is Lex Luther. No villain can go toe to toe with Supes, except maybe Doomsday, but does he really count as a villain? Mindless kill machine. Anyway, Lex has to beat Superman who can punch him into mist, or roast him by looking at him too hard, or literally blow him to the moon. How do you write a villain to counter that? By making them cunning and lovable to the public so that if Superman does any of those things, the public turns against him. Superman’s weakness isn’t only kryptonite, he craves social acceptance, if he didn’t he would just punch his way into being in charge and dare anyone to stop him. Lex gets how razor thin that edge is and takes full advantage.