Quote Originally Posted by Nero View Post
What makes a good Superman villain is to make the antagonist just a good villain in general.

1. The villain needs to look cool (and let's be honest, the same rule also applies to the protagonist): It's not a coincidence that villains that have a striking appearance often are utilized more sufficiently usually due to marketing. The look is the first thing that's obviously going to be noticed and if it connects, it's going to further warrant the attention of the observer. Case in point, when I first saw Conduit (who should have returned by now), it made me want to learn more about him thus I followed whichever Superman comics that featured him.

2. There needs to be a stronger connection between Superman and the villain besides "good vs evil": To prevent the villain from being forgettable, the villain needs to make things personal with Superman. The villain has to find a way to not only get inside Superman's head but also create a long lasting impression once they're in there. Luthor does that by the way he controls Metropolis. Brainiac does that through his experiments. Zod does that by the way he uses Kryptonian ancestry as a weapon. For an example, having a villain attempt to drive Superman insane in an attempt to break him from within stands a better chance of cementing that villain in the rogues gallery than just simply showing up and getting into a physical altercation with Superman.

3. More Boss, Less Stooge: Make it to where the villain is able to stand on their own merits. If the goal especially is to spotlight the villain in his or her entirety then having them share the spotlight with more established villains by working for them will take away from that. You have a better chance of emphasizing that the villain is their own man (or woman) by acting more independent.
This also goes a long ways towards explaining why some characters are basically future sidekick fodder. They're Supers who really don't actually pose much of a threat, not because they lack power, but because they're not using that power to BE a threat.