If you were asked to consult on a definitive Superman project, what would you say are the main things we have to see.

It could be "All-Star Superman" where we are getting an epic stand-alone story. It could be Morrison's New-52 run where we have 12 plus issues to set up a new continuity. It could be JMS' Earth-One or Man of Steel where we have a single stand-alone story to set up who Superman is. The main point is that at the end of this project you want the audience to know who Superman is and what his universe is like. You want to establish something that no matter what little twists are made the character in the story is Superman and not "generic hero A" or worse yet Hyperion/Shazam/Plutonian/Marvelman/....

I'm not asking for how would you write Superman. Some of us might have ideas we'd love to see incorporated into our own "Ultimate Superman". But I'm trying to see what we as Superman fans think are the beats that if left out start to make the character something other than Superman. The stuff that you see in 90%+ of the Superman stories that you feel are "real" and really note the loss of in the 10% of stuff you feel "really weren't Superman". But do it in a positive way, not a "Earth One/Man of Steel lacked ...." but rather "A Superman story needs to have...."

I'll give a rough example- hopefully some of your responses will either remind me of something I forgot or better yet make me aware of some aspect I never thought of.

1)Superman wanting to be Superman: To me Superman isn't a tragic character. He can have tragedy in his life- losing friends/family, a sense of being different, etc. At the end of the day though Superman is happy with who is. He isn't pining to be an average Joe. He isn't reluctantly putting on the tights. He revels in using his powers. In a lot of the ways he is different he wants people to join him, not to change to join them. He wants you and me to be Super and join him in his adventures.

2)Superman is a hero: Sure there are going to be people who fear a guy with that much power. And there are going to be people who think he is too good to be true. But Superman isn't about fear, he's about hope. He's a champion of the oppressed. He's the savior (not in any religious sense) who comes in when all seems lost. So at worse he is Robin Hood- popular support but officially a vigilante. The best use though is Superman as a guy who is respected by the majority of people from Presidents, to beat cops, to the average person on the street, to kids arguing over who gets to be Superman when they play.

3)Clark Kent: He has to appear. And he has to appear different from Superman. I'm not saying the bumbling clown version is required, but he needs to be something more than Superman when no one is looking. "Clark Kent is who I am, Superman is what I can do" is a nice soundbite, but there needs to be more to both identities than whether he is wearing glasses or a shirt with a big "S" on it. There need to be scenes where Clark does things Superman might never do- whether it be actively pursue Lois, knuckle under to a bully rather than reveal his powers or go out dancing with Diana Prince.
We need to see scenes where Superman is out of costume interacting with friends who have no idea about his powers. Scenes that are more than Jonathan and Martha lecturing a young super-child on morality. We need to see that his life doesn't revolve 24/7 around saving the world. That whether as a teen-ager or as an adult he has experiences the rest of us can relate to, be it waiting in line at the DMV, getting chewed out by his boss, or just hanging out on Friday or Saturday night at a diner or movie. These don't need to be long scenes. They can be worked into set ups for Clark being called away for super-duties, but it is crucial to establish that Superman has a life outside of bring Superman.