Superman, at least on tv and film has always been an optimistic positive view of the world. In other words, it's not Batman. Sure, you might get mugged in Metropolis, but odds are you're more likely to get mugged in Gotham in broad daylight.
I don't expect fidelity to the Reeve films, even though I liked SR, but making Supes dark is a calculated risk. Interesting that we got two iconic genre villains rehashed in the same summer.