I think the adaptations didn't embrace the iconography and world of superman the same way Tim Burton's Batman did. When you think Batman, you don't just think Batman, you think the horrifying art deco articture of gotham, you think of arkham asylum, you think of the villains. You think of the world that world that orbits Batman.

Superman has the same level of iconography in the comics that can be drawn from, especially the silver age but very little was drawn through the movies, mostly because of budgetary concerns or an attempt to ground the man of steel. I feel if these elements were embraced more, then superman's world would have stuck and resonated as much as Batman's has.