I'd welcome a couple flashbacks at least, if there's no full origin movie. But they'd be proper scenes that have a connection with Clark in the present. There would have to be a good reason in the storyline to use them.
My fave choice would be a glimpse into his highschool life, not mostly sports oriented like in S:TM (the only other bit was his crush on Lana) but a fleshed out scene happening inside the school, perhaps during class. Maybe we could see Clark trying to come to terms with his higher intelligence and how it's dealt with in his daily life. Whether people notice at all that he is exceptionally bright, do professors have any clue beyond simply seeing him as a very good student headed for Uni (one of several at Smallville High I reckon, so he doesn't stand out
that much), etc. I wonder if he'd ever slip, getting a funny/suspicious look from the teacher? Would he ever do it on purpose just to see how far he can go without people noticing? As a form of rebellion maybe? He'd regret it right away and feel bad about it but it would show he's constantly on his guard and that it can be difficult to a kid growing up. Any kid would feel under pressure in the situation.
I can imagine it as either a humourous or sad scene or a little of both. Seeing him having to pretend about his smarts as well as his physical strength would be really interesting. The physical bit is obvious. Sure, I'd love to see it but his smarts shouldn't be overlooked either. To the general audience only familiar with the movies he'd look like a more rounded character that way. Not just someone who's simply super strong.
We also never saw anyone besides his parents actually spotting teenage Clark doing something out of the ordinary, something out of this world that would raise suspicion and maybe even get him into trouble. Something awkward he couldn't just wave away with a joke. I'd love to see how he'd get out of such a mess (and he would have to, obviously, plus "I almost got caught" would serve as a very important lesson to him). Or maybe it could be an "almost" moment where a character's thisss close from blowing Clark's cover. With a proper buildup a scene like this could be pretty "I'm-on-the-edge-of-my-seat" intense.
One of the reasons I'd love them to include a highschool scene is because a lot of non-Superman fans/average movie-goers believe besides the pain of his father dying (S:TM), he's had a wonderfully happy and care-free childhood. Perfect parents, simple farm life, no problems of any kind. They can't relate to that which makes them ignore or even hate the character even more. If the movie showed he had problems like ordinary kids, problems with dating (on top of him worrying constantly he'd break the girl's bones if he hugged her too tight), you name it, it would help the "But he's too happy!" image he seems to have with some (way too many IMO
) folks.
We do see sad moments like that in comics but not everyone reads comics, especially those not in favour of Superman anyway, so the movieverse seems like the only chance to show them his life was far from 100% happy. He's also not just some muscly man that solves everything with fists, he's very clever too. A movie should bring some light to that.
You can still make the character happy and the movie bright and fun to watch with sadder scenes included, you just have to show the audience he is strong enough in personality to overcome his issues and his worries, that despite him being impossibly stronger physically than everyone else or him still searching for that special someone in his life, he is not unhappy. He is dealing with problems on a day to day basis, like everybody else. And that superpowers don't give him a free pass/make life easier for him or make him unrelatable. That's a big issue with some people who dislike him.
If it's shown he can overcome bad things thrown his way on top of his already hectic life
and he still has to deal with everyday things viewers are familiar with, he can be an inspiration to them.
Sorry for the length, the topic's been on my mind for a long time.
