To those who still want Supes to be a boy scout: is there room in this world for that anymore? I mean, would anyone pay to see that movie? I imagine some strapping 50s stereotype telling me to stay in school and eat my Wheaties would be a really lame movie. The world has moved on. It's a much more cynical, jaded place. Nobody who can read actually thinks the words "truth, justice, and the American Way" unironically belong together anymore. Old-school nice guy Supes would be a catastrophically cornball box office bomb, and rightly so.
I would because that is Superman to me throughout my whole life. There is always room for someone who can do good for mankind. It's fine that the world is more jaded and cynical place. I'm not asking that he states "Truth, Justice, and the American Way." However, I would expect that his words and actions stand for truth and justice and that high road approach he's always seemed to hold to himself.
I love that Marvel at least lets the characters be who they are despite what people think of them who inhabit the world with them. They show all that speculation and opinions of the people in the background, but what's at the forefront of the stories are what is happening TO their world where they are desperately needed despite the psychological side of why they should/shouldn't be here. It was stated in The Avengers that they were there to fight the battles they (the people) couldn't. Earth's mightiest heroes. Yeah people are gonna be both pissed off and happy of their existence on both ends of the spectrum, but at the core there's stuff happening bigger than them (the people) that they cannot fend off.
Whether the people love him or hate him, the world obviously NEEDED Superman, or Zod and his people would have destroyed Earth. There wasn't a force on our planet that could have stopped them from it either, and no one can refute that their very existence hinged on whether Superman could stop Zod's people or not. Given yes, if he wasn't there to begin with, Earth might have been completely bypassed as a target, I get that. Could have would have should have... It is what it is and with all that has happened they definitely need him now.