I was going to mention Smallville! The makers of it were told "no tights, no flights". And that was before the MCU and superhero oversaturation/fatigue! I actually agree that this led to creative writing early in the show as they kept him very grounded.

But I think a lot of people (myself included) wanted to watch Clark become Superman, especially after watching the show for years. Him and his friends went up against increasingly powerful antagonists and plots but his own character progression just seemed stagnant as he ran along the ground and threw the latest "monster of the week" into some scenery. Again and again...