The F-35 is not an air superiority fighter, it is a strike fighter that was designed to do the ground attack job the F-117 stealth fighter was responsible for but to still have air to air capabilities at parity with the F-16..
Think of the F-35 as an F-117 with much improved low observables, supersonic speed and the air to air capability of the F-16.
It is not an F-22, nor was it ever designed to do the job the F-22 does. It does, however, do many things the F-22 cannot.
“supersonic speed”
In all of the news articles that I have read, the F-35 is not supersonic-capable or did I read those reports wrongly?
Yes, sort of The F-35 is not a fighter. It’s a stealthy light attack aircraft in the lineage of the A-4, A-7, AV-8. I’m not sure I’d compare it to the F-117 which was, mostly, a one trick pony aircraft designed for a very limited mission profile (stealth penetration against high value targets) and intended to get a decent stealth capability into squadron-level service as quickly as possible.