So, I have been looking over the latest story-lines of Marvel, some of which I only became aware of because of drderanged and his posts; here,here and here.  But my exploits on comicvine.com have shed more light on the story.  What I basically took from this was Marvel trying to get an idea from its readers whether they wanted more realistic characters and stories or the more traditional melodrama that most of us are familiar with.  As I have concluded, grim, gritty and realistic won out.  By no means was this about stopping the dangerous slug-fests, those still happen in droves and civilians still die all over the place.  This was about demographics and pandering to violent teens. 
  For an example of the measured grimness factor, here is Robbie Baldwin formerly of the New Warriors known as Speedball.  Speedball was a fun character who overcame his physical and emotional tensions with humor and flippancy.  Below are a few of his incarnations of his powers and costume. 

After Civil War, Robbie is overcome with guilt (he has seen much worse than what happened in the Civil War prelude) and his powers are altered.  Now his powers are ramped up by pain.  He changes his costume to a bondage freak nightmare, as seen below.  He now goes by Penance and is a part of the Thunderbolts. 

This is not the only character that this happened to.  Many other characters that were originally designed for a more humorous approach have also suffered.  Below is Slapstick, a character intended only for unrealistic and silly stories. 
Before Civil War:

After Civil War:

I agree that the old melodrama is a bit stale, but I do not think messing with where Marvel came from is the nest idea either.  Marvel really needs to leave the past in the past and move forward.