Feige seems to misunderstand the term "comical".
It's fairly obvious to everyone that the reason behind this lack of a "dark tone" is to benefit profits and stay "kid-friendly". Feige doesn't seem to realize the audience is getting older, we aren't kids anymore.
I hate to cite this, but that's something J.K. Rowling did incredibly well. Her stories got increasingly more mature, as her readers did as well. The movies followed this tone, and benefited by being one of the most profitable franchises of all time. Hell, Deathly Hallows was easily the biggest money-maker.
People pay a LOT of money for spectacles, negative or positive, I don't understand how Feige doesn't see that. Let's try looking at this from a moneymaking standpoint. Think about when MJ or Williams died, those were real life examples, but hear me out. Some people prefer to respect their family's privacy, others will pay through the nose for arial views of their homes. These are fictional characters, their deaths will be much easier to swallow, and they won't need privacy.
Remember Amazing Spiderman 2? I'm going to get into a lot of spoilers, so consider yourself warned. Here's another warning. And another.
People noticed in previews that Gwen Stacey was wearing her "death outfit" from the comics. In fact, I bought a ticket almost solely to see if it happened, and low and behold it was one of the best parts of the movie.
If Iron Man, Cap, Thor or Hulk died in a movie, people would pay to see it. The only problem is, it's like throwing all your eggs into one basket. You bank on making all your money now instead of later. You make a $1 billion movie instead of 3 $350k movies. People like something different, you just have to be willing to break the mold.
If Mad Max does well this weekend, and we know it will, it may spur Hollywood to churn out post-apocalyptic remakes, but it might spur them to take some god damned risks. We need to show Hollywood that they can't please everyone. You might end up with a financial bomb like Scott Pilgrim, but you'll end up with a cult classic. Do you want to make art, or make money? Trick question, art makes money.
It's like Bane says in TDKR (paraphrasing) "You can't have true despair without hope." Guess what? The reverse is true too. You can't have true happiness without despair. Otherwise, what can you compare it to?