Well sure there is. But you accuse him of using that style with "contempt for the characters" which honestly makes it sound like you have some sort of personal problem with the man.
Have you ever met him? I have. And he didn't at all strike me as the kind of guy who sits at his computer, cackling evilly, and wringing his hands together while he contemplates which character he's going to kill off next because of some sort of "contempt" he has for the characters and industry.
He sure likes slaughtering characters, is all. Would be throw a hissy fit if in three years time someone wanted to make their generic story seem better and their poorly written menace of the month look more dangerous by icing Jessica Jones for no reason other than because they can? Or is Bendis the Scarface of Marvel Comics, a writer whose sandbox, it is quietly understood, is off limits?
What does it take for Bendis to hear the word no? When he tries to make X-Men villains more included with the rest of Marvel, because X-isolation is a grandfather clause at Marvel.
I'm never thrilled at solicitations saying Bendis has some character on the chopping block.
This is the big payoff, at least according to Bendis, so i'm doubting he will kill any heroes. This is where the heroes rally back, not die off and enrage fans. I think if anything a villain will die. I would love to see Norman get iced mid-story, thus revaling Loki as the puppet master all along.
To give the benefit of the doubt, a "casualty" in terms of military speak can also mean an injured soldier or combatant.
I can imagine SIEGE going like this; the heroes all fail. A villain, likely Dr. Doom or Loki, take Osborn out and go, "BWAHAHAHA! You heroes are useless whiners! See you next event!" and then Marvel goes, "whoops, fooled you! Prepare for
DARK SECRET LOKI WAR INVASION OF M, the Marvel Event of 2011, just in time for the THOR film!"
But, I'm just cynical.
Honestly, I felt the pacing for an issue of this length was all off. It moved quickly, which was great, and definitely unusual for Brian Molasses Bendis, but the issue itself was the length of a regular issue, and all those extra pages I was so excited for turned out to be a preview for an issue of "Hulk" and the transcript of a Dark Avengers meeting that I had absolutely no interest in reading (but did anyway). If you are going to do a story of this magnitude in four issues, those four issues need to be longer. Otherwise, I'm not opposed to a story being stretched out (as long as something happens in each issue).
To be fair, SIEGE will be the shortest event mini Bendis has written in years. Even if you include THE CABAL one shot, it's only 5 issues. Even if Marvel pulls a REBORN and adds an issue, that would only stretch it to 6. Bendis has been working 7-8 issue mini's for years. SIEGE, despite also writing or co-writing 3-4 ongoing titles that tie into it, is his shortest event in years. I'd imagine that even if you think he's brilliant, he'll have to adjust his pace to compensate.
And, also to be fair, SIEGE #1 wasn't bad. But Bendis events never, or rarely, start as bad as they're going to get. They usually muddle, and then devolve into feces.
Yeah, SIEGE #1 wasn't worth $4. Unless you like glossy covers, and feel Marvel deserves your money. But, frankly, many Marvel events were not worth $4 an issue...or even $3.
" as opposed to every other time going "Ugh, the Sentry.....again 
"
