1. The primary reason for switching to realtime combat was for play balance. In SEIV, the turnbased nature of combat gives a HUGE advantage to whoever gets to shoot first, which is usually determined pretty much randomly. Most of the concerns I've heard about the realtime combat issue are that it would degenerate into a rapid clickfest with little actual strategy. I'm not in the beta (yet) so I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty certain it will be realtime with pausing - take all the time you need to issue orders, then watch them executed in realtime for either a set time or until someone hits pause - so that's not likely to happen.
2. Yes, all we had heard for a long time indicated that ground combat would be just as simplified as it is in SEIV. Then
this screenshot got posted.
3. "Heroes" or "Great Leaders" or whatever you want to call them were one of the most liked features of the MoO series, and they have been requested for SE many times by many people. I'm afraid you're outvoted on this one. Besides, even in a gigantic empire with 100 billion citizens, surely there are a few individuals who have developed a widespread reputation as one of the best at their job, whether their job is fleet command or new colony development.