I honestly don't know what to think about some of these rumors. While all these character sound cool and would make me ecstatic...it all seems too good to be true.
We're two months away from release, with the inevitable game preload making character reveal windows even shorter than that. For me personally, I just don't see there being that many characters left. If all these rumors prove true, then that means there are at least four unique newcomers plus Echos left still waiting to be shown off. The big problem is when do you show them? There is most likely a final Smash Direct left, but even with that characters aren't the only things to go over: We still have things like Spirits, online, and Games & More to cover. While I'm neutral on some of the theories about how many characters are left floating around right now, I do think the mindset that there are only about two uniques left is pretty close to what we're gonna get.
Sora and Steve for base game is a little too out there for me, TBH. Both would be GIGANTIC grabs for the game, and I just don't see us having a ton of 3rd party stuff left. Is it possible? Sure, anything is, but I really don't think we should assume these two are in, especially when there's currently no ironclad proof. All Steve has is a "maybe" from Verge and Sora's situation is, in my opinion, 99% likely to be a misunderstanding. 3rd party content is already a huge legal nightmare to begin with, and with the insane amount of 3rd parties we already have, I just don't see us getting a ton more at this point. Sora especially has a lot of hoops to jump through to make it work, and I don't know if Nintendo is gonna be willing to make it work. Steve IMO is probably the more likely of the two, but even then I still kinda doubt it. It's not that I don't think it would work (Steve would actually fit wonderfully in Smash), it's mainly the timing. Minecraft didn't start getting major Nintendo support until the end of the Wii U's life, which could very well hurt it's chances given when this game's project plan was submitted.
Geno...I'm not gonna lie, this feels like a "K. Rool is a lock for Smash DLC" all over again. I've even been thinking he's a lock these past few months, but in all honesty, I'm not sure that's the best approach to take with Geno. Geno has a following, that much is certain, but they are definitely a smaller, niche following. K. Rool has the benefit of being a part of the DKC series, which was huge back in the day and has had a super successful comeback thanks to Retro Studios. Even if K. Rool han't currently made a comeback in the new games, he still has that benefit of being associated with them. Geno is in a bit of a more tricky situation: Yes, Super Mario RPG is popular and considered a classic, but it still is comparatively a niche game, especially when you consider how long it took for it to hit European markets. Another thing too is unless your were really into the game, most people probably aren't gonna remember Geno. A big red flag for me is the fact that his cameo was removed from the recent Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga remake on 3DS, which to me kinda shows Nintendo isn't interested in hashing out the rights with Square (who are known to be super stingy with their property). Don't get me wrong, I would love to be wrong as I know his inclusion would make a lot of folks happy, but TBH I am a little doubtful it's as certain as some believe it to be.
Of course, these are just simply my silly thoughts on the matter. I very well could be wrong and would love to be, as these characters sound amazing and would bring a ton of hype. Hopefully no matter what happens, people can get something that makes them happy.
