Probably a weird take, but; I think there's a lot of potential in handling DLC less on an individual basis, and instead doing a neat mix between those and what I'll call "multi-packs". That is - DLC characters who're in some way thematically connected, whether it be just that they're from the same game or series, that they're from similar types of games or have similar vibes, or even just have some other more unusual connection to them.
(Think akin to how there's been combo Amiibo packs in the past, like Alm & Cecila or Samus & E.M.M.I - or akin to some of MVS's Season One marketing that paired up Black Adam and Stripe.) Obviously, there'd be a lot of situations where singular "packs" would work way better, and I wouldn't outright get rid of them - but something like a "duo pack" of characters connected like this could be really cool here and there. Then, obviously you should be able to purchase them seperately, too.
This is honestly something I've been thinking about too. A lot of it pertaining to who actually does or doesn't make it back, I think there are a few interesting ways of handing "themed" or series packs in regard to pairing new and old content.
As an example, let's say the FF crew do get cut. What if they got brought back as a pair or even as a trio with the addition of Tifa for an FF7 fighters pack as opposed to just being a solo cloud or sephiroth + their respective stages pack.
You could have a pack that's just veterans and maybe even have multiple based on each depending on the number of cuts. If they try to be even handed perhaps a Melee pack that includes
a Brawl pack with
and so on.
I do think this makes more sense to do with first parties if they intend to mix franchises whereas third parties would likely need to be single IP or single company if allowed.
For third parties, I think it'd be neat to do stuff like a full-on KOF team (Kyo, Iori and a returning Terry or someone like Athena if he makes base roster) as a DLC pack but that'd also require licensing a lot more characters than usual so it's probably not likely.
The only other situation where I think this could be done pretty easily is if they actually gave some DLC characters echo fighters. Then you'd just be pairing the main fighter and packaging in their echo as a bonus.
In the unlikely event of Sonic not making it back in base, I think that'd be the perfect opportunity to make a Sonic & Knuckles pack if they choose to do pairs.
