we absolutely need a "occidental" guy,.Johnny cage plays this role perfectly.
for what i know also Gears of War is dark,gritty and serious,but Phoenix,Gus or baird never refuse to make some silly comment or some good gag.Some times they act like comic relief characters.
so i think that we NEED a half serious/half comic character,and Johnny cage is perfect to fit this role.
otherwise we risk to have another boring game fukl of character with classic concept..all the same oriental style guys,blond,cute and big breasted girls,the same old crap militar muscular hunk,the killer,the monster,etc...
another boring Game like Soul calibur 3.
if they don't want to bring back johny,at least make some other character similar to him...and i want the split punch back!!!!!!!!

I honestly think the next game will be like MK: the Next Generation and not have any returning characters (except for that ninja who wears bright yellow which no ninja would be caught dead wearing dude and any immortals out there). I see a brand new character calling himself Sub-Zero and such. Perhaps we'll see Jimmy Cage or something like that--a kid of his, but I doubt we'll actually see him.

Does anyone remember the last Fight Night Chat, when Queve asked why Sonya's flying punch move and Cage's Low Blow (Come on, it's cooler to call it that! Split Punch is so lame) weren't re-added like some of the other character's moves were? Boon said they changed their emphasis (here he was half-lying, as they did it for DA and were too lazy to re-add moves to non-Deception or new characters for Armageddon--look at teleporting moves' return in Deception for evidence of this) and didn't want certain types of moves in, but he said 'not to worry' about Sonya's move as 'I'm sure you'll see it again in the future.' Now, that made me think that Sonya or a Sonya-like character will be in the game, or MK 9 or 10. HOWEVER, when he spoke of Cage's move he merely said 'I can't remember why Cage's Split Punch' (yuck) 'was removed. I wish he still had it.' That tells me we're through seeing him, and that means I'm through buying MK games. (More on this in the next paragraph) I really hate it when a series abandons it's roots, and I really, really don't think that this new approach is a good idea, but, hey, that's just me.

Anyways, I have way less disposable income than I used to, and thus have zero intention of buying this game, or any game for the concievable future that I'm not 100% satisfied with... the only way I will is if it pleases me by adding my favorite characters... which I don't see happening. I was a proud Midway supporter in the past, buying their games when they came out rather than waiting for 'em to hit the bargain bin like I usually do, but that's not happening anymore. MK may be starting a new era, and I wish 'em well... but they'll likely be doing so without me.