Yeah, at this point I don't see them derailing the hype train they've got going. To go from highly requested 'long time no see' characters and interesting all-new characters to Dhalsim... Gief I feel could actually garner some short-term excitement, but I don't see the same happening for Sim. Guile, Boxer, and Sagat are the only last-minute SF2 characters I could see taking those spots, if not Alex and Urien. That's expecting they are going for story importance. (Alpha characters seem like they'd be pretty easy to write back in since they've been absent for so long)For NYCC it's alex or Guile I am almost sure. They are not revealing Zangief or Dhalsim in NYCC. Alex is most likely 99% probability I am sure. Alex's hometown is also NYC. So correction: For NYCC 99.99% chance of Alex and .01% chance of Guile IMO. Any other other gief/sim rumor is just.......rumor or delusional hoping(just like I hope for Guile as launch character).
I also get the feeling there'll be multiple bosses, which makes sense if the plot is a faction war. So Bison will be the boss for some characters/Season 1 if they go that route, Urien another boss/Season 2 if he's DLC, and probably a Shin/"V Has Come To" Necalli. I mean, dude turns Super Saiyan, apparently has a hidden intellect, and eats souls. There's no way a guy that eats souls isn't a boss.
Fiend will be a secret nonplayable boss in arcade mode, unlocked with the first major game updateWell then, there you go. They won't show up without a new character to announce in addition to Laura in BGS.
Also, I really don't think Necalli is the boss because he has been revealed so early. However, Bison soul transferred inside Necalli as the final boss is a possibility. I am of the mindset however that the final boss will be a brand new character whose name is going to be a derivative of Peter "Combofiend" Rosas, for the sake of tradition.