I haven't read the comics yet, but I heard he did regain his humanity, that he learned to "tame the demon inside" or something like that?
I think it's a welcome change on paper. I am interested to see how that plays into the story. But I'm all for changing up some things, and the idea is a welcome change to me.
Yeah, MK without Scorpion/Sub-Zero is bold, daring and probably pretty stupid in a business sense. MK3 didn't have Scorpion (supposedly due to legal issues with Daniel Pesina, and so they wanted to stick it to him) and people complained and then we got UMK3.
If they ever released another MK without one or the other, the fanbase would be totally up in arms. I for one would be very disappointed. I say just mix up their look and we'll be good to go.
But then again, with so much I've read how people are like "where is so and so, I don't care if so and so isn't in it", the fanbase is very particular about their favorite characters. NRS knows this and I like that they're mixing things up with MKX and finally bringing in new characters. Though, I will be honest, I really question some decisions, like including Johnny Cage, Sonya AND Cassie Cage. I was ok with Cassie being a mix of the two, but having all three seems really weird to me. I hope they can differentiate the characters enough to where it doesn't feel like copycats.