I'm not upset. Stories happen. I'm more annoyed at the change in tone from the second game than i am by plot points like a character or two getting bumped. That said, it's a bit of a shame because Gat was the most charismatic character of the series, and Shaundi was pretty much No Fun Nancy through the whole game. Frankly, i'd rather see her just... go away than stick around with her sr3 personality.
You want my hopes? I hope Volition gets sold to Zenimax, they start to promote the modding community, and the fourth game has more of Saints Row 2's tone in story. Remember the courtroom cutscene at the beginning, in which Gat shows us that he's the most charismatic? Remember his choreographed fight with Jyunichi? Remember the showdown with Kazuo Akuji in the cemetery? Remember how scary Maero was when he was angry, and how he could match the protagonist in a physical bout? (I'm pretty sure the protagonist is canonically acknowledged as super-human; i mean, in the first game, he survives a gunshot, with no medical treatment. Come on.)
The second game was dark compared to the third. I want that back. The price of failure for the Samedi, burying Akuji alive, and of course the escalating war of brutality between the Brotherhood and the Saints that i doubt i even need to describe.