Nathan

Honestly I think it would be wiser if ME4, if it is in fact a continuation of the story of Commander Shepherd in any form, kept at least a few of those old companions and carried on their stories. If they hadn't biffed it so hard with Veilguard and doing a poor job at a soft reboot there it might be different, but they are more pigeon-holed than they probably realize. And I get there are people who are into the new Dragon Age game, but they aren't the majority.

That said, even if this article had any bearing on the planned story for ME4, there are several characters that easily slot into any story they could design. Garrus, Tali, Grunt, Miranda, Liara, Jack, Kasumi, maybe even Samara, and for better or worse Jacob are all malleable enough in character to be able to be taken just about anywhere the story could go. Assuming these characters survived the playthroughs. Which is another important thing.