I kinda want to buy Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but...

You know, I'm not the world's biggest fighting game fan, but I have been known to enjoy them. I've put countless hours into games like Smash Bros and Soul Calibur II, but no fighting game has caught my interest since 2008 (when Soul Calibur IV and Brawl came out).  
 
Meanwhile, I've seen all sorts of videos and things for Marvel vs Capcom 3, and the game looks like it could be really fun. It's also filled with great characters from Marvel and Capcom (and a bunch I've never heard of, but that's beside the point), so that's really cool too. 
 
Trouble is, I've never actually played a Marvel vs Capcom game. And I can't really justify buying a fighting game unless I know that I'm going to enjoy playing it, especially since most fighting games are pretty light when it comes to things to do (it's mostly just an arcade mode, and local/online multiplayer).  
 
Now, normally, this wouldn't be a problem, because most high profile games these days have some sort of demo put up around the time of release, but there isn't going to be a demo. I completely understand why there isn't going to be a demo (financial/time constraints), but unless I can play the game before buying it, Capcom's losing a sale from me, and probably a bunch more from other people. In the grand scheme of things, it likely won't hurt sales much, but it still saddens me a little.  
 
Of course, if I know someone who buys it, I can just try out their copy, but I have no clue if anyone I know is going to buy it. So I can't really rely on that. Oh well. Maybe they'll put one up half a year later like with Modern Warfare 2.  
 
But there's a bigger problem with Marvel vs Capcom 3. Something that no number of demos could fix.
 
Frank West. Or rather, a lack of him. Now, this game is coming out next month, and Frank has not been confirmed as a playable character. Now, unless he's going to be some sort of last minute reveal, he isn't in the game. And after he was in Tatsunoko vs Capcom (US version, anyway), and after a bunch of obscure Marvel/Capcom characters that no one really cares about were put into MVC3 (She Hulk, for example), I can't really understand why Frank wouldn't be in there. He's covered wars, you know!  
 
Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if he was some sort of DLC character, but that would really suck. I mean, if I bought the game, I'd want to play as Frank, but if I had to pay extra money, I'd be really hesitant, especially since it'll probably be five bucks or something ridiculous like that.  
 
Oh well. Anyone else out there uneasy about MVC3, or does everyone already know whether or not they like those games? What about Frank West? Anyone else outraged at the lack of him? Who else is going to cover those wars?! 
 
Update: After getting some great responses, I've come to the conclusion that downloading the demo for the MvC2 demo is going to be my first step. And hopefully I'll be able to get a decent deal on the full game, and I'll probably end up getting the game at some point (unless I really hate MvC2, or MvC3 itself if I can find someone who does own it).