The Matoran were one of the main things that shaped Bionicle into Bionicle.
They were not powerful, they lived simple lives. They may have needed help at times but when they banded together they could overcome odds almost as well as a Toa.
I really don’t think the Protectors are replacing the Matoran. I just think they are giving us characters with more combat potential this wave and the next small canisters will be Matoran.
I do think that no Matoran would be a huge detractor to the wave.
as a Reboot I’d love to see Jaller again cause he was my first bionicle and my favourite matoran but thats probably later in the future years.
When referring to 2001, I still call them tohunga. But yeah, I hope the Toa aren’t going to be the only dynamic characters in this reboot. I know Lego wants Bionicle to be simple but children aren’t stupid.
I wonder what the Chronicler’s Company would look like as the new villagers. It’s a shame that the villagers don’t have different masks even though I like the mask they have.
Edited for Double Post - WajKnight
I Hope they wont be the hero factory minfigs but reskinned to be bionicle like