To anyone doubting the huge interest in Kid Icarus, here are some mailbag questions and answers from IGN (shortened to relevent sections):
" Q: Has there been any interest in the Kid Icarus franchise? I know the NES one rocked, but no Gameboy or SNES (would have been perfect) follow up was produced. Any slim chance we'll see Kid Icarus in the future?

A: It may comes as no surprise to you that Kid Icarus is one of three games we ALWAYS ask Miyamoto about when we meet him. The other two are Metroid and Excite Bike" Mar 26, 1999

"Q: In one of your interviews to Denis Dyack, he said he, after Eternal Darkness, wanted to make games more a kin to Metal Gear Solid, and BAM: suddenly he is working in a port of MGS to the Cube. Now, in another interview, he said he would like to see an update to Kid Icarus. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmh.

A: For those unaware, Dyack did recently say in a magazine interview that he would love to see a sequel in the Kid Icarus franchise. Wouldn't that be lovely, though? Right now it's just wishful thinking, but I'll definitely inquire about it later this week." Sep 2, 2003

"Q: What do you think of Kid Icarus coming to the Gamecube? I thought I remember reading about a rumor of it coming out for N64.

A: Kid Icarus is one of those NES classics that ranks right up there with Metroid in terms of gamer popularity and requests for a sequel." Nov 30, 2000

Q: basically asking Matt what games he is looking forward to playing at E3 06.

A: a lot of known games listed then ... "And where is my Kid Icarus sequel? Miyamoto said that he would make it if we wanted it, and we do." Jan 24, 2006

I didn't think they mentioned it was necessarily a Nintendo franchise but I'm too lazy to download the podcast again and listen.  I initially though Mega Man since there are rumors flying that a mainline Mega Man game is in the works for the Wii.  Though I don't know if either of those games really passes the you have to be older than 12 comment.  Unless they mean a good 3D Castlevania game like Castlevania 64 but then 3D Castlevania games did appear on the PS2 and I don't think they are being that narrow in their definition. 

Similarly while we haven't seen a good console mainline Mega Man game in decades it seems there were Mega Man games on the PS2.  I suppose they could mean Mega Man legends but how many gamers would get excited about that (personal note, Mega Man 64 was one of the worst games I've ever played).  If we try to figure out which third party franchise it could be that hasn't been made in years, is something gamers have been asking for, is something to get excited over, and has a known great studio behind it then we'll be here forever.

Well, I hope you're right Albionus. If this is the project that Retro is doing, It'll be very good I'm sure.

No, they didn't say it was a Nintendo franchise, but they did say it was an old franchise being revived by Nintendo.  Nintendo won't be reviving someone else's franchise....

So yes, it's a Nintendo owned IP.  I'm not sure why people think Earthbound is even an option when MOTHER is far from a dead franchise.  I'm also not sure why so many people are anti-Kid Icarus or don't understand how popular that games was/still is with older gamers.  Are you guys just all 18 or under or something?  People who started gaming in the 80s on the NES always remember KI and have been demanding a sequel for many years.

Yeah, I'm putting my money on Pit. He's already getting alot of air time with Smash Bros, and he does seem to fit the bill. Personally I would love it if it was a wii Mother 4, but I'm still waiting for a translation patch for Mother 3 (not to knock the guys working on it, but HURRY UP!).

If retro made a new Kid Icarus with awesome bow and sword combat, Zelda-ish but with far more RPG elements I would be down in a heartbeat.

Actually, Matt said "a major classic franchise will be returning to Wii", and that's ALL he said. Nothing about either Nintendo or the revival of any dead franchises. Meaning, this is either a third party game, or an old Nintendo franchise.

He also said we would be exited by the people working on the game, so it's probably not just another Nintendo game (Could be Retro working on Kid Icarus though).

Also, Bozon saying you needed to be “older than, like, 12” really doesn't mean much more than the fact that we haven't seen it (on a Nintendo console) recently.

Personally, I'm thinking either Megaman or Chrono Trigger if it's a third party, or Kid Icarus if it's from Nintendo. Could be anything though. And remember, it's not like Matt hasn't over hyped these things before.

Uh, Mega Man ZX Advent is a month old, so you don't have to be older than like a month.  Chrono Trigger doesn't have a chance.  People need to give up on that and let it die.  Okay, let me quote them exactly:

Matt: "What I can tell you is that a major classic franchise is returning."
Bozon: "Quite, quite major."
Matt: "I don't want to go into any details, but we deffinitely do know of a major franchise returning to the Wii.  We're sitting on some things these days, but this one really needs to get out there."
Bozon: "When you told me I was like 'holy crap, I really can't tell anyone.'"
Matt: "Nintendo fans, people who were around during the uh, last couple generations, are going to be pleased as punch."
Bozon: "Pretty much if your older than 12."
Levi:  "Many of you have been begging or hoping for this for a long time." (That one is paraphrased).

As a side note there is apparently a really cool game about Ninjas comming out soon. Also, Pokemon Snap on VC lets you send pictures to friends online.

Okay, so looking at it now, I was wrong, and it could be 3rd party.  It also doesn't seem to be as old as NES.  So, I'm basically back and square one.  Looks to me like they are talking about an SNES or N64 game.

When is the announcement?

Megaman (except the Legends port) hasn't been on a Nintendo console since the SNES days, and certainly, this is a console game that they're talking about.

And why is CT dead? Hmm? You are fooling yourself if you think Square Enix isn't going to cash in on it someday, and if they are brining any of their main franchises to the Wii, that's the one that makes the most sense.

Like I said though, it could be anything. Those are just my guesses.

There have been 4 Mega Man titles for the GameCube to my knowledge: Mega Man Network Transmission, Mega Man X: Command Mission, Mega Man X Collection, and Mega Man Anniversary Collection.

Anyway, a good possibility is Pilotwings, which would probably be developed by Factor 5, the developers who were supposed to make the GameCube version before it was canned.