I didn't know about ESP32, thanks for the info! Will keep an eye on it. Since Beta testing started in December it may take a while before they're released
Yes, the Micro Python project will be a kind of firmware which will adapt the ESP8266 to work more like you'd expect from a network controller. They stated in the video that it currently uses a lot of callbacks which can be confusing. It will work for all ESP8266, however the HUZZAH boards will be officially supported.
Espressif said USB is expensive and they don't believe it's the future, which I can kind of agree with since it is possible to uplad data to the ESP8266 over the air.