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As 90s TV shows like 鈥淭he X-Files鈥� and 鈥淔ull House鈥� get second leases on life, NBC is returning to its superhero hit in the age of the comic-book blockbuster.

鈥淗eroes Reborn,鈥� a continuation of the mid-2000s NBC series 鈥淗eroes,鈥� will debut on Sept. 24. It鈥檚 a 13-episode (for now) follow-up to the original show, which told the story of various people, such as a high school cheerleader and a politician, discovering they have superpowers.

The first season of the show was critically well received and a ratings hit for the network. After that, however, the next three seasons were mostly panned by reviewers and dropped in the ratings.

The new episodes bring back some of the original 鈥淗eroes鈥� actors, such as Greg Grunberg, Masi Oka, and Jack Coleman, but is also bringing on many new people, including 鈥淐huck鈥� actor Zachary Levi.

But the superhero entertainment landscape has changed a great deal since the show's original run. When it debuted in 2006 Marvel had yet to emerge as a titan at the multiplex (鈥淚ron Man鈥� wouldn鈥檛 arrive until 2008), and such TV hits as the 1970s series 鈥淭he Incredible Hulk鈥� and the 1990s show 鈥淟ois & Clark鈥� were long in the rearview mirror. The "Superman" series鈥淪mallville鈥� was a presence but on the lower-profile CW network.

Now, though, seemingly every TV network has or just recently wrapped up a superhero TV show (and a certain high-profile streaming service does, too). ABC is airing 鈥淢arvel鈥檚 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.鈥� and 鈥淎gent Carter,鈥� while NBC just recently canceled 鈥淐onstantine.鈥� CBS is debuting 鈥淪upergirl鈥� and Fox is airing 鈥淕otham,鈥� which is based on the world of DC Comics鈥� Batman. Netflix debuted its show 鈥淒aredevil鈥� last spring and will bring the comic book series 鈥淛essica Jones,鈥� based on the superheroine of the same name, to the Internet this November. Two more series set in the same fictional universe are set to follow on Netflix.

Just having superheroes won鈥檛 cut it anymore for a 鈥淗eroes鈥� reboot. However, one hint of what鈥檚 to come from Mr. Coleman may remind comic book fans of another franchise. Coleman recently of the new episodes in an interview, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very dark and different world for them now. It鈥檚 a dangerous time and place to be a [superhero].鈥�

The most recent 鈥淴-Men鈥� film, 2014鈥檚 鈥淴-Men: Days of Future Past,鈥� also focused on a dark future where superheroes (or 鈥渕utants,鈥� in 鈥淴-Men鈥� terms) were being hunted down. 鈥淗eroes Reborn鈥� could do worse than to take notes from that 鈥淴-Men鈥� plot line 鈥� the film became the ninth-highest-grossing film, domestically, of the year.聽