Hayden Panettiere: Will she return for the 'Heroes' miniseries?
Hayden Panettiere starred on the original NBC 'Heroes' series, and it was recently announced that the show's creator Tim Kring will revive the show for a 13-episode miniseries. Will Hayden Panettiere or other original cast members return?
Hayden Panettiere starred on the NBC series 'Heroes.'
Danny Moloshok/Reuters
Superheroes have ruled at the multiplex for the past decade, and comic book properties are hitting television in a big way, from the CW鈥檚 ongoing hit series听Arrow and Marvel鈥檚听听to the upcoming , and听. Before all this,听NBC鈥檚听听was arguably as instrumental to the dominance of superhero stories as Marvel鈥檚 Iron Man,听Bryan Singer鈥檚听X-Men听movies or Christopher Nolan鈥檚听Batman Begins.
Heroes听premiered to great acclaim in 2006, making stars out of the previously unknown Hayden Panettiere (who has gone on to star in ABC鈥檚 ) and Zachary Quinto (who went on to play the young Spock in J.J. Abrams鈥櫶�听reboot). The show followed a group of people who develop super powers, exploring the ways these powers corrupted or inspired them and the conflicts that arose in their wake. The show won an immediate cult following and exploded across popular culture, only to see ratings and critical reception tank hard, leading to cancellation after .
Still, that brilliant first season remains beloved by fans, and now we have a report from听听that creator Tim Kring is bringing听Heroes听back to the network as a 13-episode miniseries event. Titled听Heroes: Reborn, the limited run is set to air in 2015, with all new characters and storylines to appear online in a digital series before the new series premieres.
As for whether or not any members of the original cast could return, NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke had this to say in the official press release:
鈥溾�e won鈥檛 rule out the possibility of some of the show鈥檚 original cast members popping back in.鈥�
Furthermore, the show will be 鈥�appropriately shrouded in secrecy鈥澨�as the 2015 air date approaches. The resurrection of听Heroes听comes soon after at the next phase of Fox鈥檚听24, which returns to the airwaves this May. We鈥檝e recently detailed the reasons that everyone should , and the return of an iconic show like听Heroes听with its original creator at the helm could really pound this point home.
On the other hand, Tim Kring 鈥� who went on to create Fox鈥檚 short-lived听Touch -听is credited as executive producer on all 79 episodes of听Heroes, and arguably owns the lion鈥檚 share of the responsibility for how quickly听Heroes听appeared to jump the shark. Still, Kring has had plenty of time to reflect, and plans to听鈥渁dd to his original concept.鈥澨�
Interestingly, we heard some similar news 鈥� a fifth season could have premiered exclusively on the Xbox, with very similar details, including听鈥渘ew stories and heroes, while mixing in cameos from the original series鈥� cast.鈥�听This is the real deal, though.听Heroes was unique in the way it utilized the comic book structure 鈥� each season consisted of two main volumes, with many inter-connected story arcs (too many, eventually) 鈥� without drawing directly from any established property.
This 13-episode format also mirrors the current run of most cable series, a hint that NBC is attempting to prove that they can match Starz, AMC or HBO in quality. The network鈥檚 critically-acclaimed听听(created by former听Heroes听writer Bryan Fuller)听arguably does just that. Can听Heroes听really stand its ground in this post-Marvel and DC Cinematic Universe world?
Anthony Vieira blogs at .