‘Heroes Reborn’ Premiere Extended To Two Hours Spinoff Online

“We, on the original series, often told stores in volumes as it would have a beginning, and a middle, and an end, and so, in a sense, the real hardcore “Heroes’ audience is already somewhat familiar with the idea of these smaller, contained stories”.

It sounds like Heroes fans may get the answer to that question as it was revealed by creator Tim Kring that Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) is dead when the series returns with the limited series event, Heroes Reborn, this fall.

“The last full calendar year the show was on the air, 2009, we were the No. 1 most downloaded show in the world, legally and illegally downloaded”, Mr. Kring said at an NBC party Wednesday night.

“The exact amount of time that it’s off [the air] is the amount of time that has passed in the story world”.

Returning cast members include Jack Coleman as H.R.G., Jimmy Jean-Louis as The Haitian, Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura, and Greg Grunberg as Matt Parkman. But some of the vital principals are absent – i.e. Claire (Hayden Panettierre), Sylar (Zachary Quinto) and Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) because “they didn’t have availability, it was out of our control”, acknowledged Kring, while also mentioning that bringing back the old guard also entailed “what the story dictated” on the new show. “I always saw it as a show that could repopulate itself”, said Kring. “I wanted to make it easy for brand new viewers”. “Falling in love with new characters is just as important as having the former cast in the new show”.

As for what’s in store for the heroes themselves, Kring is “confident” the premise will provide equal footing for both new and returning characters.

“That sort of gets into the mythology that’s attached to the original show”.

However, the showrunner went on to explain that “Reborn” boasts more than just the benefit of hindsight.

As for new addition Zachary Levi? “We’re treating this not as the fifth season, but more like the tenth”.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, “Heroes” was a fan favorite and became a phenomenon in television when it was launched in 2006, but the fire dwindled when some creative mistakes were committed while stretching out the storyline.

As confirmed by NBC boss Bob Goldblatt at today’s TCA press tour panel, the September 24 premiere has jumped from one hour to two, pushing back The Blacklist’s Season 3 debut to October 1.