HEROES: DO WE REALLY WANT THEM TO BE “REBORN”?

As I mentioned before, I was not necessarily thrilled when this reboot was first announced. My two main concerns with Heroes Reborn were: 1) I wasn’t sure I wanted to see the show [so soon] without the original cast members and 2) The quality of the show was, unfortunately, not sustained till the end.

However, latest news have somewhat assured me on both accounts and my excitement for Heroes Reborn is steadily growing. I’d say I am “cautiously optimistic” now. This is why:

THE CAST

Old v. New

Originally, only Jack Coleman (Noah Bennett) was set to return, but as months have gone by more and more original cast members are signing up for guest spots. Among the returning favorites we have Masi Oka (Hiro), Jimmy Jean Louis (The Haitian), Greg Grungberg (Matt Parkman) Noah Grey Cabey (Micah) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Surresh). Having a few familiar faces is not going to make a show but nostalgia is what brought this show back. Including a few original cast members is a way of honouring the fans that stood by the show all these years.

Unfortunately, not everyone can come back. The “not returning” list includes Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Panettiere, Nathan Pasdar and Zacchary Quinto. I love Zacchary and he was amazing, but getting him back was a long shot [although he recently did an NBC miniseries so it wasn’t that out of the question]. I can live without Hayden [and she’s probably busy with Nashville anyway], but I would have loved Milo and Nathan to return as the Petrelli brothers. I am still holding out hope for David Anders [currently on iZombie] to return at some point [maybe next season, because I am assuming this won’t be that “limited”]

.@heroes Here. We. Go. pic.twitter.com/GLkPWRR4X0

— Sendhil Ramamurthy (@Sendhil_Rama) June 22, 2015

So that’s it so far for the returning [and not returning cast]. Enough to make me happy, not enough to convince me on its own. But the writers mentioned many times that Heroes Reborn, as the name suggests, is about a whole new generation of “heroes”. So, we shouldn’t dwell in the past, rather we should look into the future.

And here is where things got interesting. The producers had a brilliant casting idea for one of the new leads: Zachary Levi.

This casting news are what got me seriously excited about the show. If you’d never heard of Zachary before you need to head over to Netflix [like NOW] and binge watch all the seasons of Chuck [AKA one of the greatest shows ever].

Here are a few things you need to know about Chuck Zachary Levi:

1.       He doesn’t just act in nerdy shows, he is a bonafide nerd himself. So much so that he founded “The Nerd Machine”, a great website dedicated to spreading the “nerd culture”. They organize comic-con events and have a great Youtube channel. Which brings me to my next point…

2.       Zachary is a member of a very rare breed of men: The tall, handsome, lovable geek. Harder to come by than you may think. Seriously, don’t take it for granted… [See the reasons I don’t watch Scorpion] Geeky leading man are a tough one. They usually are either too geeky that makes it unbelievable for them to get the girl, or they are just too handsome to be geeks. Zachary is one of the few that lived in the middle and was great at it.

3.       In addition to his dedication to the geek community, Zachary also has a history of being dedicated to his fans. What other actor do you know that led a small army of fans into a Subway and then served them footlongs?

4.       Finally, he is actually a good actor [which is also important]. And from what we are hearing so far, he might or might not be playing a baddie! [pause for shocking gasp] Or at least a morally ambiguous character which would be very interesting to watch!

So yes, Zacchary was a great choice. He is extremely popular in “nerd circles”, yet, he is mainstream enough to appeal to a wider audience.

Also get ready for some new familiar and unfamiliar faces like Dylan Bruce [recently departed from Orphan Black snif]

THE STORY

It is not all about the actors

Remember how amazing the first season of Heroes was? Perhaps I am being naïve, but I am hoping this miniseries revival will be able to recapture that magic [to some extent].

The original creator and showrunner (Tim Kring) is returning, which is always a good thing. Nevertheless, I’d argue a big part of S1’s creative direction could be attributed to Bryan Fuller, the co-executive producer. Bryan left Heroes to work on Pushing Daisies [amazing show]. Sadly, he won’t be back for the revival since he is busy with his [masterpiece] show Hannibal [which just got cancelled] and a show in development American Gods. 

Bryan had some nice things to say about the Heroes on an interview with IGN: “I remember that first season very fondly, and I think it was creatively very successful for the show. I would love to see that dynamic and energy reborn in a new series”

I guess we’ll just have to trust the new writers’ team. I personally like Tim Kring’s outlook on “global connectivity”, which is a recurring theme in his work (Touch, Dig). However, Kring has a tendency to get tangled in his convoluted multiple plot-lines as his shows progress. Here is where the abbreviated miniseries [as opposed to a 24 episode season] could benefit Heroes Reborn. Kring told EW that “scarcity is a valuable commodity” now that people are used to watching shorter, high quality cable dramas.

Kring seems interested in finishing the story he started. He wants to present a fresh look, while maintaining some continuity with the original world, and have a highly serialized, well-planned short series. I have to admit, it sounds promising. Colour me a believer [for now].

I leave you with another quote from Kring’s EW interview. A hopeful message for the show’s future:

"I always saw Heroes as having a message about hope and global connectivity and consciousness and those are even more solidified in me as I get older and I think I have just as much to say about it as in the beginning of the series," says Kring. "I still have a lot more story to tell."