Well, this was unexpected. During the telecast of the Olympics coverage late Saturday night, NBC aired a promo spot that teased the return of what was once their most beloved show: Heroes. Unfortunately, it was extremely brief and revealed nothing but the title, Heroes Reborn, and the release date, 2015.
Details of the project are being kept under wraps, but according to Variety, Heroes Reborn will be a 13 episode event miniseries executive produced by the show’s creator Tim Kring. The series will be a standalone story, focusing on new characters that will be introduced in a digital series leading up to Reborn.
Variety spoke with NBC entertainment prexy Jennifer Salke about the news:
“The enormous impact ‘Heroes’ had on the television landscape when it first launched in 2006 was eye-opening. Shows with that kind of resonance don’t come around often and we thought it was time for another installment. We’re thrilled that visionary creator Tim Kring was as excited about jumping back into this show as we were and we look forward to all the new textures and layers Tim plans to add to his original concept. Until we get closer to air in 2015, the show will be appropriately shrouded in secrecy, but we won’t rule out the possibility of some of the show’s original cast members popping back in.”
The original series chronicled the intertwined stories of unrelated, ordinary people who slowly began to discover that they possessed superhuman abilities. Over the course of the show’s four-year run they found that they were part of a grand plan that brought them all together to change the world.
Heroes enjoyed an extremely strong first season and became a pop culture phenomenon, but failed to maintain its momentum with each passing year. It was eventually cancelled after season four, but there’s been talk of bringing it back for some time now. We currently live in a world where once-cancelled programming has the chance at new life, as we’ve seen with shows like Veronica Mars, Arrested Development and 24, so this news isn’t all too surprising. It is, however, exciting, as Heroes has a rich mythology and enough potential for further exploration. Plus, with Kring involved, the show can hopefully reach the same level of greatness that it exuded in season one.
Tell us, are you excited about the idea of another Heroes tale? Or should this show have stayed dead? Make sure to let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned for more updates on Heroes Reborn as they become available.