Comic Con: Highlights from the Heroes Panel
The Heroes panel at Comic Con 2009 was a blast! First, we apologize for not being able to provide live updates this year. The Indigo ballroom at the Hilton was a giant telecommunications dead zone. So without further delay let’s get to what you all really want to hear!
At the panel this year was Tim Kring, Jack Coleman, Masi Oka, Hayden Panettiere, Adrian Pasdar, Zachary Quinto, Milo Ventimiglia, Robert Kneppler, Dawn Oliveri, Ray Park, & Madeline Zima.
Tim Kring started out the panel by thanking the fans at Comic Con for helping Heroes grow into the show that it has become since introducing the show at Comic Con 2006. The cast even stood up and applauded the fans (pictured above). Kring then gave the audience the setup for Volume 5. Essentially, now that the government is no longer a threat to the heroes, they’re all trying to get some normalcy back into their lives.
“Everyone’s going back to their ordinary lives. But what IS an ordinary life? Do you hide, assimilate or try to fit in? That’s the question this year…”
Kring also says that we’ll be introduced to a new set of characters, a group of people who’ve found a unique way to hide their abilities in plain sight using a traveling carnival as their cover.
Continue reading for more of the highlights of the Heroes Panel!
They then rolled an exclusive trailer that was put together specifically for Comic Con, which you can watch here.
The first question asked to the entire cast was “Where are your characters at the beginning of Volume 5?”
Jack Coleman (Noah Bennett) – Noah is at a place where he thinks he’s setting up this new company, but it turns out his world is falling apart around him (his marriage). Noah has a newfound empathy for people with abilities and there’s less interest in bagging & tagging. He’s trying to find solid ground.
Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura) – Hiro starts off where he left off (the nosebleed situation). He’s going through an illness. He gets some bad news and then realizes what his true destiny in life is. He goes back to Yamagato Industries and starts a new business with his friend Ando. Hiro thinks he only has a few days or weeks left to live, so he’s trying to make the most of it.
Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennett) – Claire goes to college and becomes friends with an “interesting” girl (her roomate, played by Madeline Zima). Who eventually finds out about her abilities.
Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli) – Sylar and Nathan get into a Jeckyll & Hyde situation and by mid-season it gets very interesting.
Zachary Quinto (Sylar) - Sylar is going to exist in two places at the beginning of this season. He starts to emerge. Sylar will also somehow get inside of Matt Parkman’s head.
Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) – Peter is back to being a paramedic. He’s a kid with a golden heart, but throughout the show he’s been shot at, stabbed, died, and stabbed again; his whole family has tried to screw him over. He’s seen it all now, he’s more humorous, and he smiles more easily, but he’s still a guy who will swing back harder if somebody swings at him.
At this point the four new cast members had a chance to tell us where their characters would begin on the show:
Robert Knepper (Samuel) – Samuel’s the reluctant ringleader of the Carnival. His brother just passed away. He’s going to start a new life and he’s bringing the people from the Carnival with him.
Dawn Oliveri (Lydia) – Lydia is a part of the Carnival and her ability is centered around tatoo’s that magically appear on her body. Dawn reassured the audience that Lydia is going to stir up some trouble.
Ray Park (Edgar) – Edgar is also part of the Carnival. Everyone in the Carnival has abilities. Edgar likes to play with knives and has Super Speed. Edgar is sent out into the world by Samuel. The members of the Carnival want to find redemption, they want to have peace.
Madeline Zima (Gretchen) – Gretchen is a freshman at college with Claire. She becomes Claire’s first true friend since Season 1.
One of the most interesting discussions on the panel was on the topic Hiro’s ’specific’ redemption. Masi Oka said that Hiro’s power will begin to go out of control. But his specific redemption is going back in time and fixing his mistakes. Going on the theme that he thinks he’s about to die, this is sort of his “bucket list.” he wants to make amends.
The panel wrapped up with a question about “When will Peter be a badass?” and Milo said that he had a clip to show everyone. The lights went down and we were treated to a scene of Peter & Noah encountering Edgar (the knife-throwing super speeder) and during the encounter Peter steals his ability and goes toe-to-toe, fighting with Edgar while Noah can do nothing but watch as two blurry figures zip around the room.
You can see the entire clip, courtesy of our friends at TheODI here!
These were just a few of the highlights of the panel. Want to watch the whole thing?
Even though I was there, this is an awesome recap! I really really wish they could have provided us with the WiFi that was pretty abundant but the Hilton totally failed. We tried everything we could but as you said it was a total dead zone.
Nice job on the run down!
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