‘Heroes Reborn’ At Comic Con: Tim Kring’s First Tweet Since 2012; Masi Oka Appears

NBC’s The Heroes Reborn Comic-Con panel kicked off with a look at the lead-up web clip to the series, Dark Matter, as well as a trailer for the follow-up to the original series which ran from 2006-10. Greg Grunberg led the panel, and as many already know, he’s reprising his role as Matt Parkman. Other familiar faces shown in the trailer from the original Heroes included actors Jack Coleman (Noah Bennet) and Masi Oka (Hiro Nakmura). At the top of the session, Grunberg celebrated the fact that creator Tim Kring was sending his out his first tweet since June 28, 2012, and took a selfie with the Hall H crowd:

Kring said that in the follow-up series to Heroes, which picks up five years after the original: “The world knows about these people, so it changes the story considerably. When you discovered you had a power, it was mystical journey of discovery. Now, if you wake up with a power, you know it’s a very bad thing because you’ll be exploited.”

Grunberg added, “The way we went off the air with Hayden Panettiere’s character (Claire Bennet) revealing these (heroes) to the whole world.” The creator promised that unlike other franchises, the Heroes canon will remain intact and won’t ignore or waver from what was set up in the first series.

Kring told Grunberg, “The first time I saw you on set (for Heroes Reborn), it was like five years disappeared and you were back playing that character.”

A clip was shown where Oka said he was stuck on an island and couldn’t make it to Comic-Con, and then he zapped his way onstage. Later in the panel, Oka showed a clip of Hido dusting off the sword in which he battles a villain in a parking structure who can duplicate himself. Also making a surprise stop from the original show was Jimmy Jean-Louis (The Haitian).

The actors at the panel rattled through their plots and powers briefly:

Henry Zebrowski, who appeared in Dark Matter, plays Quentin Frady, the brother to an EVO girl who is destined for college despite her mother’s death. She also can steal light. Frady knows that Noah Bennet worked with the heroes. When his character stumbles on a gigantic tragedy in his research, he seeks Noah’s help.

Robbie Kay, who plays young Tommy, has “the ability to make people disappear. It terrifies him. He has no idea if they’ll go into an abyss. He just wants to be a normal kid.” Gatlin Green plays his friend Emily, who helps him get through the chaos. Zachary Levi says he plays “a tortured guy who goes down a dark path, and has a twisted relationship with his wife.” As Carlos, Ryan Guzman plays an Army vet with a troubled past, “but he’s given an opportunity for greatness.”

“The linchpin from the former cast was Jack Coleman. It was important for me to bring his character back,” said Kring, who brought old characters back strictly based on the direction he was breaking story.