Will Comic-Con Fans Get a Super Heroes Surprise?

When it comes to rewarding their most loyal fans, Heroes has always fared well at Comic-Con. But will a screening of the entire first episode of "Volume III" be the big surprise this year? "We're still not sure whether it's going to be a whole episode or not," Tim Kring told us at the Saturn Awards. "We're still shooting, and we may not be able to get an entire episode."

That said, Kring promises "to give the fans their money's worth... to really make a special thing for the fans at Comic-Con who were so instrumental to launching our show. The idea is to pay these people back for their loyalty."

Among the "payback" could be a preview of the Season 2 DVD extras. Says Kring, "Obviously the Holy Grail of any DVD is some extra footage that was never seen before. We were really able to put that together because of the strike."

With the tickets for July 26 already sold out, we had to inquire if any of the Comic-Con footage would be shown online after the convention. Alas, what happens in San Diego stays in San Diego. Says exec producer Jeph Loeb, "You have to go to Comic-Con in order to have the fun." — Carita Rizzo

My name is Isa. I’ve been in semi-regular contact with one of the Heroes writers since the writer’s strike, and have been asking taking fandom questions and concerns to him, which he has been answering. I know there’s been some confusion regarding whether they are going to show the S3 premiere in its entirety at ComiCon, so I asked him to clarify that. Here’s his response (there’s also a clarification of what’s going to happen the night of the actual premiere):

"Hey Isa,
In regards to your questions, as far as I’ve heard the plan was always to have a one hour panel at Comicon and to show a teaser reel with footage from the first batch of season 3 episodes. There was some speculation at one point that they’d show the premiere episode, but I don’t recall that decision ever being made. As for the 3 hour premiere in September, the plan has always been to air a one hour special at 8pm, and then to air two back to back episodes of Heroes from 9pm to 11pm. I just checked on that yesterday and was informed this would still be happening. But again I have to restate that things can always change in this crazy world!”

The writer in question, by the way, is Christopher Zatta.

BEHIND THE ECLIPSE Summer Spectacular, Part II

Annnnnd we’re back!

Yesterday we posted part one of the BEHIND THE ECLIPSE Summer Spectacular featuring “Heroes” writers/producers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite. Today, we present Part II of the in-depth Q&A.

But before we get in to , we wanted to make sure all you “Heroes” fans were aware that Joe and Aron also have some interesting comics coming out. The first two issues of Aron’s run on “Ultimate X-Men” are now on sale with a third just weeks away. You can read an interview about his work on the series right here on CBR. Not to be outdone, Joe Pokaski is the writer of August’s “Secret Invasion: Inhumans,” and we’ve got an exclusive preview of the issue right here. Check 'em out.

Alright, on to the Q&A!

Today we start with a guy named Louis.

Once upon a time, you stated that you drew influence for “Heroes” from the Myth of the Nine Unknown Men. Any plans to elaborate on that? It seems like an interesting thing to play with.

Stay tuned. (For a couple more years).

Big teases! Rangy1011 from Germany asks:

We saw many interesting objects in the vault: three playing cards (Queens), a wooden horse, a brain in a glass, a pyramid... But as Hiro comes into the vault, Adam is reaching for a golden key. He didn't seem as if he wanted to have a mere look at it, he seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Is the key going to be a future subject? Or are we going to find out anything about the other objects?

The key is going to play pretty huge into season 7 mythology. That’s all we can say. And we can tell you that the Wooden Horse is full of Tiny Greek Men. Other than that -- keep your eyes peeled for recurrences of these objects in real time and flashbacks.

Dawn Maker wants to know:

Is Peter's absolute genuine belief in the goodness of people the reason why he never read Adam's mind to learn the truth? Or was it because Adam's had 400 years to learn how to stop mind reading from occurring?

Little of both.

Dawn continues:

Also, if Claire's and Peter's regenerative power is the same, then why is Claire the only one who can ‘heal’ those with the virus?

Peter’s power is technically to mimic other people’s powers -- but there may be a distinction as what his blood can do in relation to Claire. Adam, on the other hand…

Karen Miller, who had a question yesterday, snuck back in today with more.

I love Elle, and I think she's one of the best new additions (if not THE best) this season. We saw a lot of parallels between Claire and Elle in the latter half of Volume 2, with Elle being Claire's dark shadow, in many ways. Will you follow up on this in Volume 3?

Heck, yeah!

Also, will Peter and Elle ever meet again?

Heck, kinda.

Simpkins wants to know:

In “Out of Time,” Caitlin is ripped away from Peter and deported to 2008 Ireland. Last we saw 2008, the Shanti Virus (presumably Strain 138) wiped out 93% of the population. That future has apparently been averted. Caitlin has just entered a sort of ‘no man's land.’ The question presents itself: Has the future, and the present that she is now in, changed around her, as it did for Ando when Hiro left for April 2006 back in episodes 108-111 to save Charlie, or has she and the entire future that surrounded her disappeared into nonexistence? Did she die during the outbreak? If the her present changed, are there plans to visit her in the future, either by time travel trip or reaching the date in the narrative? Are there plans to bring her back to the present?

Our heads are spinning from the permutations. Peter’s trapped Caitlin in a future that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s pretty hard to get back from that. (We would’ve seen Peter try to get Caitlin back in the remainder of Season 2, but in Season 3 -- he has a whole other slate of problems to deal with.)

Fighting Spirit 77 asks:

Last year I heard two things. One: we would learn about Linderman's wife. Two: Adrian Pasdar said (regarding the end of season one) that we would find out what happened to Nathan's father, he was dead for sure, but we would never guess who killed him. Have these ideas been scraped or changed in some way? Both ideas really intrigued me. I was actually surprised not to see Mrs. Linderman in the picture of the 12.

You’ll get the answer to one of those questions in “Villians.” The rest is TBD.

Fighting Spirit 77 continues:

It also brings up the question: How far in advance do you break your stories and ideas? Do you have ideas about characters and motivations that may not even come to light for a few years? And how far in advance do you tell the actors these kind of things? Meaning if say someone has a power and the audience doesn't know it yet (cough, Angela, cough, Angela) would you tell the actor to play it in the subtext, or just let them find out in the script themselves? Maybe even base the power or motivation off of things the actor seems to be playing or doing in past episodes?

We break our stories as far in advance as possible -- but reality always ends up creeping up. We absolutely have some ideas for characters or episodes that aren’t perfect until they are. There’s a high-concept for episodes 10 and 11 that we tossed around early last season. And a few great concepts that we’re pocketing until the right moment in our character’s lives.

Sometimes we let the actor play it blind (if the character truly doesn’t know) and sometimes we collaborate with the actor on the reveal. As Tim established in the Pilot -- powers generally come from personality -- so the actors are collaborators through their performance.

Other times, they are let in on the surprise so they can inform it -- the example that comes to mind is Nathan really being Sylar in “Five Years Gone.” Adrian was able to study Zach’s performance and character and split the difference in the scenes leading up to the surprise.

Hugo from Canada writes in with the following:

Something has been bothering me since episode 2x03, “Kindred.” Sylar loses his powers and kills Candice/Michelle/Betty ... but did he also absorb her power (it's just unusable like all the others)? If/When Sylar gets all his powers back, will he also get Candice's? If not, since he has seen her brain, could he use Charlie's enhanced memory to remember it and do whatever it is that he does with brains to obtain her power? Or does he need the actual brain to perform the power theft?

Sylar did not absorb Candice’s power. Or Michelle’. Or Betty’s. He will not get her power back when he reboots (although the Charlie theory is pretty rad). We’ll be exploring exactly what Sylar does (and does not do) with the brain in the first hour of the new season.

Eoin Cunningham did some great research and asks:

Back when we saw that Peter Petrelli's apartment number was 1407, some fans (including me, geek that I am) picked up that this was also the number of the X-Men's mansion. So when I saw Angela Petrelli open door 1909 into Nathan's hospital room, I immediately started doing my homework to see if it meant anything. It didn't take me too long to think I was onto something.

The Futurist Manifesto was written in 1909. Briefly, it was written in order to help usher in the modernization of Italy, which ties in with “Heroes'” theme of evolution. It also launched an art movement, Futurism, which ties in with its recurring motif of paintings. The manifesto promotes among other things the idea that ‘beauty exists only in struggle,’ and the clincher is article 9 (there's that number!) which states that war is “the only cure for the world."

Seeing as this is not only the belief of Adam Monroe, Linderman and their followers, but specifically Angela's idea of Nathan's destiny, can you tell me if I am onto something here?

Nice stuff, Eoin. Guys? Should “The Futurist Manifesto” be required reading for all “Heroes” fans?

We have not read “The Futurist Manifesto.” And we’re beginning to wonder why. We like both of those words.

Eoin, you’re too smart for your own good!

Alisha B has some questions about Kensei.

Okay, so now we know Adam is Kensei and Adam is killing the older heroes by placing the Helix over their faces as a death threat. So, has the mystery of the Helix symbol been revealed, seeing how it was the symbol of Kensei and seeing how Kensei started the Company with the group of Twelve? Or are the mysteries of the symbol just being revealed? Also, how does the symbol and Adam relate to all the mundane appearances of the symbol?

You want some summer reading to do? Look up Fibonacci. And Fractals. And patterns that occur in nature over and over again. Fun stuff for the beach.

A lot of people asked about Tim Kring comments printed in Entertainment Weekly, towards the end of Season 2, in which he admits mistakes were made at the beginning of the season. George T asked:

Did the writers know Tim was going to do this? Were these missteps something he discussed with you? It was a great list he came up with - did he actually come up with these from fan comments? Or did he realize from his TV experiences as well?

An interesting question -- how did the writers room feel about all this?

Sadly it’s true -- we aren’t the perfect storytellers that we thought we were. We were human and have made mistakes. It takes a big man to admit his mistakes, it takes an even bigger man to publish them in a national magazine.

There seems to be some confusion as to who stopped the hurricane, as evidenced by the many questions on the subject we received, so we’ll hand t over to Miles Nelson:

Lately, we've been seeing abilities being used in different ways, or been shown more powerful forms of them (i.e. Matt and Maury). Will there be more father/son connection/expansion of abilities this season? For example, Nathan and Mr. Petrelli: are their powers connected? I read a theory that Nathan's ability to fly comes from him being having Aerokinesis, or the ability to control air (and gasses such as oxygen, hydrogen, etc).

And last episode we were told that a member of the group of 12 stopped a hurricane from destroying the east coast. Could Mr. Petrelli have had Nathan's power and used it to control the weather and stop the hurricane? Please tell me if I'm on to something.

You’re on to something? Or you’re on something?

Oz wrote to ask:

I've been trying to figure out whether Hiro actually changed the past, or whether he just created the myth of Kensei by essentially being the Kensei he grew up adoring. The fact that the myth had Kensei cutting out his own heart for Yaeko's sake seems to imply that originally Adam-Kensei and not Hiro-Kensei was the mythological Kensei (!!) but still, I can't seem to wrap my brain around the idea that he could have changed history so much without actually changing history just because Yaeko promised to keep the myth alive. So basically, what I'm asking is: did Hiro change the past, or was Hiro always his own... hero?

We like to believe the second version -- but we crafted the story to keep this kind of debate going. Good for us.

Yay Team Heroes! Melissa asked:

Have you ever considered making an episode that revolves entirely around the original heroes? A look many years into the past, to show us these previous Heroes, their powers in full-effect and view, and shed light on their relationships? I believe that kind of episode would surpass “Company Man” and “Five Years Gone” by many miles.

Episode 15 of season 2, “1977” was to do exactly that.

CajenMB had a question about Adam.

Concerning Adam, this seems to be another example of a deliberate name, once again with a biblical tie-in. Does Adam represent the first individual with extraordinary abilities?

Hmmmm……

Riddler Rob of Long Island, New York asked:

For starters, I'm big into debates, and there is one that is driving us over at Heroeswiki insane. You guys nodded to “Electrokinesis” in a past BTE. Can we consider this a coined term, or is something along the lines of “Electricity Generation,” “Electricity Manipulation,” or “Electrogenesis” more accurate?”

Consider no term coined. This is the real world.

Second, we've seen the past “Rapid Cellular Regeneration,” which could be shortened to just Regeneration, and the more recent “Adoptive Muscle Memory,” which some people originally called “Photographic Reflexes.” Will we see any more powers scientifically renamed to the masses by Suresh?

Heck yeah. And we’ll see how close he can come to accuracy.

Riddler Rob is chatty today and has one more for you.

Do you think any staff of the “Heroes” production team (anyone from writers to producers, etc.) will make cameo appearances on the show? I think it'd be cool to see a couple of you guys show a power... just try not to get killed by Sylar.

Foz McDermott, who is the assistant to Co-Executive Producer Jim Chory, did show up as a bouncer in episode 208 “Four Months Ago” - and you can see a lot of names and faces of our crew in props and desk-plates around the show.

Finally, we couldn’t let the fans have all the fun so one question from us -- any hints as to what you guys have planned for Comic-Con in July?

All we can say is we’re gong to have five episodes shot by then. And we’re bringing some of it with us.

Sounds like it’s going to be tough getting into the “Heroes” panel again this year! Get their early, folks! Thanks, guys. We’ll see you at San Diego and this fall, when BEHIND THE ECLIPSE returns!

BEHIND THE ECLIPSE Summer Spectacular, Part I

Finally, after some delay, we present to you the BEHIND THE ECLIPSE SUMMER SPECTACULAR! For those of you new to this feature, for the first two season of “Heroes,” CBR presented a weekly Q&A series with show writers/producers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite -- collectively referred to as “the guys” -- where you, the faithful viewers, would ask questions of the guys and they’d do their best to answer them without spoiling the rest of the season and falling under the wrath of their fearless leader, “Heroes” creator Tim Kring.

When the Writers Guild of America went on strike in the middle of Season Two, BEHIND THE ECLIPSE had to stop abruptly as it wouldn’t be right to continue promoting “Heroes” while its writers were walking picket lines in Los Angeles and New York City. That said, the guys asked us to keep taking your questions so that once the strike ended and things settled down, they’d be return for a giant-size Q&A session prior to the start of Season Three.

And here we are.

As to the future, look for loads of “Heroes” news to come out of Comic-Con International in San Diego and Season Three this fall on NBC -- and yes, the guys will be back for a third season of BEHIND THE ECLIPSE here on CBR!

Guys, it’s good to have you back. To begin with, looking over all the e-mails we received, there were some common themes, including lots of love and interest in Claude, the Haitian, Angela (and what her power is), Claire’s mom, plus a lot of support for the WGA and the strike.

Several people wrote in to ask about this question in a previous edition of BTE: Rich Drees asked, “My friends and I are wuxia film fans and we dug that Monica was learning some moves from what looked like a classic Shaw Brothers film, though for the life of us we couldn't identify which one. Can you divulge which film it was?’"

Your answer, “We need to research this - if there's no strike we'll have an answer soon. "

A number of our regular BTE readers wrote in with the possible answer, but the first one to answer was Dash-Dot, who said, “I wanted to write in to let you know the name of the movie Monica was watching is ‘Fight or Flight.’ It's actually not a Shaw Brothers at all - it's ‘Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story’ directed by Rob ‘The Fast and the Furious’ Cohen, starring Jason Scott Lee. It's also not a particularly good example of martial arts for Monica to learn from, not being terribly faithful to Bruce Lee's own style of fighting.” Got to love when the fans lend a hand like that!

Well, so far this interview is easy. Thanks, Dash-Dot (which we think might be Morse code for helpful Martial Arts enthusiast.)

With that out of the way, we move on to the best of the best questions from our faithful readers and your fans. We begin with Jenny, who just couldn’t be held to one question.

Question One: How long will we have to wait before we find out what happens to Nathan (and Niki)? That is, will there be a flashforward in time like in season two, with a flashback later to reveal what really happened?

We are picking up right from the moment Nathan is shot.

Well, actually, we’re picking up a few moments before.

Well, technically, we’re starting four years in the future. But that’s only until…(sigh)

Man, our show is hard to explain coyly - suffice it to say, you will learn who shot Nathan Petrelli from the proverbial get go...

Question Two: Will any more of Isaac's work appear? I noticed that a loophole was left open when Isaac gave his sketchbook to the fanboy courier. Will the sketchbook reappear, and will Isaac's/Tim Sale's artwork feature again? For me, it was one of the strongest points in favour of the series.

We couldn’t agree more. Tim’s work had always been, in our opinion, the nexus of comic art and fine art. The sketchbook will indeed appear (pay attention around episodes 9, 10 and 11 this season) - and we will also meet a new artist, soon enough. Whose style is somewhat familiar. And who has a very familiar subject.

Next up is Karen Miller.

In Volume 2 we saw that Adam appears to be immortal, or close to it. Does this mean that Peter and Claire are now also going to live for 400 plus years? Or does Claire's power work differently? And are we going to see Peter and Claire talk about what this means for their future?

Who knows with Peter? Adam’s rules may not apply to him - but it does certainly seem to have implications for Claire, doesn’t it? We’ve established that their blood both has a similar quality - so it’s a reasonable extension to think that she may also live forever.

Our next question comes from a man with a unique name, Future SNL Writer (never stop dreaming, man).

Which ending (of season 2) did the writer's prefer? How will the alternate ending affect the plotlines that were left hanging? Also, how much involvement do the writers have in the Evolutions related graphic novels?

We were excited about where season 2 was going to end originally. Instead of catching the virus - it would be unleashed onto Odessa Texas. Creating a Quarantined town and having our heroes overcome the adversity of failure.

The season 2 DVD set, (out soon, we imagine) will show some scenes and storyboards from the first few episodes. We’ll check with legal - maybe we can leak a few script pages from episodes 12, 13 and 14 as well…

That would be amazing. C’mon, legal, show us some love!

Tarot wrote in to ask:

In Volume 2, we briefly saw Peter enjoying the darker side of his powers as he choked one of the Irish guys. Does this mean you're going to turn him evil? Say it ain't so! For that matter, what clues can you offer on the evolution of Peter’s character?

We all know that “With great power comes great responsibility.” “But we also know that “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” So basically Peter will find himself torn between these two platitudes. It’s Lord Acton vs Stan Lee in abattle for the ages. So stay tuned.

Tarot continued:

Several times in Volume 2, we saw that Bob has a whole bunch of files in his office filled with information on the Company founders and their children -- I remember seeing boxes for Angela, Bob, and Elle (even though Elle's had been emptied by Bob.) Are there more files on the Petrelli boys and Matt?

Yes.

Will we ever see what's inside them?

Maybe.

Count Tarot Ultra-Curious, as he (or is it a she) finished with this query:

I want to know, even if I can't be told when to expect him, if Claude is still alive and safe. If that can't be answered, can you clue us in to how Claude survived being shot by Noah and whom he was hiding?

Claude is still alive. We cannot clue you into how he survived being shot. And if we told you who he was hiding, he wouldn’t exactly be hiding him or her anymore, would he?

There were lots of questions on the following, with screen caps attached, but Bill Turner was first so he gets the prize:

When Hiro comes back from “Five Years Gone” he has Future Hiro's sword. It was broken by Sylar and thought to be repaired in a later episode, but in ‘Kindred’ in Season 2, when Ando finds the notes in the handle, it is still broken (photo attached). Also, Hiro had Future Hiro's sword at the end of season one and that was the one that was broken. By the time that Hiro returns from the 1600s the sword in Ando's office is not only whole again but it is no longer Future Hiro's sword and is the less worn version that was left in the future in ‘Five Years Gone.’ Will this ever be addressed? Everyone says I'm crazy and that it was a prop error.

It’s probably a continuity gaff. We seem to do that a lot? Why do we do that a lot? But, if you want to believe it’s something else - it’s a time conundrum. Enjoy!

One of our regulars, Scott Tindall, wrote in to ask:

What’s the one power/ability you guys would love to have on the show that’s just not logistically possible or in the budget? With the wide spectrum of abilities that have popped up in comic books over the years, I would imagine there would be a couple.

Many, many, things we’d love to do, but cant.

Joe: I’d love to have someone made of rocks - like the Thing- but I don’t think anyone has perfected that art yet (my apologies to Mr. Chikilis) - buit that’s just one of a few. We just had an issue with an earthquake power we gave to new character. It turned out that to fully realize it, it would take too long to shoot and reset and do perfectly. So we adapted it slightly (you’ll see to what happens in episode 3)

Aron: Green Lantern. Would love to do something like that, butwe’d just make it look like crap. And I’m fully jealous that one of our own writer’s Michael Green is writing the Green Lantern movie. Jerk.

Kyle asks:

I'm curious as to the Company's founders. How did the remaining four die? What were the other founders' powers? Will we see Arthur Petrelli, possibly in a flashback? I find that this group was very cool.

We will see Arthur in a flashback by episode 8 this year. As far as a flashback episode of the company founders - it’s already happened in an alternate universe. Episode 15 of season 2, “1977” was to do exactly that. Powers in the time of Disco. Angela and Arthur Petrelli. But now it’s up for grabs. Fan-fictioners, start your engines.

Xyvri asks:

The online comics provided a fascinating back story for The Haitian. Will his beginnings at the company be explored more in season three; what developments can we expect to see with his character in the upcoming season?

Tim Kring (OFL) has been known to call the Haitian the heart of this show. He’s the closest to a classically mythological character as we have. And we will most certainly be delving a little more into his life and character this season.

LM has the following for you:

One of the most compelling storylines of season two was Angela, Matt and Nathan. One of the things that really saddened me about a truncated season two was the loss of finding out more about the previous generation. Can you give us any insight into what we can expect in that area? I know many of the fans really want to meet young Angela and Arthur Petrelli. Any way we will see the elders when they were optimistic young heroes, before the madness took them over -- the ultimate cautionary tale for our band of heroes. Angela is such a fascinating character who I believe loves her children, but seems to believe in the company doctrine over her own feelings. I hope you will delve more into that. Long story short: more Angela.

You want more Angela? Done.

(and see above re: “1977”)

Mdiogorp - sorry, there was no name included other than an e-mail address - asked:

Will we ever see Claire's Mom, Meredith Gordon, again? She had a wonderful power and now that Claire might have lost both her dads, it would be interesting to learn about her. It’s ironic that all of “Origins” had nothing about her. It also seems in the future, “Five Years Gone,” when Peter and Syler face off, Peter may have come in contact with her since he now has her power.”

Interesting - did he actually get her power from her, or are we forgetting someone else who may have contributed that power to Peter’s repertoire?

You want Merideth Gordon Back? Really? What would we do with her? Bring her back so Claire can bond with her biological mom about having powers while she pushes her own mother aside - because of their biological difference? Where’s the drama there? (and in case you don’t get sarcasm, stay tuned)

(and Peter absolutely got his power from her - great pick-up)

Spoiler Alert: New 'Heroes' villain explains her arrival

In a whoosh of air, she will appear. Back in May, Heroes fan sites were aflutter over news that actress Brea Grant (most recently seen nearly stealing Landry's heart from Tyra on Friday Night Lights) would be joining the series' third season (premieres Sept. 22) as a new character named Daphne, a.k.a. the Speedster. Grant has just revealed to EW.com what Speedster's dramatic entrance will be like. "Anytime I come into a room, basically you see this wave of air blown on everybody and then I'm just standing there because I'm so fast you can hardly see me when I move," she explains of her superpower. "You meet my character for the first time when I steal something from Hiro that he needs for his quest this season." That doesn't mean, however, that Hiro is the only hero she'll encounter. "Her interest is not specifically with Hiro," Grant says cryptically. "I think that's why she'll run into a lot more people — she's feeling a lot of stuff toward someone else. That's all I can tell you!"

It's been unclear how long Speedster would stay on the show, but Grant discloses that she's currently shooting the sixth episode of the season. "I'll be around for actually quite a bit longer." And will her villainous character remain a baddie? "I start off pretty bad, but there are some times when I have to make choices, you know, you can be worse, you can be better," Grant says. "It's just this whole idea of being a bad guy. You'll see some of your favorite characters have to do some things they don't want to do."