12:31 pm: TV/movie/comic-writer/producer extraordinaire Jeph Loeb takes the podium and excitedly intros "Heroes." They're going to show us the "director's cut" of the pilot, a version he stresses won't ever be shown again! (And not a TiVo in sight!) He also mentions that he left "Lost" to be a part of this show, i.e. it's that good. (I should also note that there's at least 2,000 people in attendance, with another 600 or so having been turned away at the door.)

12:36 pm: Before the screening though we meet creator Tim Kring, artist Tim Sale (whose paintings are used throughout the show) and the cast - all but two of which (Greg Grunberg, Hayden Panettiere) are present (they're off actually shooting the show, the slackers). Milo Ventimiglia and Masi Oka however show their solidarity by wearing T-shirts that say "Grunberg Is My Hero" and "Hayden Is My Hero" respectively.

12:39 pm: And so to much applause the pilot begins and hey - it's nothing like the screener I saw! Actually all of the original pilot's scenes are present but they've cut in a major subplot that intros Grunberg's character - Matt Parkman, a sad sack L.A. cop who can hear people's thoughts - as well as a new thread regarding another guy with mysterious powers named Sylar (not confirmed but I believe it's Miguel Ferrer in a voice cameo) whom Sendhil Ramamurthy's character tracks down. (Still no Leonard Roberts though.) All in all, it's about 15 minutes of new footage and it without a doubt adds a lot to the show, providing a new sense of urgency to the proceedings as well as tying together several other subplots. I won't spoil all the specifics here, but for those who really want to know check out the tag at the bottom of the page.

1:50 pm: As you'd expect with this audience, the pilot goes over like gangbusters. Masi Oka's Hiro Nakamura - a Japanese corporate drone who discovers he can bend space and time - appears to be the breakout character. There wasn't a scene with him that didn't feature the audience laughing and/or cheering.

1:51 pm: Gah! There's only 10 minutes left at the panel! It looks like it will run long, making my trek over to the "Battlestar Galactica" panel at 2:00 pm quite the last-minute ordeal.

1:52 pm: Kring, Loeb and co. re-emerge in time to take a few questions.

1:53 pm: When asked about "what's the deal" with her character (whose mirror image seemly has killed a pair of thugs in the pilot), Ali Larter explains: "What the producers have hinted at is that there's actually going to be a duality in my personality. And [it] could possibly be a separate molecular human being, or a doppelganger or it could just be I'm some sort of sociopath." That's right folks - she used molecular, doppelganger and sociopath all in the same sentence - I'm officially in love with Ali.

1:56 pm: A fan asks if Masi - who speaks only in Japanese in the pilot - is fluent in said language, he responds: "[Insert lengthy sentence in Japanese here] ...and that's how the season ends."

1:58 pm: Kring is asked if he's got a multi-year plan for the show and if he has any reservations about killing off characters. A blunt Kring says, "The truth is we'll be on as long as we can stay on. There is no set ending. We're not setting up a central premise where there's an end point. As long as the stories keep on revolving around these characters then we can spin those stories out forever."

2:01 pm: A young girl asks where she can get a "Grunberg Is My Hero" T-shirt, to which Milo takes off his own and throws it to the girl. The audience explodes. Seriously, can the cast of "Heroes" be my friends?

2:05 pm: Grunberg has texted Milo from the set of "Heroes," which in turn he reads to the crowd: "I wish I was there but I'm making superhero magic on the set right now, looking strapping, making super love to the camera, giving some superheroic dramatic acting and super noshing on the super craft service table... Don't tell Tim I was noshing on craft service. Don't believe a word Masi says, he's a big liar. Well I miss you Comic-Con, let's catch up soon - how about Monday nights at 9 on NBC this fall?" Grunberg and I totally need to go bowling some day.

2:07 pm: When prompted what attracted him to the project, 10-year old Noah Gray-Cabey exclaims: "I'm a 10-year-old who's got superpowers! I was all over this one!"

2:09 pm: Another audience member asks if he can have Ali's shirt. No dice.

?The whole cast, except Greg Grunberg and Hayden Panettiere who had to work that day, went down to San Diego on a bus,? said Ventigmiglia. ?This thing was falling apart and the air conditioning went out. So we were trapped in this thing for two hours, baking. We spent the time laughing and joking about it.

As Pasdar said, ?You get to know really fast just what kind of people you are working with you get stuck in that situation. And we?ve got some great people on the show.?

I FOUGHT ULURU!

Just kidding. But I would like to welcome you to 9thWonders.com. My name is Craig Byrne. Hi!

Having spent the past five years (and counting) bringing people the latest news and information on television's most well-known super-powered hero on KryptonSite.com, I've been looking and hoping for an additional project to get behind. Luckily the stars aligned, or maybe it was a solar eclipse, and I ended up being a part of the team to bring you 9thWonders.com.

Thus far, the experience has been incredible. I can't say enough good things about Tim Kring and his incredibly talented cast and crew. And if you were lucky enough to see the pilot when it was screened at the Comic-Con International in San Diego - you will probably agree that the pilot episode is the start of something really special.

Heroes has something for everyone. There is such a rich assortment of character that it's impossible not to choose a favorite. There is a mystery and a mythology to the series, much like the continuing storyline of a comic book, that I think will have an appeal.

I hope 9thWonders is going to be a fun experience for you, the readers. I'll do my best to keep up with the latest news and information from the world of Heroes, frequently updated so that whenever you come back to the site, you'll see something new.

Browse and you'll come across interviews and character designs. You'll find blogs from the show's creative talents. Hopefully even some spoilers and hints about future episodes, if I can sneak them by the powers that be. But best of all - there will be a forum where some of the cast and crew just may pop in from time to time.

If you have any comments, ideas, or suggestions about what you'd like to see on the website, please feel free to post something in the 9thWonders forum and let me know. Enjoy the site, and remember - Mondays at 9PM starting in September on NBC! Mark your calendar!

-- Craig Byrne