Most comic book fans have fond memories of Heroes, the NBC series about ordinary people with powers. Heroes gained a strong fanbase during its first year due to its intriguing, comic book-esque storylines and cast of colorful characters. Heroes drew heavily from comic books and even hired comics artist Tim Sale to provide numerous pieces of original art used in the TV series. Unfortunately, Heroes faltered during its second season (in part due to a writer’s strike) and NBC cancelled the show a few years later.
With reboots and revivals in vogue right now in Hollywood, NBC announced it would return to the world of Heroes with Heroes Reborn, a 13 episode miniseries set several years after the end of the original series. While most of the cast of Heroes Reborn are new characters to the Heroes universe, several characters are returning from the original series, including fan favorites Noah Bennet (the horn-rimmed glasses wearing father of cheerleader Claire Bennet) and Hiro (the time traveling Japanese nerd who becomes a kitana wielding hero with a strong sense of right and wrong). Heroes Reborn begins in just a few weeks and to celebrate, we’ve compiled a list of five of our favorite moments from the original series.
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Save the Cheerleader, Save the World
Heroes quickly rose to popularity in part due to its distinctive catchphrase “Save the cheerleader, save the world”, which referred to Sylar’s quest to kill Claire Bennet for her regenerative powers. The show first used the phrase early in the fifth episode when Peter Petrelli meets a future version of Hiro Nakamura on a frozen in time subway train. Future Hiro warned Peter of an upcoming disaster and set him on the path to rescuing Claire Bennet from the murderous power stealing Sylar.
Hiro and Peter’s first meeting was significant in that it not only tied three of the show’s plotlines together for the first time, it also hooked viewers with the promise of a world changing disaster and a heroic quest for Peter. Plus, the contrast between the dorky present day Hiro with little control over his powers and the time traveling katana wielding future Hiro was an awesome way to tease the future even more. Speaking of future Hiro, teasers for Heroes Reborn hint that we may be seeing more of him (or maybe just a grown up version of present day Hiro) in the new miniseries.
Future Nathan Isn’t Who He Says He Is
After Hiro and Ando travel forward in time five years, they saw a world changed from an explosion that destroyed part of New York. Several characters, led by now president Nathan Petrelli, were hunting people with powers, now considered dangerous in the aftermath of the explosion. However, “Nathan” was actually Sylar, using illusionary powers to mask his true identity.
While Hiro and Peter prevented that future from coming to pass, the show still foreshadowed Nathan’s eventual demise at the hands of Sylar several seasons later. Not wanting to lose her son, Nathan’s mother Angela used telepathic detective Matt Parkman to erase Sylar’s personality and memory and subconsciously force Sylar to assume Nathan’s appearance and personality. The ruse worked for the better part of Heroes‘ final season, until Sylar finally regained his sense of self, “killing” Nathan once and for all.
Hiro Meets His Mother
Much of the third season of Heroes focused on a formula that could give ordinary people powers, which could be activated by a “Catalyst” that resided inside a human host. Although most suspect Claire to be the catalyst, a time traveling and partially amnesiac Hiro learned that his mother Ishi was the power’s original host. Using her own abilities to restore Hiro’s memories, Ishi then passed the catalyst to Hiro before collapsing and dying in his arms.
Noah Bennet Chooses His Daughter Over the Company
Noah Bennet, Claire’s adopted father, first appeared on Heroes as a shadowy antagonist hunting people with powers for a mysterious company. However, Bennet’s paternal side came to the forefront in “Company Man” when he chose to place his adopted daughter into hiding rather than turn her over to his associates after she used her powers to save her family in a hostage situation. In a scene that mirrored his earlier betrayal of his partner Claude, Bennet took Claire to a remote bridge and gave her to the Haitian to lead her into hiding. Bennet then had the Haitian shoot him and erase his memory to prevent his superiors from learning the truth. Many consider Bennet’s sacrifice to be one of the high points of Heroes and “Company Man” to be the best episode of the show.
Peter and Hiro Fight
Although Peter Petrelli and Hiro were allies and friends for most of Heroes, the show’s two main protagonists squared off against each other in the finale of the second season. After seeing a future in which a deadly artificial virus had killed most of humanity, Peter traveled to the Company to destroy the virus with the help of Adam Monroe, an immortal healer who secretly wanted to use the virus to destroy humanity. Monroe had previously murdered Hiro’s father, who was a founding member of the Company, out of revenge for imprisoning him after failing to release the virus several decades ago. As Peter and Monroe arrived at the Company’s headquarters in Texas, Hiro froze time around them, ready to kill Monroe. Peter moved to protect his supposed ally, and the two entered into an epic battle which Peter eventually won. However, Peter’s brother Nathan later convinced Peter of Monroe’s true intentions, and Hiro and Peter would reconcile and stop Adam from his plot to kill mankind.
