(CBR) Zachary Quinto and Ali Larter don”t want to return to “Heroes,” and that works just fine for creator Tim Kring.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the “Heroes: Reborn” mastermind opened up about his plans for the resurrected superhero series, stressing that he plans to emphasize a new cast of heroes and villains – with the exception of a handful of veterans returning to the mix, like Jack Coleman as Noah Bennet.
“The vast, vast majority are brand new characters, brand new ideas,” Kring said about the new incarnation, which is set in a post-Season 4 universe where the existence of super-powered people became public knowledge. “[Bringing back previous characters is] really only to give a sense of continuity and a tether to the original world. If it was all completely brand new, we”d miss certain elements that need to be there to give you that bridge to cross to something new. I approached Coleman because he was a character who had a spine through the series that allowed you to meet new characters. So he”s a character I wanted to make sure had a little part at the beginning of this thing.”
Kring addressed some of the criticisms leveled at “Heroes” as well, saying he wouldn”t have returned to the franchise all these years later without the right idea at the right time.
“To be honest, it wasn”t a pitch from me, it was a pitch from NBC to me,” he said. “They saw the value in that franchise and brand and asked if I was interested in helming it again. And we had left the story in a place where we had more story to tell. So given the opportunity, I had ideas of where I wanted the story to go originally when we were hoping for a fifth season and so when we were given the opportunity five years later, some of those same thoughts were there as to where this story goes. But five years had passed and I also had new ideas on how to reboot the brand in a way that gives people a whole fresh take on the series with a whole host of new characters but gives you that sense of you”re in that world of 'Heroes' you”re familiar with.”
“Heroes: Reborn” premieres in 2015.