The Upcoming Heroes Reboot Must Fix A Terrible Habit Of The Original Series

Summary Heroes: Eclipsed must avoid drastic character shifts to maintain viewer loyalty.

The reboot needs strong character writing to stand out in a competitive media landscape.

Heroes' original flaws, including jarring character changes, must be addressed for Eclipsed to succeed.

In April 2024, it was confirmed that Heroes' creator Tim Kring is returning to the world of his superhero drama series with a reboot, Heroes: Eclipsed. Set an unspecified number of years after the events of the original show, a new cast of evolved humans will grapple with their suddenly discovered powers. While the 13-episode reboot has plenty of Heroes problems to fix, it's also being released in a very different media landscape. In the wake of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) rise (and recent missteps), the comic book-inspired show has new pop-cultural terrain to navigate.

When the four-season Heroes first debuted in 2006, its premise was novel in the world of mainstream television. In the show, a group of ordinary people suddenly discover latent superhuman abilities. While many of them band together to prevent catastrophe, others are seduced by their newfound powers. Initially, Kring designed the award-winning series to accommodate an ever-changing cast of original Heroes characters. After realizing how popular personalities like Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), and Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) were, Kring changed his tune. Still, the series didn't completely shift to meet viewers' expectations.

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The New Heroes Reboot Must Avoid The Drastic Character Changes From The Original Series

Viewers Prize Consistency When It Comes To Characters

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So far, Heroes: Eclipsed has confirmed very few details. While its premise remains familiar to the original series, the reboot will likely introduce a new primary cast of characters. That said, Kring has teased the possibility of pre-existing Heroes characters joining the fray in Eclipsed. Regardless of which franchise favorites or newbies appear on-screen, Heroes: Eclipsed needs to address one of the original series' biggest issues: the show's tendency to have characters change on a dime. Every new season of the original Heroes featured numerous plot twists, but it was the jarring character shifts that were difficult to believe.

[Plot twists] that completely upended a character's motivations or personality stuck out.

Across four seasons, many of Heroes' primary characters waffled between being good super-powered denizens and outright villains. Peter Petrelli, a hospice nurse able to mimic the super-abilities of others, is a prime example of this flip-flopping. At times, other apparent allies were revealed to have been secretly evil the whole time. The mileage of these often-jarring plot twists ranged, but those that completely upended a character's motivations or personality stuck out. If anything, Heroes: Eclipsed should learn not to rush into storylines that alter its characters' core tenants.

Related Heroes' Second Reboot In 9 Years Is The Last Chance To Fix Season 2's Infamous Mistakes The upcoming Heroes revival might be the last chance for the Tim Kring-created superhero franchise to make up for the flaws of season 2.

Why Heroes' Character Shifts Didn't Work For The Original Show

Sudden Changes To Heroes' Characters Were Jarring

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With plenty of unresolved Heroes questions to answer, the reboot already has a lot to juggle alongside whatever fresh stories and characters it doles out. That said, sudden character shifts won't do the upcoming Heroes: Eclipsed any favors. As seen in the original series, characters who waffle between good and evil or stray suddenly from core aspects of their personality become less well-defined — and less believable. In its earliest seasons, Heroes questioned what would happen to normal people who became super-powered. Unfortunately, poor characterization completely muddles this exploration.

It's completely valid for characters to change over time, [but] Eclipsed shouldn't rush these threads...

Not only do sudden character shifts impact the person in question, but they also harm the overall story at hand. If several characters are all going through something similar, or boast similar motivations, it becomes harder to buy into the world of Heroes. Humans are unique — and characters need to feel distinct in order to mimic that reality. Heroes: Eclipsed needs well-defined characters with strong personalities in order to succeed. And while it's completely valid for characters to change over time, Eclipsed shouldn't rush these threads like the original series so often did.

Related Heroes' Latest Reboot Comes At The Worst Possible Time - And That's Why I Can't Wait Heroes is plotting a comeback as Heroes: Eclipsed, and while this comes at the worst possible time, there's still reason to be excited for the reboot.

The Heroes Reboot Needs Strong Character Writing To Succeed

There's A Lot Riding On The Cast Of Heroes: Eclipsed

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Notably, Heroes was canceled after just four seasons. Despite starting out incredibly strong, the show's viewership took a nosedive as the series progressed. While some of that drop in ratings stemmed from the series' tonal shifts, the character shifts also factored into the seasons' dip in quality. That said, Heroes: Eclipsed needs to introduce — and stick with — a strong cast of characters if it plans to breathe fresh life into the franchise. Unique characters can help set the show apart from other superhero fare, especially in a media landscape that includes acclaimed series like The Boys and Invincible.

Heroes is now streaming on Peacock and Amazon Prime Video.