Are you ready for another solar eclipse?
One of the most polarizing series of the last 20 years is staging a comeback.
Deadline reports that Heroes creator Tim Kring is prepping a follow-up to the 2006-10 series.
This time, a new crop of evos awaken and discover their powers after a solar eclipse.
The good news is that it won’t be rewriting history. It will share a universe with the original series and the 2015 limited series reboot, Heroes: Reborn.
Picking up years later makes us wonder which original stars could stop by for a cameo.
This is the second time Heroes has returned
Heroes: Reborn brought back Jack Coleman as Noah Bennett, serving as connective tissue between the two series.
Heroes was a massive success story for NBC in its initial run, which focused on a group of people awakening with powers after a solar eclipse.
Fans connected with the “Save the cheerleader, save the world” marketing, which helped the series get off the ground running.
Hayden Panettiere played the cheerleader who couldn’t die. The role propelled the actress to stardom and paved the way for roles in Nashville and Scream 4.
Although Heroes: Reborn focused on two of her children, she didn’t reprise her role, despite hopes from the passionate fan base.
The original Heroes featured many big names
The cast also included Santiago Cabrera, Tawny Cypress, Noah Gray-Cabey, Greg Gunberg, Ali Larter, Masi Oka, Adrian Pasdar, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Milo Ventimiglia, Kristen Bell, and Zachary Quinto.
The sci-fi drama featured plenty of big names throughout its time on the air, but the show could never recapture the success of the red-hot freshman season.
The second season failed to keep up the pace due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike impacting how many episodes could be produced for the season.
Many storylines didn’t get the payoff that fans expected, and the ratings quickly tanked.
Despite faltering numbers, NBC kept the show around for another two seasons before swinging the axe and leaving plenty of cliffhangers unresolved.
Heroes: Reborn delivered a self-contained story
That could explain why Heroes: Reborn featured a self-contained storyline that was resolved at the end of the season.
Any return to the universe comes with some significant caveats, but the TV industry has changed in the years since franchise has been dormant.
One of the biggest hurdles for Heroes was trying to sustain storylines for more than 20 episodes each season.
Nowadays, networks are embracing shorter episode orders, and the Heroes franchise could resonate on a streaming platform where the episodes are made available simultaneously globally.
Is now the right time to bring back Heroes?
That said, high-concept dramas are typically canceled nowadays before reaching their full potential.
NBC canceled Manifest at the close of its third season, but its success on Netflix triggered the streaming platform to order a fourth and final season.
Bringing Heroes back will be an uphill battle, but if Kring and his creative team can nail a storyline that offers something new for the franchise, people will likely tune in.
Heroes Seasons 1-4 and Heroes: Reborn are available to stream on Peacock.