Anyone who's spent time speculating about the upcoming revival event miniseries (etc.) Heroes Reborn has probably made assumptions about which familiar faces we’ll see. Will Sylar return? Will Claire leave her second job in Nashville to become the world’s most important former cheerleader? Fans of a particular brand of eyewear will be pumped to know that Jack Coleman has officially signed on as the first returning cast member, reprising his fan-favorite role of Company man Noah Bennet.
Having started the series off as a recurring character – the seemingly evil, temporarily unnamed Horn-Rimmed Glasses (HRG) – Coleman was quickly brought on as a regular, and went on to do all kinds of world-saving during the four years that Heroes aired on NBC. When we last saw him, he was watching his daughter Claire leap off of a Ferris wheel in full public view of reporters and photographers, pretty much solidifying an exceedingly complicated future for the titular heroes. Of course, NBC cancelled the increasingly ridiculous series a few months after its Season 4 finale, which to me worked to make the ending that much more effective.
Unfortunately, there are no definitive details about where the Heroes Reborn plot is headed during its 13 episodes, as creator Tim Kring & Co. have been keeping a tight lid on things. We know that they’re returning to basics here, trying to recapture the feel of Season 1’s “regular people finding out they have powers” storyline. Unclear, though, is whether this happens immediately after the events of the finale, or if they’re going to put some time in between seasons.
According to Deadline, NBC has reached out to Zachary “Sylar” Quinto and Milo “Peter” Ventimiglia, but neither is available right now. Presumably due to scheduling issues, as both are busy with other projects. Somehow I bet they show up in one form or another, along with Masi “Hiro” Oka and James “Ando” Kyson.
Coleman has been all over TV in the four years since Heroes left the air. He’s had recurring roles on The Office, Burn Notice and Scandal, and he appeared on Castle just last month. He starred in the NBC megachurch pilot Salvation, but the network decided not to go with it. 2015 will see Coleman making the rare double leap into features, as he'll be seen in both Kellie Madison’s Mars simulation mission thriller The Tank and Eric Bilitch’s emotionally fraught Marine drama The Submarine Kid.
Chances are, neither of those movies will present Coleman in a light that prompts someone to make a video like the one below, which is a montage of Noah Bennet moments set to the tune of Limp Bizkit’s “Behind Blue Eyes” cover. (The uploader was apparently shocked to find that no one on YouTube had made this video by the end of the third episode, an admission almost as hilarious as the clip itself.)
Heroes Reborn is set to air at some point in 2015. Once I get my “knowledge of all TV show premiere” power restored, I’ll be back with something more specific.
