Dedicated fans packed Ballroom 20 starting Saturday morning, sitting through the panels for Bionic Woman and the TV Guide hot list in order to secure seats for the third session of the day honoring Heroes.

Hey guys, it's in the headline, and this is about Season Two. Need I warn you that there are spoilers ahead?

While lengthy, the Heroes panel was hilarious and chock full of information, including the announcment that Kevin Smith will direct the first episode of Origins. I promise a full accounting of the entire panel later when I have a chance to take a breath and find a wall outlet for my poor laptop, but in the meantime, here are some highlights I was able to throw together during the session.

News - Beyond Dania Ramirez (X-men: The Last Stand), glimpsed in Season One, joining the cast as Maya, creator Tim Kring assured a feminist fan that at least one more female character who wasn't a cheerleader or stripper would be added to the show. The newcomer named Monica is "from the flood-ravaged area of New Orleans."

Fans also got to see a teaser of Volume Two (Season Two) which included, but is not limited to:
- Peter looking scared in a corner
- Sylar looking, well, creepy
- Claire cutting off her own toe (yeah, it's as disturbing as it sounds)
- more historical Japan and samurais
- one samurai removes his helmet and mask to reveal a distinctly Caucasian face that looks a lot like David Anders (Sark from Alias)
- Parkman caring for the little girl
- Mama Petrelli hassling a still-bearded Nathan
- Separately, Hiro and Mohinder being badass and mean to someone
- Ando looking cool in a black suit

I'm not certain if glimpses of Peter and Sylar necessarily mean that they're alive (since it could just be flashbacks or alternate timelines), but the presence of both Milo Ventimiglia  and Zachary Quinto on the Comic-Con panel bodes well for the survival of their characters. Also showing their shining faces were creator Tim Kring, co-executive producer/writer Jeph Loeb, artist Tim Sale, Jack Coleman (HRG/Noah Bennet), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah Sanders), Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman), Ali Larter (Niki Sanders/Jessica), James Kyson Lee (Ando Masahashi), Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura), Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder) and Dania Ramirez (Maya).

Also, it appears that Hiro may get another chance at love, and that Suresh won't be dying anytime soon.

When asked if Hiro and Ando were depicted as asexual or gay because they didn't have any romances on the show, Oka just commented, "Wait till Season Two." At another point in the session, Ramamurthy promises, "I bring something personal into the 5th episode of the 2nd season, so stay tuned ... assuming that I'm alive."

T-shirts: The must-have item this fall

While the ladies looked elegant in their simple dresses, many of the men opted to wear personalized t-shirts:

Tim Sale - self-designed shirt for The Killing Floor, which, according to various sources, is either his long-awaited creator-owned series following different heroes on their adventures OR an adaptation of the first book in Lee Child's "Jack Reacher" series
Masi Oka - white T with "Hayden is my hero" on it.
Jack Coleman - white T with "I'm just a paper salesman" and a crude illustration of horn-rimmed glasses on it
Greg Grunberg - black T with "Milo is my hero" on it; *Note: This shirt was also signed by the cast and subsequently given to one fan's wife. Greg pulled off the shirt at the panel, revealing an identical (but unsigned) one beneath it.

Memories ... of the way we were

The cast and crew reminisced on their personal Season One highlights:

Lee: All the stuff in Las Vegas was fun ... everything in Japan obviously ... Linderman's archive
Gray-Cabey: When we went to this shack when DL had been shot the first time ...
Ramamurthy: ... My fondest memory is just being alive at the end of it.
Grunberg: Five years in the future when I got to be a badass
Pasdar: Being around at the end of it was certainly a highlight
Oka: Being here back at Comic-Con, where we started.
Panettiere: Jumping out that window. I was all set to do it, very confident. But when I went to do it, Adrian started freaking out ... Jumping out through a window, doing a flip on the other side in 4-inch heels was a good memory.
Ventimiglia: Being a total badass in the future and totally stopping Greg Grunberg's badass advances ... and being covered head to toe in blood
Larter: ... emotional scenes with my son and being able to kick ass as Jessica
Quinto: One word: sylinder. Also,  [when I] telekinetically shot Greg Grunberg in the chest four times and then being hit in the chest with the parking meter.
Coleman: Episode 11 when I went from guest star to series regular
Sale: The first time we saw Isaac's loft ... my stuff in there ...
Kring: A year ago at Comic-Con when we showed the pilot in a room like this

Miscellaneous hijinks seen and heard:

- Oka crawling beneath the table to try and fix the sound system
- Danny Bonaduce asking the panel a question and then commenting, "When they cancel that hit show, the rest of your life kinda sucks for a while."
- Oka says a few words in Japanese, which Pasdar jokingly translates: "Masi said a little known fact. What he did bring from his personal life to the character is that Masi Oka likes to go commando."
- Panettiere's wish for Claire: "I'd like to kick someone's butt. Instead of someone killing me, I'd like to kill somjeone else."
- Ramamurthy calling Grunberg "Grunny"
- Grunny commenting, "Could I just say that being this close to Sendhil, he is a gorgeous. It's crazy." Which caused Ramamurthy to passionately "fake kiss" Grunberg

Miscellaneous show stuff:

- Online contest winners: graphic novel artist - Andrew Chandler; music video contest - Destiny Calls
- Alex Ross and Jim Lee will do the covers for the Heroes graphic novel, coming this fall
- The Season One DVD will hit stores on Aug. 28
- Season Two will return on Sept. 24 and will run for 11 consecutive weeks

Whew! Any thoughts?

Comments

So, if I'm remembering correctly that Tim Kiring said that somebody definitely died in the season one finale, and if Peter, Nathan, Sylar, and Parkman are all accounted for, does this mean that DL was the one who kicked the bucket?

Rorshach | Jul 28, 2007 5:30:14 PM | #

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Didn't Linderman die in the finale? Unless Kring specifically was referring to a regular - he could get away with all the regulars surviving.

Rishi | Jul 29, 2007 4:49:57 AM | #

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Any pics of Skeet Ulrich -- that man is a sexy beast.

jerichofan | Jul 29, 2007 11:24:29 AM | #

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