Heroes Reborn (miniseries)

Plot

According to the official synopsis, the miniseries will "reconnect with the basic elements of the show's first season" in which ordinary people discover that they have special abilities. A six-chapter prequel web-based series titled Dark Matters was released on July 9, 2015, to introduce the new characters and story lines.

The series takes place one year after a terrorist attack in Odessa, Texas. The government blames those with extraordinary abilities ("Evolved humans", or "Evos"), who are forced into hiding when vigilantes systematically hunt and kill them. Two such killers, Luke and Joanne Collins, are seeking revenge for the son they lost at the Odessa bombing.

Noah Bennet is also in hiding, but is found by the conspiracy theorist Quentin Frady, who tries to show him the truth behind the Odessa tragedy. Meanwhile, new characters are discovering their own unique abilities. In Illinois, Tommy tries to live a normal life with his dream girlfriend, Emily, after being forced to move and change his name to hide his powers. In Tokyo, Miko is looking for her missing father, but her quest to find him could prove deadly. A new hero is emerging in Los Angeles through Carlos, a former soldier whose brother (an Evo) tried to protect people with powers. Malina is an innocent teenager who, although inexperienced with her powers, has a great destiny. Meanwhile, in the shadows, Erica Kravid, the head of the highly successful tech conglomerate Renautas, has acquired Primatech with dark goals.

As the number of Evos grows, some heroes of the past, including Hiro Nakamura, Matt Parkman, Mohinder Suresh, The Haitian René, Angela Petrelli, Micah Sanders, and Molly Walker, cross paths with the new, emerging Evos. Together, they must save the world from a geomagnetic reversal that will leave the planet vulnerable to lethal solar radiation.

Heroes creator Tim Kring said in interviews that, rather than a direct continuation, Heroes Reborn takes place considerably after the events of the original series. He stated that "This is not the fifth season, this is actually the 10th season".

Broadcast

In Canada, the series was simulcast with the American broadcast. In Australia, the series began airing on September 30, 2015. The first two episodes that aired in Australia received 444,000 and 372,000 viewers respectively. The series started broadcasting in the UK from February 16, 2016.

Reception

Heroes Reborn received mixed-to-negative reviews from television critics, with a critic score of 53 out of 100 on Metacritic. On Rotten Tomatoes it received a 43% fresh rating, where it was criticized for overuse of special effects and melodrama.

About the show's reception, Kring said: "Well, when you make a show like that, I was adamant about that show being a thirteen-episode event series, and having a closed-ended quality to it. I had always felt that one of the issue with HEROES was the ongoing nature of it was difficult to sustain, so I really loved the idea that this was a thirteen-episode event series, and when it was over, it was over. I don’t know that the audience ever really understood that that was the initial plan from the very beginning. So I think that it got a little confusing for the audience as to whether it was a reboot of HEROES, or whether it was just an event series. As much as we tried to say it every time in the press, I think that message may not have completely come through, that it was always intended to come to an end. So in terms of how it wrapped up, I feel a little remorse that I think a lot of people didn’t understand that it was supposed to wrap up when it did. We actually really felt very good about what we accomplished with the thirteen episodes.

Home media releases

Heroes Reborn - Event Series was released on DVD and Blu-ray disc on April 12, 2016 in Region 1 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment.