Heroes Reborn: Event Series

The original Heroes offered a high-concept take on the comic book superhero genre, putting ordinary people with immense, inexplicable powers in a real-world setting. It was a pop culture sensation that failed to sustain the creative energy and compelling storytelling of its initial season and eventually lost its following, cancelled after four seasons. Heroes Reborn is a miniseries set years later, after the existence of gifted humans throughout society has been revealed. It opens with a terrorist attack by a notorious activist Evo (as the super-powered humans are called)—or so everyone believes. The resulting climate of fear drives Evos into hiding, while human strike forces hunt them for revenge. Only a few of the characters from the original series return, most prominently Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman), who uncovers a conspiracy masterminded by the power-hungry Erica (Rya Kihlstedt), a human framing the Evos for the explosion. An impending solar flare could destroy all life on Earth unless the Evos intervene, but Erika has a plan to create a new civilization in the future and she kidnaps Evos in order to execute it. An epic story of cosmic dimensions with a vast cast of new characters—human and Evo both—the show is reasonably interesting but failed to connect with audiences and did not revive the series. Presenting all 13 episodes from 2015-16, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes, and deleted scenes. Likely to still be of interest to fans of the original, this is a strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)