As fans brace themselves for Heroes Season 3, several of the major players for the show have been doing their part to promote. Recently Heroes Creator Tim Kring and one of its stars, Zachary Quinto (Sylar) sat down with The Deadbolt in a revealing interview. Topics touched upon were Sylar's presence for Season 3, the concept of dysfunctional families, and lingering questions in the Heroes world.

Tim Kring on how questions will be answered:

"Some of those questions will linger a little bit. But, actually, by the end of the third hour of the show you have kind of mosted those. I mean one of the goals of this season was, because we had been off the air for - we'll have been off the air for nine months - we didn’t want to drag a lot of story behind us. We didn’t want to feel like you had to have watched two years of this show to catch up. So we wanted to answer things really quickly so that you could move forward on this volume and have a kind of clean path in front of you. So there really are not a lot of lingering questions that you carry with you from before. The goal for us, from now on with these volumes, is to try and answer literally ninety five percent of the questions that are posed in the beginning of the volume [that] will be answered by the end of the volume. This particular volume, 'Villains', is thirteen episodes long."

Read the full interview at The Deadbolt.

Milo Ventimiglia also sat down with canmag.com to discuss Heroes Season 3. In his interview, Ventimiglia sort of kicks around the same idea that Kring does, saying there's a good and bad side to each of them. Also the interview discusses the reunion of the brothers Petrelli, and a discussion of the death of characters.

Ventimiglia says:

"Villains" seems to promise more screen time for the likes of Sylar, but Ventimiglia also reminded fans that it could reveal some new sides to other characters. "I think there's definitely a light and dark side to everybody. It just depends on what kind of situation we find ourselves in to bring that out. So we're walking in shadow or walking through the light."

Read Milo Ventimiglia's interview at canmag.com

In another note regarding the upcoming season (which starts 9.22), iTunes has re-aligned itself with NBC to add Heroes into its downloadable TV show content. In addition to Heroes, other NBC shows such as The Office, 30 Rock and Monk. Also, High-Def programs will be offered at the iTunes store, in conjunction with a brand new release of the Apple iTunes software, which debuted this past Tuesday.

Read more about Heroes and the new version of iTunes here.

Hate to say it but we're all still awaiting Season 3 of Heroes. To pass the time, there's several movies out and coming up in which we can see our favorite cast members as they play different sorts of characters. Here's what our Heroes' stars are up to prior to Season 3 coming back to NBC.

Everyone's favorite blonde electrocutioner, Elle (Kristen Bell) is currently starring in "Forgetting Sara Marshall", which is tagged as the "ultimate romantic disaster movie". Bell plays Sarah Marshall, the TV star who just broke the heart of her ex, who is ironically named Peter. Peter travels to an exotic resort to take his mind off her, but Sarah travels to the same resort with her new boyfriend. None of us could forget Elle, let alone the Peter from Heroes. There's been some on and off rumors that Bell would not return to be in Season 3 of Heroes, however she seemed to confirm on Entertainment Tonight that she has 5 episodes to film for Season 3. For more info on Bell's curent movie, see the Sarah Marshall IMDB entry.

Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) will be appearing in a suspense psychological crime thriller called "Pathology" which is coming to theaters next Friday. The story synopis: A group of medical students devise a deadly game: to see which one of them can commit the perfect murder. The tagline - "No body is safe". Milo plays the character of Ted Grey. More info at Pathology on IMDB.

Hayden Panettierre (Miss Claire Bennet) will be appearing in two movies at some point this year. "Fireflies in the Garden" is a semi-autobiography about love and commitment in a family torn apart by tragedy. The movie includes Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds and Carrie-Anne Moss, with no release date listed. Hayden will also star in "Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil", but in this one she lends her voice to the character of "Red". It's all about fairy tales and involves Red Riding Hood and the Wolf going to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Hansel & Gretel. More info at IMDB

It's already well known that Zachary Quinto (Heroes' Sylar) will have the future role of a good guy who already has plenty of brain power. Quinto will play a younger version of the highly intelligent vulcan, Mr. Spock in the upcoming Star Trek movie which also stars Eric Bana, Winona Ryder and Leonard Nimoy (the original Spock). The next Trek is currently in post-production and is due out May 8, 2009, well after Season 3 of Heroes has ended. See more at the Star Trek IMDB page.

Season 3 of Heroes has been confirmed for a return to TV on September 15, 2008. The countdown continues...

Note: IMDB has a page up for Heroes Episode 3.1 with a mistaken September 7, 2008 return date but no further details other than all of the cast members listed.

CoolToyReview.com has a preview of the Heroes action figures. The figures are developed by Mezco Toyz. As of right now, their site is advertising a Coming Soon as far as pictures and info goes for the product.

The magazine cover shown above is Toyfare Magazine Issue 127 which offers a preview of the figures. Claire definitely looks aged on her doll and Sylar almost seems to resemble Lou Ferrigno, the famous "Incredible Hulk" of yesteryear (1977).

It was rumored earlier last year that McFarlane Toys was in talks with NBC about doing these action figures. Too bad Mezco scooped up the deal!

Heroes star Milo Ventimiglia has quite the acting resume, prior to Heroes. He's been in shows such as Law & Order: SVU, Boston Public, CSI, Gilmore Girls and in the recent Rocky Balboa film. With his down time from Heroes thanks to the recent writers strike, Milo will be working on roles in several upcoming movies.

Pathology is a medical thriller which also stars Michael Weston, Lauren Lee Smith and Alyssa Milano (Charmed). It has the tagline of "No body is safe". The story involves a group of med students as part of an interesting game; to see who can devise the perfect murder. Milo has the lead role in the film as Ted Gray, one of the students. The film will open in 2008. See the movie's IMDB entry here.

Game stars Gerard Butler (of 300), Amber Valetta, John Leguizamo, Ludacris and Kyra Sedgwick. Milo will be a part of the 2009 film which is set in a futuristic world. The premise is a new online-gaming world, where humans control other humans. Milo reportedly plays a futuristic character who isn't quite in control of himself. Not a far stretch for from his role as Peter on Heroes. Game is written by the same guys bringing forth Pathology. See the movie's IMDB entry here.

Chaos Theory is an independent feature "about a guy who leads a very organized life, and someone comes into that life and just sets a downward spiral in motion." This movie which doesn't have an official IMDB entry yet will star Peter as the villain of the movie. He just might have taken some hints from Sylar on this. (Source: ComingSoon)

And in case you missed it, Sylar will be taking the role of Spock in a new Star Trek film (2008).

Milo also has some wacky short films he did for YouTube. Here's one of him with Peanut Butter.

The two most powerful heroes through Season 1 and now into Season 2 are Peter Petrelli and Gabriel Gray, aka "Sylar". Both are on similar paths in Season 2, as they are struggling to regain and use their powers. Peter has amnesia but is able to work powers here and there. Sylar seems to be sick or injured and needs to be cured to regain use of his. This may be a clever budget ploy by the creators of the show, as having these guys able to unleash all powers all season long could really run up the efx budget.

Here's a look at what each guy has in his "superhero arsenal" of powers:

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The Powers of Peter Petrelli

- Ability to "mimic" powers of those he's been near (unknown)
- Ability to paint future events (from Isaac Mendez)
- Dream visions/clarevoyance (from Charles Deveaux/Angela Petrelli?)
- Electricity manipulation/lightning (from Elle)
- Electronics manipulation (from Micah)
- Erase memories (from The Haitian)
- Flight (from his brother Nathan)
- Invisibility (from Claude)
- Liquefacation (from Sylar)
- Mind reading (from Matt Parkman)
- Super hearing (from Sylar)
- Super Strength (from Niki Sanders)
- Phasing/Move through solid objects (from DL Hawkins)
- Regeneration/Self-healing (from Claire)
- Telekinesis (from Sylar)
- Teleportation/Time Travel (from Hiro Nakamura)

Many of the powers on Peter's list have not been displayed but fit the requirements for him to gain them as he was near the person with that power. The question mark is if Peter possesses Molly Walker's power to locate people, because it was made to appear like a "very special power" Molly has. He was in proximity of her during the final showdown with Sylar, end of Season 1, but has not displayed the power yet. Also, Peter was nearby to the Haitian up on the pigeon coop when HRG and Haitian shot tranquilizers at Peter and Claude. Peter has yet to erase anyone's memory, but this may explain why he is having trouble with his own.

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The Powers of Sylar

- Ability to paint future events (from Isaac Mendez, who Sylar killed)
- Illusion (from Candice, has not been displayed)
- Liquefacation (from Zane Taylor)
- Power to freeze (unknown which victim Sylar acquired from, but assumed)
- Radiation manipulation (from Ted Sprague)
- Super hearing (from Dale Smither, mechanic that Sylar killed)
- Telekinesis (from Brian Davis, murdered Episode 1)

Things get interesting in that the Wikipedia entry on Sylar mentions that Sylar may have several unknown powers. He was on a murder spree early during season 1, yet we never were made aware of the victims' powers. Sylar killed both of Molly Walker's parents, but only took the brain of her father. A few of Sylar's victims were found frozen, so it's unknown which murder victim he took that from.

Wikepidia also claims Sylar has Charlie's "super memory" power. To the best of my recollection, Charlie suffered a brain clot that she died from first, when Hiro went back in time to save her. Sylar was unable to take the power of "persuasion" from Eden as she shot herself in the head before he could kill her himself. Sylar also exhibits some sort of "hard to kill" ability, making it possible this is another power he has.

It will be interesting to see what other new powers each guy gains as this season unfolds. And we also anxiously await the next showdown between these two mega forces in the Heroes universe...

NBC's smash hit show Heroes will return for its second Season on September 24th at 9PM EST. If you're just tuning in for Season 2 of Heroes or need a refresher, this is a good primer* for the various heroes and characters you will see on the show.

Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) - ability to remember and use powers of those he comes in contact with. As of the end of Season 1, Peter was a human bomb as he had come in contact with a radioactive hero previously. His brother Nathan flew both he and Peter up into the stratosphere to save New York from the explosion. Peter's status is unknown as of the start of Season 1, as the last we saw from him was a huge explosion up in the air.

Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) - ability of human flight. Nathan won a landslide New York election just before flying his explosive brother out of New York, preventing a massive explosion. Nathan's status is unknown for life/death or injury.

Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) - Matt is a former police detective who has the ability to hear people's thoughts. At the end of season 1, he had tried to shoot supervillain Sylar, but Sylar used telekinesis to throw the bullets back into him. Parkman's status is unknown for life/death or injury.

Niki/Jessica Sanders (Ali Larter) - Niki has a dual-personality she assumed after the death of her sister, Jessica. Jessica often comes out in Niki's personality as the vindictive, greedy individual. Niki/Jessica has the power of superhuman strength and often would fly into blind rages where she blacked out and didn't realize the damange she had caused.

Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabrera) - Micah has the power to manipulate electronics devices. He has been seen making ATM machines spit out money and making broken electronics items work. He also helped to rig/throw the election which Nathan Petrelli won by altering the computer voting system with his power.

DL Hawkins (Leonard Robeters) - Hawkins is the husband of Niki and father of Micah and has the power of phasing (moving himself or body parts through solid objects). At the end of Season 1 he had been shot in the stomach area by villain and mob boss Mr. Linderman. His status is unknown for season 2, but he is not listed amongst the cast members as of this entry.

Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) - Claire has the ability to regenerate/heal from all injuries. Considered the "invincible cheerleader". Claire is also the longtime missing daughter of Nathan Petrelli (niece of Peter) and they had been reunited prior to the finale.

Noah Bennet, HRG (Jack Coleman) - HRG stands for "Horned Rimmed Glasses". Noah was an agent for Primatech, a corporation which was tracking the Heroes and trying to get rid of certain heroes. HRG later ditched his company and teamed up with the heroes to help them in their fight against Sylar. Coleman was injured in the battle against Sylar when Season 1 ended but did not appear in critical or serious condition.

Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) - Hiro has the power of teleportation and time-travel. At the end of season 1, he had stabbed the villain Sylar with his ancient sword, just before Sylar used telekinesis to fling Hiro towards a building. Hiro quickly teleported away and ended up in ancient Japan, amongst Samurai Warriors. It is believed Season 2 will start and take place here for Hiro for a short time.

Sylar/Gabriel Gray (Zachary Quinto) - Sylar was the supervillain and serial killer in season 1. Originally a simple watchmaker, he has the ability to take the powers of heroes by stealing their brains. It is believed he may ingest them to take over their powers. At the end of season 1, Sylar had been beat up and then stabbed through his midsection by Hiro Nakamura. However, Sylar's body was shown missing on the street, with a trail of blood leading to an open manhole.

James Kyson Lee will reprise his role as "Ando" the friend/sidekick of Hiro Nakamura. Ando did not have any known powers in Season 1. He was left in Japan by Hiro Nakamura before Hiro did battle with Sylar. Hiro told Ando they would meet again.

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List of a few of the new cast members/characters for Season 2:

* Takezo Kensei (David Anders), a legendary 1,000 year old warrior.
* Maya Herrera (Dania Ramírez), a Dominican who is on the run from the police. She has superhuman abilities, although they have not yet been revealed.
* Monica Dawson (Dana Davis), described as a "young hero" who is willing to "give up everything to help the people around her." She is a relative of D.L. Hawkins.

Note: Santiago Cabrera (Isaac Mendez), Tawny Cypress (Simone Deveaux), and Leonard Roberts (DL Hawkins) are not listed as part of the main cast.

**There may be other names added into the mix and Heroes we don't see back from the list above.

TMZ.com reported on Hayden Panettiere's big birthday bash as she hit the big 1-8.

From TMZ.com:

"Hayden Panettiere celebrated her 18th birthday -- with 75 of her closest friends. Gimme an H!

Geekdom's favorite cheerleader had a "Heroes"-packed fiesta last night at the LG House in Malibu -- with co-stars Milo Ventimiglia, Adrian Pasdar and Dixie Chick wife Natalie Maines, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Roberts and just added cutie Kristen Bell. Celebuspawn Rumer Willis and Hayden's random family friend Mario Lopez were also spotted leaving the party.

'80s songs and hip-hop were the music of choice at the bash, but the festivities weren't limited to just inside the house -- Panettiere even had an assistant bring out red velvet cake to all the paparazzi waiting outside!"

Amazingly, Sylar and Peter were able to stay civil in the same room. Happy belated birthday to everyone's favorite super cheerleader, the indestructible Claire Bennet.

Even though Heroes still has 1 month before its return, I've been mulling over one aspect of the Finale in my head, and that is the disappearance of Sylar. At the end of the big finale, Sylar gets Hiro's sword driven through his midsection. However, in the aftermath of everything (Nathan flying off with Peter to explode and other Heroes recovering). we saw a trail of blood and a missing Sylar body. Here's a few of the theories regarding this:

1) Sylar escaped on his own - This is the easiest of the theories, basically assuming that Sylar managed to crawl/sneak away from the scene down in the sewers of New York. Perhaps he has use of a power, such as Claude's invisibilty that we don't know about.

2) Someone saved or dragged Sylar down - This is my favorite theory because I want to speculate about a "bad guy alliance". I think this would be great for the plot, and provide all sorts of interesting twists and possibilities. The major suspsects I'd present are Candice, Mr. Linderman, and oh yes, The Boogeyman. A Candice/Sylar union could make for a very interesting fight for the rest of the heroes. And the Boogeyman also...if he can see Molly, maybe he has the ability to see any of the heroes/villains. This could be one ugly and sinister alliance. Linderman may be the least likely to be around as an accomplice/crime boss, but we all know in superhero worlds, villains seldom die the first time, or even the sceond, or third...

3) Sylar has the power to become a cockroach - I saw this on a Myspace forum I believe, and found it quite funny. It wouldn't really explain why we saw the manhole cover open with a trail of blood, but it would provide for why we saw a cockroach. I tend to prefer the cockroach we see more as symbolism that Sylar can't be killed so easy, but quite possibly it's also the Boogeyman.

Heroes will return to NBC for season 2 at the end of next month. Can't wait to see what twists, turns, villains and new heroes are in store for us.

Pre-order Heroes - Season One DVD at Amazon.com.

IGN.com, a video game and entertainment website has 2 video interviews up from Heroes' cast members at San Diego's recent Comic-Con International. The interviews are with Zachary Quinto (Sylar) and James Kyson Lee (Ando).

Zachary Quinto (Sylar) discussed how great the environment has been at the show for Heroes' cast and fans. Quinto said he believe the show has accessible and well-explored characters with universal themes, and that is why the show has been such a success. Quinto said his character, Sylar, was very well-written and everything fell into place to make him such a popular villain. When asked if he was surprised he survived the Season finale, Quinto said he was glad to survive, but already knew he was scheduled for another season. He said his character's situation will play into the second season nicely and that Heroes will open with a smash and hit the ground running in season 2. Quinto also discussed his upcoming role as Spock in a new Star Trek movie.

James Kyson Lee (Ando) discussed how fun it has been for him to attend his first Comic-Con and check out all the exhibits and new show pilots. Lee said it's been tough for him to just blend in due to being recognized at the convention. Lee discussed how his Heroes character of Ando "represents the human race" in a way because he's the ordinary guy with no powers or abilities and in the dark about things just like the audience. He said his character went through tremendous growth in season 1 from a "non-believer" all the way up to supporting Hiro in his quest and facing Sylar. The only season 2 tidbit he dropped was that he and Hiro will start off in separate spots and hopefully re-unite for another adventure.


View the full video interviews here at IGN.com

Sylar Becomes Spock

No, it's not a new plot twist for season 2 of Heroes. Instead, actor Zachary Quinto, who plays the role of Sylar on "Heroes" will be appearing as Spock in a new Star Trek film, set for release on Christmas Day 2008.

From HollywoodReporter.com:

SAN DIEGO — Zachary Quinto (“Heroes”) will don a pair of pointy ears to play Spock in Paramount Pictures’ newest installment of its long-running “Star Trek” franchise — and he’ll be joined by Leonard Nimoy, reprising the role that he created.

J.J. Abrams, who is directing the 11th “Star Trek” film, currently untitled, revealed the casting Thursday at the San Diego Comic-Con International during a presentation hosted by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks and Nickelodeon Movies. The actors joined Abrams onstage as he made the announcement.

As part of the presentation, Steven Spielberg said that Karen Allen, who starred opposite Harrison Ford in the original “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” will appear in the upcoming untitled sequel to that franchise. Spielberg spoke via satellite from the film’s set about the movie, which will be released March 21.

Quinto is best known for playing the villainous Sylar on NBC’s hit “Heroes.” Plot details were not revealed about the new “Trek,” though the film is believed to revolve around the first encounters between a young Spock and Capt. James T. Kirk at Starfleet Academy.