The early 2000s were an interesting time for television. While it was the dawn of reality tv and the beginning of prestige drama’s golden age, there were some great things happening when it came to regular network drama as well and for a moment, the biggest show of them all was Heroes. Debuting on NBC in 2006, the Tim Kring-created series followed a group of ordinary people who discovered they had superhuman abilities following a solar eclipse, something that put them in a unique position to be heroes but also put them in serious danger. The first season was a pop culture juggernaut, though subsequent seasons delivered diminishing returns. But there’s always been a soft spot for Heroes and, two years ago, a reboot was announced to be in the works. Unfortunately, we finally have an update on the project and it’s not one fans will want to hear.
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According to Matt Webb Mitovich’s Matt’s Inside Line, despite this year marking Heroes’ 20th anniversary (it’s “porcelain” anniversary, if you go by traditional anniversary gifts), the previously announced Heroes: Eclipsed reboot is no longer in active development. Mitovich cited a “well-placed source” for this information. This is the first significant update we’ve had on the project since it was first announced in 2024 so, on some level, it’s not a major surprise that the project doesn’t appear to be moving forward. Still, it’s bound to be disappointing considering the popularity and promise of the original series.
Heroes Has Tried (And Failed) to Come Back Before
This latest news about the Heroes reboot could mark the actual end of the franchise, at least at this time and to understand why, we need to go back just a bit. Back in April 2024, it was announced that Kring was developing Heroes: Eclipsed and pitching it to potential buyers. The series would have been set years after the original series with new evos — evolved humans — being awakened and discovering their own superpowers, powers that would have major impact on their lives and those around them. The series would have featured both new and familiar villains bent on trying to prevent this step in human evolution and, once again, the new heroes would have to save the world.
But while that announcement offered up an interesting premise, it also wasn’t exactly a new one and we don’t just mean that in a fresh take on the original sense of recycling. Heroes: Eclipsed wasn’t exactly the first attempt at a reboot for the original series. In 2015, there was the limited series Heroes Reborn. Also created by Kring, that series had a very similar premise of coming years after the first series, featured new evos finding their powers, and in this case, they were joined by some specific familiar faces, namely Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman) from Heroes and faced pretty much the exact same challenges. It wasn’t exactly a hit with critics or audiences and very much felt like it had limited prospects even as a continuation.
It was also confusing for fans. While many thought it was meant to be a reboot or a revival, Kring has said it was actually simply an event series that was meant to be just 13 issues and done. That confusion about direction and plan also isn’t the first time something similar has happened when it comes to Heroes overall. The original series suffered from that as well. The first season of the series was truly incredible television and is considered by many as one of the best first seasons of television in recent history. However, the series fell off dramatically in its second season and by the time it ended after four seasons, the show was barely recognizable with many fans wondering what had happened and if this was always the direction the show was meant to take.
If Heroes Were to Come Back, It Needs to Fully Evolve Itself
Given that Heroes Evolved’s concept was very similar to Heroes Reborn that didn’t fare particularly well, if Heroes were to ever really get a fresh change, it’s pretty likely that it would need to fully evolve. At this point it feels like sticking to the core elements—people discover they have powers, find themselves having to save the world but are also hunted by people wanting to stop them—might not be enough on its own to propel the series from concept to reality and actually take off. The concept of unexpected heroes being thrust into a situation where they have to not only adapt to survive but possibly save the world is a good one, but 20 years on, it’s going to need to be a little fresh, a little new, and a lot more thought out to really take off before we can save the cheerleader, save the world once again.
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