Trailer: HEROES REBORN

Where do you begin with Heroes? It was undoubtedly a game-changing show for NBC, albeit one heavily influenced by the success ABC was having with Lost—having confidence to utilise a very large ensemble and write interconnected storylines. It also borrowed heavily from comic-book mythology (often stealing ideas from Watchmen wholesale), to produce a first season that became an immediate phenomenon. And then it flushed the goodwill away with one of the worst second season slumps ever; although an industry-wide Writers' Strike and NBC's greediness didn't help (as they had to retain characters intended to die, who'd outstayed their usefulness, and kept being asked to produce more episodes than they had enough story for). Somehow, Heroes struggled on until season 4, before NBC were forced to end its misery.

But now it's back! Unexpectedly, the franchise has been given a reprieve five years after it was axed, because superheroes have become even bigger business in the wake of Marvel's box-office triumphs, and NBC don't have many shows that are household names it could parlay into a hit. Plus there's a chance most people will have forgotten how bad Heroes became, or are willing to give it a second chance after so long off-air. This three-minute trailer does look very promising, it has to be said: there's a much slicker, darker atmosphere to everything. I also like the idea that the "heroes" (or EVOs: Evolved Humans) are now being hunted by people, so have gone into hiding just when the world arguably needs their powers the most. Good to see a smattering of familiar faces from the 2006-08 run, too—with Jack Coleman given prominence as this show's Professor X analog. I didn't expect Chuck's Zachary Levi would be playing a villain, either, which was a neat surprise. Lots of fun visuals throughout, but let's see how well creator Tim Kring manages to keep focus—because good starts and cool visuals were never Heroes' weakness.

HEROES REBORN premieres 24 September on NBC.