By Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) --After a five-year hiatus, "Heroes" is soaring into Comic-Con to win back fans.
The superhero series about everyday folks with extraordinary powers debuted at the pop-culture convention nine years ago and went on to become a TV phenomenon. The show ran for four seasons before it was killed off by NBC following steep declines in viewership.
"Heroes" creator Tim Kring launched a Sunday session at Comic-Con featuring the cast of the upcoming follow-up series "Heroes Reborn" by directly addressing the show's fans.
"For those people who stuck with it and watched every single episode, you have my undying gratitude," Kring said. "For those of you along the way who maybe grew a little tired because you perceived that perhaps the show grew a little tired, I really only have one thing to say about that."
The cast and crew had "a long rest, a good night's sleep," and they're "ready to save the world again," he said.
Kring was joined on stage by returning "Heroes" stars Greg Grunberg, Jack Coleman, Jimmy Jean-Louis and Masi Oka, as well as such newcomers as Zachary Levi, Robbie Kay, Ryan Guzman and Gatlin Green.
"Heroes Reborn" is set five years after "Heroes" ended and will focus on super-humans — or EVOs, as they were called in footage shown Sunday — living in hiding to avoid persecution by society.
"This is 'Heroes' on steroids," said Grunberg, who is reprising his role as mind-reading detective Matt Parkman in "Heroes Reborn."
"Chuck" star Zachary Levi has joined the cast as a gun-toting villain named Luke Collins. He's apparently hunting EVOs. In a scene from a "Heroes Reborn" trailer, his character is standing over a pile of bodies with a gun in his hand.
"Luke is very tortured guy," Levi said. "He's gone down a very dark path in his very twisted relationship with his wife. They've been very hurt by something that's happened."
The panel ended with footage of Masi Oka's Hiro wielding two swords to save Sendhil Ramamurthy's Mohinder from a baddie with the apparent ability to duplicate his body.
"Heroes Reborn" debuts Sept. 24 on NBC.
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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