HEROES MAGAZINE
Issue 7
Tim Kring
In a new, regular feature, we talk to Heroes creator Tim Kring each issue to find out what's going on in the world of Heroes! This time round, as Tim takes a break from planning volume four, he reflects on some of the biggest revelations of volume three, Villains...
HEROES MAGAZINE: Let's start with the villain that fans were most excited to see leading the evil charge this season - Sylar. What did you want to explore, now this diabolical character is part of the Petrelli fold?
TIM KRING: Sylar has been this very complex character for us. We've met him in a couple of different incarnations. He's been the soulless, mindless shark that just feeds off people, but he has also been Gabriel Gray, a character who is wounded by the same things most people are wounded by and is in some ways empathetic. We are playing with both of those aspects of the character in Villains. Sylar plays a huge and very unexpected role in this volume and is forced to make those same decisions as all the other characters, in terms of what side he's on. In so many ways - and clearly in this volume - this show is very much about family dynamics. The Petrelli and Bennet families are at the core of these explorations. It was really fun to fold Sylar into that family drama and see what kind of ripple effect it has. It gets very twisted and strange as we go along (laughs).
In a new, regular feature, we talk to Heroes creator Tim Kring each issue to find out what's going on in the world of Heroes! This time round, as Tim takes a break from planning volume four, he reflects on some of the biggest revelations of volume three, Villains...
HEROES MAGAZINE: Let's start with the villain that fans were most excited to see leading the evil charge this season - Sylar. What did you want to explore, now this diabolical character is part of the Petrelli fold?
TIM KRING: Sylar has been this very complex character for us. We've met him in a couple of different incarnations. He's been the soulless, mindless shark that just feeds off people, but he has also been Gabriel Gray, a character who is wounded by the same things most people are wounded by and is in some ways empathetic. We are playing with both of those aspects of the character in Villains. Sylar plays a huge and very unexpected role in this volume and is forced to make those same decisions as all the other characters, in terms of what side he's on. In so many ways - and clearly in this volume - this show is very much about family dynamics. The Petrelli and Bennet families are at the core of these explorations. It was really fun to fold Sylar into that family drama and see what kind of ripple effect it has. It gets very twisted and strange as we go along (laughs).
Speaking of family, the Petrelli clan is really taking front and center this season with the introduction of the true villain of the season - family patriarch Arthur Petrelli!
Yes, Arthur Petrelli was revealed in Angels and Monsters. I love this idea of the family dynasty. We had set up the Petrelli family with elements of the Kennedy dynasty and the Corleone dynasty in there. It draws very heavily from archetypes that people already know. I loved this idea of Nathan and Peter representing two different aspects of what the family was capable of - the good and the morally liquid. Their father has been a strange, ghostly presence in the show for two seasons. I had always thought about the fact that he was not dead and that he would show up. It's why at the very beginning of the series we talked about the mystery around his death. Was it a suicide? Was it natural causes? It was shrouded in mystery and the father's disappearance kicks off so much. It led Nathan to go into politics. So when Arthur shows up, it's an upheaval in both their lives. He also represents that clearly in the theme of Generations, which still resonates through to this volume. The idea of the sins of the parents being laid upon the children; it had a Shakespearean quality that we couldn't resist.
• Read the full interview in issue 7 of Heroes: The Official Magazine - on sale now! For more information visit www.titanmagazines.com/heroes.
