Hayden Panettiere Skipped Over For Heroes: Reborn

Heroes aired between 2006 and 2010 and had a huge following despite the adverse affect the writer’s strike had on it. Five years later, the next chapter of the series is finally being made, called Heroes: Reborn. The casting and storyline are being kept very quiet. It’s such a big secret that even the actors from the original weren’t told anything.

Hayden Panettiere, who played Claire Bennett in the original, only learned about the new miniseries from her cousin, despite the fact that her character made the most appearances in the entire series.

According to Panettiere, the new addition to the series was a shock to her. "In fact, I believe I became privy to that through my cousin. She sent me a text message about it,” Hayden said. “I mean, we had nothing, nothing to do with it. It will definitely be interesting to see how they reinvent it.”

Although she’s been gracious about it, Hayden Panettiere seems to be heartbroken that she wasn’t asked back. “I think it's a whole new set of characters. Who knows? It's a little bit of an interesting feeling because you go, 'That was our show, our home, our family,' something that we had a major part in creating. I hope that they don't have somebody else playing our characters. That would be a little dagger in the heart. But, you never know. I wish them success in it, for sure.”

The fact that Hayden Panettiere knew nothing about the new miniseries is shocking to some people. Rumors have been circulating since Heroes: Reborn was announced, indicating that there would be some cast members returning.

Perhaps Panettiere’s schedule intimidated the creators of Heroes: Reborn. With Hayden Panettiere as a main character on Nashville, in pre-production for Over the Wall and in the middle of planning a wedding, maybe producers simply thought Panettiere would not have time for another series.

If original cast members have been tapped to appear, Hayden Panettiere, sadly, wasn’t one of them. However, many of them seem to be interested in the possibility; especially Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) and Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura). Those desires can be seen on their twitter feeds, such as through this Masi Oka tweet: “Was watching the Olympics and saw the #HeroesReborn trailer. Time to dust off the sword?”

Who would you want to see come back? Would you miss Hayden Panettiere in the new miniseries?