The Comic-Con “Heroes” panel was the place to be Saturday, so much so that “Chuck” star Zachary Levi sneaked in to enjoy the festivities from the side of the Hilton Bayfront’s Indigo Ballroom.

G4′s Blaire Butler as moderator introduced the panelists: creator Tim Kring, Jack Coleman, Masi Oka, Hayden Panettiere, Adrian Pasdar, Zachary Quinto, Milo Ventimiglia, and guest stars Robert Knepper, Dawn Olivieri, Ray Park and Madeline Zima.

With an inconsistent (to say the least) third season and a polarizing season finale, “Heroes” will appropriately enter into Volume Five, “Redemption” for the upcoming season, which debuts Sept. 21.

Kring offered a few words about a “new wrinkle in the mythology of the show.” Apparently, another group of people with special powers have led a different life from our heroes. This group has learned to live among us regular folk without arousing suspicion or fear because they wield their powers under the guise of a carnival show.

“What better way to fit in, but in plain sight,” explained Kring, who added, “And now they’re ready. The carnival will come out and present themselves.”

Also, part of the arc involves everyone going back to normal lives, stripping away those odder story elements that made the show harder to relate to. Kring promises that there will be less storylines per episode, which will allow the show to delve deeper into the characters’ lives. He also says that some upcoming casting will satisfy one audience member’s request for more female diversity.

Fans were treated to a sneak peek trailer for the new season, consisting of scenes from only the first three-and-a-half episodes. From these clips alone, already Season Four looks to be better than the last one. Thank God.

A quick rundown of some of what was in the trailer: Claire goes to college, gets a friend, displays her power to her and kisses her. Yup. You read that correctly. Claire finally gets a degree of normalcy in her life! Peter is back to being a paramedic, and somehow a mysterious compass tattoo appears on his arm. Knepper’s character is the creepy head honcho of the gifted carnival gang and encounters Hiro and also Peter: “The name is Samuel and I think we’re going to be great friends.”

Meanwhile, Nathan is hanging out with Swoozie Kurtz for some reason, while Sylar is yelling at Matt Parkman a lot and hanging out with a worried-looking baby. We see Samuel using power to bury Nathan, and in the last scene of the trailer, a hand bursts from the grave and out pops Sylar.

Wow.

Below is a breakdown of what’s going on with each of the actors and their on-screen alter egos:

Madeline Zima as Gretchen Berg – This college freshman seems to already know about Claire’s reputation, but the become very close friends and confidants. There’s that kiss thing too. “I love working with Hayden. I also once worked with Jack, which was fun because he’s scary. He killed a fly with one hand. It was very ninja of him.”

From Zap 2 It

Related posts:

1. More About Madeline’s “Heroes” Character
2. Madeline Signs on to “Heroes”!
3. Madeline to appear at Comic-Con
4. “The Collector” Red-Band Trailer

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