Will new 'Heroes' win fans over?

Fan frustration will grow because Kring is repeating some unpopular story lines. Every season the heroes try to live ordinary lives, a fact that always slows momentum in my opinion. They're heroes, they should act like heroes. Fight for your rights; save the cheerleader; get Sylar.

Instead, Matt Parkman will be taking on detective work; Peter will be a paramedic; HRG will try to open a new Company; Clare goes to college. And Hiro, poor guy, will be time-jumping to the past again. Hopefully he won't jump back to feudal Japan; "Heroes" could lose the fans that remain loyal.

This disappointing news may be why Kring decided to have Claire (Hayden Panettiere) kiss a girl this season. The clip shown at Comic-Con drew hoots and hollers, but after watching Panettiere's reaction to the crowd's reaction, it sounds like the scene is a tacky pandering gesture. She said the students end up just being friends.

But enough bitching. Despite some complaints, I do still like this show and hope it reaches its potential.

That's why I'm happy to write about "a new wrinkle in the mythology," as Kring called it. And that involves former "Prison Break" star Robert Knepper, who joins the cast as Samuel, the leader of a family (of sorts) with powers that travels around the country as carnival performers.

"They hide in plain site as part of the carnival," Kring said, and use their abilities as their acts in the show.

That plot twist has great potential, I think, and hopefully will take over the storytelling. And after watching the teaser that was shown (above), I'm tuning in purely to see Knepper, who follows his "Tea-Bag" on "PB" with another deliciously creepy role. Knepper's isn't the only new character either. Ray Park and Dawn Olivieri also join the cast as carnies.

I realize the show is the last to need to add cast members, but after listening to these three actors at the panel, I'm thinking I wouldn't mind seeing their characters replace others for whom I've lost interest. (I'll keep that list to myself for now. But who are you sick of?)

Kring also, thank God, promised fewer stories per episode, and said he will spend time on just a few characters each episode instead of trying to shoehorn everyone in all the time. "It's always been kind of a juggling act," he said. That plan should help give the characters at least a little more depth, something "Heroes" really needs.

All the cast members in attendance talked a little about their characters and what fans can expect this fall. You can watch video of the panel at nbc.com.

Jack Coleman
Character: HRG, aka Noah Bennett, Claire's dad
Powers: "I have the power of impaired vision," he joked during the panel.
What to expect: According to Coleman, his marriage is falling apart and he can't be with his kids. "There's sort of a newfound empathy for people with abilities," Coleman said of Noah. As you can tell from the clip, Noah faces death by bullet, and water. Best thing about the new season: Referring to part of the video teaser, Coleman said he enjoyed filming the scene that has Noah trapped inside a car that was being flooded with water.

Masi Oka
Character: Hiro Nakamura
Powers: Time travel, stopping time
What to expect: Hiro is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Oka said. He gets his powers back but can't control them. He wants to use them to fix the mistakes he's made in the past. Oka said he has "a bucket list of things to do before he dies ... He realizes what his true destiny in life is." Hiro and Ando go into business together as well.
Best thing about the new season: "I'm actually jazzed about everything," Oka said, making special mention of working with Robert Knepper in the carnival scenes.

Hayden Panettiere
Character: Claire Bennett
Powers: She can heal quickly.
What to expect: Claire enrolls in college, Panettiere said, and "becomes friends with a very, very interesting girl." Her new pal Gretchen (Madeline Zima) and Claire kiss, but Panettiere insists they are just friends with common pasts who can relate to each other. They have a "very interesting relationship," she said.
Best thing about the new season: "The strong bonding with Madeline was a blast," Panettiere said, adding that building their characters' relationship--just a friendship despite the kiss--was fun.

Adrian Pasdar
Character: Nathan Petrelli
Powers: He can fly, but Pasdar teased fans that this season Nathan gains some new powers.
What to expect: At the end of last season, Sylar (Zachary Quinto) took over Nathan's body. This season finds Nathan and Sylar sharing the same body, Pasdar said, with a "Jekyll and Hyde thing going on."
Best thing about the new season: "It was freeing not to be Nathan," Pasdar said, explaining that many times he had to act like Quinto would as Sylar acting like Nathan. It's easier than you think," he joked, claiming he simply adopted a few mannerisms. "I just had to think I'm the most special person in the world." Pasdar also said he enjoyed the scenes he shot with guest star Swoosie Kurtz, who plays his scheming aunt.

Zachary Quinto
Character: Sylar
Powers: He steals powers from others when he kills them.
What to expect: Sylar and Nathan share a body. Sylar exists in two places, Quinto said, first in Nathan's body and also in Matt Parkman's head, which sounds like he'll be terrorizing Parkman (Greg Grunberg) and his child. (In one clip, we saw Sylar holding the boy.)
Best thing about the new season: Quinto mentioned working more with Grunberg, who he called a funny guy. He also joked about working with the baby, saying "The baby was really good at crying." Referring to a video tease that was shown, he said, "And I got to climb out of a grave."
Random question: When asked who would win in a Spock vs. Sylar fight, Quinto said, "Spock is fighting ultimately for good, so I would like to think that he would win." And who would win between Quinto and the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy? "Leonard in one round. He'd drop me in 30 seconds."

Milo Ventimiglia
Character: Peter Petrelli
Powers: As an empath, he can temporarily use other people's powers if he is near them.
What to expect: Peter is working as a paramedic again. "He's got a lot more humor, he smiles easier," Ventimiglia said. "But when you swing at him, he swings back harder." Case in point: Peter crosses paths with Edgar, a knife-wielding speedster played by fanboy fave Ray Park, who played Darth Maul in "Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace." Fans were shown a clip of their fight scene, and trust me, it's awesome.
Best thing about the new season: Ventimiglia said he got to work a lot more with Coleman again this season. He also has great scenes with Knepper and Park, whom he was happy to work with. "I kinda geeked out the first time I met him," he said.

Robert Knepper
Character: Samuel, the leader of a group of people with abilities who hide in plain sight as carnival performers.
Powers: He's an earth-mover
What to expect: Samuel is "the reluctant ringleader of the carnies." Knepper said Samuel wants to slowly come out into the open, "We're going to change our lives ... One by one [Samuel] lures the heroes into that plan."
Best thing about the new season: Samuel brings out the vulnerable side in everyone else. Knepper loves playing that role.

Dawn Olivieri
Character: "Tattoo girl" Lydia
Powers: Lydia is an empath who, when working with Samuel, helps lure the heroes to the carnival. Their faces show up as tatts on her body somehow.
What to expect: "I'm naked most of the time," Olivieri said.
Best thing about the new season: She said she loves working with Park and Knepper, whom she called a sweetheart. She told a story about how she found a key on the set and when she asked what it was for, Knepper said it was the key to his heart. "I still have it," she said. She also likes that her character has the potential to stir up a lot of trouble.

Ray Park
Character: Edgar, a carnie
Powers: He has amazing knife skills and super speed.
What to expect: Edgar doesn't want to do some of the tasks Samuel makes him do, such as hunting down the heroes and killing people. You can expect conflict between them. Watch for that kick-ass fight scene between Edgar and Peter.
Best thing about the new season: Park said he was a big fan of the show and did "backflips and somersaults in my bedroom" when he got the call. "I was always pinching myself ... I'm a fanboy. I can't believe I'm working on this show. I always wanted to run away and join the circus, and now I have."

Madeline Zima
Character: College student Gretchen
Powers: She's a good kisser?
What to expect: She kisses Claire, but other than that they become best friends. "She's Claire's first true friend," Zima said, since Zack during the first season.
Best thing about the new season: Zima said it was great to work with Panettiere, and with Coleman. "I got to work with Jack, which was really fun," she said. "But he can be very scary."