'Heroes' Star Learns of His Character's Death From Script


After weeks of speculation about which major "Heroes" character would die this season, and despite a co-star's claims to the contrary in a radio interview, TV Guide has confirmed that Adrian Pasdar's character, Nathan Petrelli, is the one getting the ax.

To add insult to injury, Pasdar reportedly found out about his character's death from reading the show's script, rather than from an in-person meeting with a producer or even a phone call.

For fans, this plot move is not entirely surprising since Pasdar's original character, Nathan Petrelli, was already killed in last year's season finale by villain Sylar (Zachary Quinto).

In a plot twist, Sylar (who can shape-shift) then took Nathan's form -- meaning Adrian Pasdar could remain on the show despite his character's death.

It's nothing new for a major character to die on a TV show, but in recent notable cases, it was the actor's choice to leave -- such as T.R. Knight, whose character died on "Grey's Anatomy" last season so that Knight could leave the show to explore other options, and Kal Penn on "House," who asked for his character to be written off so that he could take a full-time job in the Obama administration -- a move that happened so quickly that his character, Dr. Lawrence Kutner's, suicide felt abrupt and nonsensical to many fans.

NBC has yet to confirm that Adrian Pasdar is leaving the show.

Well if Pasdar is being dumped, it may not matter to him. This was in the newspaper the other day: HEROES LOOKS AT THE END

"NBC's Heroes might have to prepare for its final chapter.

The network is reportedly pressuring producers to start winding down the show about characters with superhuman powers - and may possibly even want a series finale ready for May.

There isn't much happening with this show in terms of audience, and giving it a final chapter feel is something the network is considering to help allow the show to go out with a bang, an NBC source told the website Airlock Alpha.

Heroes got a lot of hype and had a successful first season - but its ratings steadily declined for the next three seasons.

This season, called Redemption, was supposed to be a shot for writers to revamp the storyline - but the show has seen its smallest audience yet. Heroes is now one of NBC's lowest-rated shows, and has consistently finished last in viewership in its timeslot.

NBC has yet to make a final decision on the fate of the show, which it will probably do around mid-season."

Adrian was always my favourite and I was really annoyed that Nathan died last season. You knew that Sylar would re take his own form eventually, so it was a bit of a given that Adrian was leaving.

The show just really annoyed me when at the end of every season Nathan's life was in the balance. First season he flies Peter away and all we see is the explosion. Season 2 Nathan gets shot by Future Peter. Then season 3 he finally does die for real. As if they couldn't have saved Nathan with Claire's blood, just like Claire's blood saved HRG after he was shot in the head by Mohinder, surely he had to have been brought back from the dead after that.

Heroes is just all over the place, too many storylines that started but were never finished. I can see why people have lost interest in the show.

Interesting to read this 'news' after watching the latest episode I think there are still a few twists in the tale regarding which character is departing

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Originally posted by Kevin F:
Interesting to read this 'news' after watching the latest episode I think there are still a few twists in the tale regarding which character is departing

I believe that is not ( Nathan), but.... ( Sylar )

If you read in the article it states... "In a plot twist, Sylar (who can shape-shift) then took Nathan's form -- meaning Adrian Pasdar could remain on the show despite his character's death."