Heroes Brings Kevin Smith and DC with New Season

NBC’s super hit "Heroes” returned to Comic Con with a huge welcoming reception and lots of news surrounding the show and its stars, and the entire cast turned out for the panel. This was in addition to the big news that J.J. Abrams revealed about Zachary Quinte playing young Spock in the next "Star Trek” movie. But at the top of "Heroes” news was the shocker that Kevin Smith will be directing the first episode of "Heroes: Origins,” which ComingSoon reported it seemed surprised even the cast when Smith joined the panel. "Origins” will be following one character each episode and begin in April.

As for the "Heroes” themselves, as previously mentioned here on MO, Dania Ramirez will be appearing, and she'll be playing a "Mayan woman from the Dominican Republic.” Rodriguez comes from playing Callisto in "X-Men: The Last Stand” and she’s also appeared in episodes of "The Sopranos” and "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.” There will be another new girl joining the expanding lot of "Heroes” whose name is Monica and hails from the Big Easy (New Orleans).

Among other announcements, Jeph Loeb stated that Alex Ross and Jim Lee (all well-known for their work on Superman comics and in the DC Comics universe) will be doing cover art for the online comics, which will be released this fall by DC. The second season of "Heroes” premieres on Sept. 24 at 9 p.m.