"Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" - Before the MCU, We had Heroes!

Before the MCU was even created, let alone the juggernaut it is today, and while Facebook and YouTube were still in their infancy, we lived in what I like to refer to as The Golden Age of Television. Network television, to be precise.

Lost, Heroes, Prison Break, Dexter, House M.D, Breaking Bad, True Blood, Walking Dead... These were all amazingly written shows that came off the heels of other greats such as Buffy, Star Trek, Smallville, and X-Files.

If you had a popular TV show back then, you knew it was the real deal and not just the latest fad like nowadays on streaming.

The show Heroes (on NBC), along with the others mentioned, changed how the public would view television moving forward for years to come.

Prior to this, most if not all TV was episodic in the way it was driven, a "Creature Feature"-of-the-week-type deal, meaning audiences could dive in and out of the show at any time and still have an understanding of what was going on and who certain characters were.

As these shows grew, we would see an over arc-ing season plot, which would end on a "Big Bad". For the most part, both single episodes and full seasons could be enjoyed by both casual and devoted fans alike.

Since this Golden age, we have seen many new shows try to capture the essence of these greats, more often than not, falling short. And there are many who would argue that even these greats lost their way by the end.

The writers' strike gets a lot of blame for this time period. But in truth, things aren't always that straightforward.

What about Digital Media and Streaming? Flash in the pan, "Hot this week" content, that if you don't watch it the day all the episodes are dropped on the platform,  you have already missed out. No time for "water cooler" talk and theories to develop, as the audience simply watches the next episode to get the answers they seek straight away.

Heroes was a unique and extremely niche concept. Yes, we did have plenty of successful superhero-themed media around this time, but that was restricted to the BIG Blockbuster movies or children's TV shows. Heroes broke the usual TV show formula and explored a fulfilling world of characters and ideas.

Now granted, as you can see from my list above. We did have the show Smallville prior to this. But Smallville was riding off the success of the Superman IP, while Heroes was something truly original in and of itself.

Heroes would tell the tales of characters from all around the world as they discovered their new abilities in a realistic way. They would then bring these characters together to combat one final threat at the end of the series.

Heroes as a show was originally meant as an anthology series, with new characters and story arcs each season. The network, however, feared this and wanted to keep the characters the audience had attached themselves to. The biggest problem was that these characters were overpowered...

To fix this, in season two they had to nullify some of their most powerful:

Send Hiro back in time
Give Peter amnesia
Etc...

Individual writers were given a single character to write for, while the head showrunner would work on linking the overall story and crossover.

Many shows have attempted to recreate this magic with weekly content and some have succeeded... The MCU, for example, has done a great job of bringing back the "water cooler talk" in the office (whether good or bad) with their Disney plus content.

Some of our heroes in this series relish in their newfound abilities, while for others it is a curse - something that stops them from leading a normal, regular life. Very much like that of the X-Men.

Heroes defined an era of television and opened the door to a lot of now-successful actors. If you have never seen the show before or have forgotten about it till now, then go back and give it a watch. I think you'll enjoy it.

As I mentioned, Heroes wasn't based on any previous comic IP, but that didn't stop the creative team from creating a comic series after its popularity began to soar, titled: Heroes 9th Wonders (2006), a title taken from the "In-Continuity" Comics by Character Isaac Mendezin season one.