Heroes Gets Printed, Played

Thu., Jul. 26, 2007 10:16 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

The latest superpower bestowed on the Heroes ensemble: multimedia expansion.

It was announced Thursday that both a videogame and a series of graphic novels based on the Emmy-nominated NBC drama are in the works and should be in stores within the next year or so.

French game maker Ubisoft, the company that brought you Peter Jackson's King Kong and will bring you the tie-in game to James Cameron's upcoming 3-D sci-fi fantasy Avatar, is crafting the Heroes game for PCs and consoles and could have it ready as soon as late 2008.

"From day one we've all been thinking about the game," Heroes coexecutive producer Jesse Alexander told the Hollywood Reporter. "All along we've been writing some of our stories in ways they can tie into the eventual video game."

While there's no word yet on what sort of vocal talent the game will employ—although one would think that the Heroes cast would happy to help out (for a fee, of course)—here's guessing that most gamers will want to fight their pixilated battles as Claire.

She's impossible to kill, right?

Also on tap, in a bit of retroactive planning for the comic book-inspired series, is a hardbound collection of graphic novels featuring storylines that so far have been confined to NBC's Heroes Website.

The book, which will be published under DC Comics' WildStorm imprint, is slated to hit shelves this fall.

"To have this first printing coming from DC, the premier publisher of comic books, is a dream come true," said Heroes creator Tim Kring.

Heroes joins the multiplatform realm already populated by Lost, 24, CSI and countless other shows that you can catch up or interact with via Website, cell phone, video game, supplementary book, etc., all thanks to the networks' ever-expanding efforts to get their products across by whatever means possible.

And NBC's Heroic efforts haven't been for nothing. Last week, the Peacock Network's sole (scripted) breakout hit of 2006-07 scored an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series, as well as an acting nod for supporting player Masi Oka.

NBC will also try to build on the serial drama's success by launching the six-episode spinoff series Heroes: Origin in 2008. Viewers will be able to vote online for their favorite new hero, and the genetically enhanced character who receives the most support will wind up as a regular on the original series.