Milo Ventimiglia is opening up about the Heroes reboot and the possibility of a new revival. The actor also revealed why he won’t be auditioning for the Batman role in The Brave and the Bold film that James Gunn is working on as part of the new DC Universe he is constructing alongside Peter Safran.
In a new interview, the This Is Us alum was pessimistic about the idea of bringing back Heroes, the 2006 Tim Kring-created superhero series that aired on NBC for four seasons.
“I feel like I’ve been trained to say ‘never say never.’ But I think when they tried to bring back Heroes and reboot Heroes, it was a bit of a soft landing,” Ventimiglia said in an interview with ComicBook. “I don’t think that one’s gonna be revisited again.”
Ventimiglia played the role of Peter Petrelli, a hospice nurse who can mimic other people’s abilities. NBC rebooted the show in 2015 with Heroes Reborn, a 13-episode series in the same universe as the original series but with a whole new cast that included Zachary Levi, Ryan Guzman, Jack Coleman, Robbie Kay, Danika Yarosh, Kiki Sukezane, among others.
The actor shared his thoughts on the reboot, saying, “I think it’s just one of those things [that] I think they tried, and it didn’t quite go. I feel like [Heroes Reborn] let the story and circumstances be greater than the characters. And what I understand is that the audience really, really liked the characters from that first season of Heroes, and it was less about these extraordinary circumstances and the world ending.”
Ventimiglia noted that the sequel series “forgot about the human element and the human experience” with its storylines.
Talking to the same publication, Ventimiglia also revealed he wouldn’t attempt to land the role of Bruce Wayne. The actor had auditioned to be the Dark Knight at one point but Robert Pattinson ultimately landed the part.
“No because at this point, I’m probably too young,” he told ComicBook about not auditioning for the Batman role in Gunn’s The Brave and the Bold. “That’s how it goes, man. When they say they want young Batman, they want some young. When they say they want old Batman, they want someone older.”
He continued, “As an actor, there’s always those roles where you see yourself. There’s those characters you want to be think, ‘Man, I could do that,’ and you don’t get them. You see another actor take it and do good work with it or do shitty. You kind of forget it.”
Although he wouldn’t audition for Batman now, Ventimiglia maintained optimism about technology making it possible for him to play the role at one point adding, “Maybe I’m too young for Batman, or maybe they’re just not right for me and that’s okay. I think there could be a cool universe and with AI, maybe there’s going to be a Milo playing Batman, who knows.”
