Introduced as an office worker at Yamagato Industries in Tokyo, Japan, Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) is the one character on Heroes that aspires to the pure heroism of comic book crime fighters, shouldering the responsibility to use his powers for good. But when Heroes returns for its “Fugitives” volume, the quirky fan favorite who possesses the ability to teleport and travel through time will have to adjust to life without his powers. To make things worse, the dynamic between Hiro and his faithful best friend Ando Masahashi (James Kyson Lee) is also rattled when it is Ando who has the powers while Hiro is left as normal human being.
In an interview with The Futon Critic, Hiro’s portrayer Masi Oka sheds light on what’s in store his character when Heroes returns with new episodes beginning February 2 on NBC.
“In the beginning, Hiro is powerless and Ando has a kind of super-charger powers so Hiro is trying to nudge him on. In many ways, he realizes now he’s had his turn so he needs to see what he can do… [Hiro] takes on pretty much the role of the butler. He becomes Alfred…he tries to make a Batman out of Ando but Ando’s reluctant and he only cares about girls right now so Hiro tries to make him use the power for good to save other people and, of course, Hiro ends up getting in trouble and Ando ends up helping him,” Masi Oka told The Futon Critic.
While the twist of fate seems to entail some hurdles along the way, Oka doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, he’s interested to play the “powerless character.”
“You kind of get the joy of rediscovering that power and what it means to be a hero without powers. How does someone who had that power and someone who’s powerless… it’s an interesting character/mind thing. You kind of fall from grace in many ways [and] it’s a balance of adjusting to that and how to live that and how you live your life and how you can still be a hero by helping others.”
But seeing Hiro powerless isn’t the only thing to look forward to this season. The much-awaited comeback of producer Bryan Fuller is also expected to bring Heroes back to the fundamentals that made the show worth watching.
-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Futon Critic
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
