Plenty was discussed at the exciting "Heroes Reborn" panel earlier today at San Diego Comic-Con. Ahead of the Sunday presentation, however, series creator Tim Kring sat down with The Hollywood Reporter and revealed some new details on the forthcoming event series.

Perhaps most pressingly for fans of the original four-season series, Kring confirmed reports that when "Heroes Reborn" picks up, Claire Bennett, the "indestructible" cheerleader played by Hayden Panettiere, will in fact be dead. "Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman) is a key [returning] character who is still very much dealing with the death of his daughter and it is a part of his story," Kring said. "You're watching a man dealing with the idea of the loss of his daughter that happened prior to our story. We deal directly with that that death. Her death is the key part of the plot." He added that a mystery about her death becomes the "portal" through which Noah enters "to discover the truth about what's happening in the world."

As for other characters not returning, Kring made a point that he didn't want to rely so heavily on references to the original series that it would alienate new viewers. "You could feel alienated if you don't know the meaning of the name Sylar. Fortunately, we have a whole bunch of people who do return within the story in an explainable way that fans of previous show will get a real thrill by seeing them. And if you didn't know who those characters are, their presence in the show will make perfect sense because they'll have been explained to you."

That includes Angela Petrelli (Christine Rose). Though her son, Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) died season four, and NBC "couldn't work out the timing" to bring back her other son, Peter (Milo Ventimiglia), Angela plays a crucial role in "Reborn." "Angela plays a key Machiavellian character in this plot," Kring explained. "She did have a power that was very interesting to our plot."

Kring also said that just because the characters aren't there, doesn't mean their presence won't be felt. In fact, Claire's actions at the end of the series finale five years ago set the status quo for "Reborn." "So when we pick up, the world now knows about these people and has had five years to come to terms with them... In the world that we are inhabiting now, when you wake up to this happening to you, you know what it is because it means you are what we call an 'Evo.' There was no reason for the public to have a name for these people before, but now that a portion of the public is known as people with powers, they call them Evos, short for evolved humans. Being an Evo is not a good thing. Having these powers is not a good thing because it means you are going to be persecuted and hunted and your life is going to be hell."

This means the series will focus less on "existential discovery" and feature "a much more cranked up premise." Kring made repeated mentions about how the limited 13-episode order for "Reborn" helps to avoid the storytelling pitfalls they encountered during later seasons of the original series. He also reiterated that the show is being structured so that new viewers won't feel like they're behind for not having seen or finished the first four seasons.

"That being said," Kring added, "we do want to honor those people who committed to the last series. There is a lot of mythology layered in that people who watched the former show will find all those Easter eggs and have a deeper experience than if you had not watched the show before. There will be hidden messages and secrets in there for anybody who knows the show; they'll see all kinds of familiar themes and references"

Premiering Sept. 24, "Heroes Reborn" also stars franchise veterans Masi Oka, Greg Grunberg, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Jimmy Jean-Louis and Cristine Rose, joined by a cast of newcomers that includes Zachary Levi, Kiki Sukezane, Robbie Kay, Judith Shekoni, Henry Zebrowski, Gatlin Green, Dylan Bruce and Nazneen Contractor.

For more, check out CBR's coverage of the "Heroes Reborn" panel and watch the show's lengthy SDCC trailer.