NBC had a special event on the set of Heroes today to announce that they're going global ... literally. The cast and creators will be traveling to at least seven major cities to promote the first season of the show in places it hasn't premiered yet. Although according to Tim Kring it's been watched (sometimes illegally, *gasp*) worldwide over the internet. Cities confirmed so far are: Toyko, Hong Kong, Singapore, Munich, Paris, London, and New York. We're fairly sure they've heard of it in New York City, call us crazy.

Nissan will be sponsoring the tour, which will also be going green in an effort to "reduce the carbon footprint," Kring said, although he wasn't quite sure how, since jets and cars eat are on the forefront of global polluting. Maybe they can bike around Europe? That'd be a nice special feature on next season's DVD. Greg Grunberg, who plays the mind-reading Matt Parkman, said he was visiting Paris with his wife recently, and the show hasn't even premiered on the air there. However, he had people coming up to him left and right who recognized him from seeing the show on their computers. Sacrebleu!


The tour is focusing on season one, and also the upcoming August 28th release of the DVD box set, which includes 50 deleted scenes, commentaries, and the full 73 minute premiere episode. Cast members jetting around the world will be: Greg Grunberg, Santiago Cabrera (Isaac), Jack Coleman (Horn-Rimmed Glasses/Noah), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah, what a lucky kid!), Ali Larter (Niki/Jessica), James Kyson Lee (Ando), Masi Oka (Hiro), Hayden Panettiere (Claire), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan), and Milo Ventimiglia (Peter). Not all of the cast members will be going to each city, so maybe they're drawing straws to figure it all out. Although I'm sure you can bet on Ando and Hiro being in Tokyo.

After it was said and done, they wheeled out an enormous cake shaped like the globe, with cookies stuck in the seven cities they'll be visiting. Tim Kring chopped it up with Hiro's sword, and secured himself a good photo-op in the process in case he goes for global domination of the non-pastry type.

There were scant few tidbits and hints dropped for season two, which began filming two days ago, but we managed to get a few breadcrumbs from Tim and some of the cast members. If you don't want any spoilers, read no further!

• According to Greg Grunberg, he begins filming today. After realizing that he'd sort of let the cat out of the bag, he said "Well, I could be on a hospital bed ... or in a coffin." Hayden joked that the entire cast would be standing around, lowering him into the ground. So, it's a pretty safe bet that he'll survive those four bullets to the chest.
• Sylar is back as well, although c'mon ... did you doubt he would be?
• The end of season one, with Hiro in Japan wasn't really the ending ... it was a teaser of the first scene from the first episode of season two. Hiro will be in feudal Japan for "a handful of episodes," according to Kring
  
• Tim Kring envisions season two as consisting of three big story arcs.
• Heroes: Origins is an "anthology show," which we knew. But it's not a midseason show; it will air after the season two finale, and not during sweeps. They have not yet begun writing or filming it.
• Adrian Pasdar was sporting a full beard, and Milo Ventimiglia had an extremely short haircut. When asked if they'd be in next season, Adrian said "I played ... er ... play Nathan Petrelli." So, hrm ... very clever. Still leaves us wondering.

When asked about the negative fan reaction to what some people called a "lackluster" finale from last season, Kring said he didn't directly encounter any of that, although he did hear about it. "The trouble with shooting a show like this is that by the time you get to episode 23, you're dragging a tremendous about of story behind you. That sets the expectations too high for the finale."

Regarding the creative pressure he is under with the success of the show, and with season two just beginning He knows that fans can be fickle, and they they are always looking for next thing that is "shiny and new". He said "You hope you can keep them interested."