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Some Heroes thoughts inspired by the original draft of the pilot
I suppose this is old news to other watchers, but the script of the "Heroes" pilot, dated 12/2/05 and presumably written before they cast any of the actors is very interesting as a work in progress, and illustrates, among other things, how it pays for TV makers to be flexible. For example, in this version, Claire's adopted father, Mr. Bennet, is not yet identical with Horned Rimmed Glasses; these are two different characters. (Also, his first name is Kent. KENT? Never mind, worse naming choices will be revealed.) As the HRG-Claire connection and relationship is rather crucial for the show as it turned out, I wonder who had the inspired idea to make the two characters one and the same, and whether it came before or after they cast Jack Coleman as HRG.
Also, Zach is a girl named Zoe, though he/she has the same dialogue. The line about Claire promising to talk to Zoe in public, which is in the pilot as broadcast and said to Zach, reminds me of something:
Although "Six Months Ago" has Claire being uneasy with Jackie's behaviour, she clearly was ambitious enough to go not just for the cheerleader position but also for the popular girl position in general, in fact so ambitious that she did ditch old pal Zach - Godsend has him (when mindwiped) bringing up again that Claire stopped talking to him in their later high school years, too - until she needed someone when finding out about her powers. She also reacts to the initial discovery by wishing it away, resenting the whole thing and trying as hard as she can to cling to her previous normal life. Of course, in a linchpin, she does come through, and uses her powers to save someone life. Does this remind you of anyone? Claire does share traits with Nathan after all.
Meanwhile, it's clear that the Petrelli brothers were planned as the most co-dependent relationship of the lot from the start. Only they're not the Petrellis yet; instead, they're the Campbells, and additionally burdened with the names Ethan (Peter) and Harrison (Nathan). Also, they're twins. Not being Italian does not stop them from getting physical (Harrison delivers Nathan's "you need to snap the fuck out of this, you understand?" etc - lines identical to what was broadcast eventually - after having grabbed Ethan and pulled him against a wall) or bursting into emotional declarations. Interestingly, one of the cuts mirrors the second Nathan and Peter scene from O.07, only with reverse positions. To wit:
HARRISON:
(...) What are you doing there, Ethan?
ETHAN:
Finding out who I am!
HARRISON:
You know who you are! You're my brother! My better half! The nicest guy on the planet!
And the scene ends with:
Ethan is heavy and Harrison unsteady. He can't hold him up. Ethan slips out of Harrison's arms! Harrison grabs on to Ethan's hand (...)
HARRISON:
Ethan...oh god...
A desperate beat, as they try to hold on.
ETHAN
It's okay. I love you, Harrison.
And as Ethan's fingers begin to slip, Harrison holds on for dear life as we slam to black: The End.
Now, aside from the fact some script editor must have said "Kring, let's save the declarations until a bit later", the most important change made was from twin brothers to older brother/younger brother, and that obviously came with the casting; same with the name change and the Italian-American background. In regards to Angela Petrelli, who is Alice Campbell in the draft, and how she developed in the course of the show, it's definitely worth noting that even in her introduction scene, the script says "don't let her sweet appearance fool you, this is a formidable woman"; if anything, the "your brother doesn't love you" discussion later with Ethan is even harsher on her part than the one Angela and Peter have in the broadcast version. Ah, Petrellis. Even when you were Campbells, you were outlined as such a screwed up family.
Also, Zach is a girl named Zoe, though he/she has the same dialogue. The line about Claire promising to talk to Zoe in public, which is in the pilot as broadcast and said to Zach, reminds me of something:
Although "Six Months Ago" has Claire being uneasy with Jackie's behaviour, she clearly was ambitious enough to go not just for the cheerleader position but also for the popular girl position in general, in fact so ambitious that she did ditch old pal Zach - Godsend has him (when mindwiped) bringing up again that Claire stopped talking to him in their later high school years, too - until she needed someone when finding out about her powers. She also reacts to the initial discovery by wishing it away, resenting the whole thing and trying as hard as she can to cling to her previous normal life. Of course, in a linchpin, she does come through, and uses her powers to save someone life. Does this remind you of anyone? Claire does share traits with Nathan after all.
Meanwhile, it's clear that the Petrelli brothers were planned as the most co-dependent relationship of the lot from the start. Only they're not the Petrellis yet; instead, they're the Campbells, and additionally burdened with the names Ethan (Peter) and Harrison (Nathan). Also, they're twins. Not being Italian does not stop them from getting physical (Harrison delivers Nathan's "you need to snap the fuck out of this, you understand?" etc - lines identical to what was broadcast eventually - after having grabbed Ethan and pulled him against a wall) or bursting into emotional declarations. Interestingly, one of the cuts mirrors the second Nathan and Peter scene from O.07, only with reverse positions. To wit:
HARRISON:
(...) What are you doing there, Ethan?
ETHAN:
Finding out who I am!
HARRISON:
You know who you are! You're my brother! My better half! The nicest guy on the planet!
And the scene ends with:
Ethan is heavy and Harrison unsteady. He can't hold him up. Ethan slips out of Harrison's arms! Harrison grabs on to Ethan's hand (...)
HARRISON:
Ethan...oh god...
A desperate beat, as they try to hold on.
ETHAN
It's okay. I love you, Harrison.
And as Ethan's fingers begin to slip, Harrison holds on for dear life as we slam to black: The End.
Now, aside from the fact some script editor must have said "Kring, let's save the declarations until a bit later", the most important change made was from twin brothers to older brother/younger brother, and that obviously came with the casting; same with the name change and the Italian-American background. In regards to Angela Petrelli, who is Alice Campbell in the draft, and how she developed in the course of the show, it's definitely worth noting that even in her introduction scene, the script says "don't let her sweet appearance fool you, this is a formidable woman"; if anything, the "your brother doesn't love you" discussion later with Ethan is even harsher on her part than the one Angela and Peter have in the broadcast version. Ah, Petrellis. Even when you were Campbells, you were outlined as such a screwed up family.
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C: Okay, Peter is clearly Alex Summers - younger brother, emotionally unstable, could explode, but Nathan is so not Scott. He's Sebastian Shaw.
Self: No, he's Tony Stark during and post Civil War.
C: Unfair to drag in non-mutants!
Self: Same universe, though, so it counts!
And yes, obvious resonances, especially with the alliterations.
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One of the reasons I didn't get into the show from the first few episodes (I think I watched 3 or 4 before I stopped) was that I felt like I should have liked Peter but I just wanted to smack him. I liked Nathan somewhat more even though it seemed like he was supposed to be the "bad" brother. But if Peter is Alex, rather than Scott, and Nathan is Tony, that's perfect. (Peter can even be Peter, though in this case it's sort of a reverse -- with Peter WANTING them to expose themselves, and Nathan wanting to stay in the closet. Though Stark definitely had his closet periods, too. . .) So, who's the mother?
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Ah, no. Way more complicated. And if you stopped that early you missed the whole fun twistedness of that relationship and that it's anything but good and bad brother. Ep 5 is the first time you see Nathan in detail (and he has some great character scenes), and ep 7 is when the Petrelli family dynamic really gets under scrutiny, complete with mutual manipulations (showing that Peter does know how he can get to Nathan if he really wants to and is definitely not the naive here), great snark and fantastic affection/anger mixture.
So, who's the mother?
That's tricky, because steely manipulative matriarchs are rare in the marvelverse. Aunt May has the spine, but is far too nice. Mystique is too crazy; ditto Cassandra. Actually, she's more like a female Ultimate!Charles Xavier than anyone else...
Not really that Mystique is crazy...
Ultimate Charlotte Xavier actually is a very good description, though. :-)
I take it back...
Glad you approve of Ultimate Charlotte Xavier!