The Big Picture
- Zachary Quinto initially played a supervillain named Sylar who was power-hungry and disturbing in Heroes.
- Heroes was groundbreaking as a dark and mature superhero series that explored complex themes.
- Quinto has returned to the superhero genre as a complicated hero in Invincible, playing a noble character named Robot.
You may know him as Mr. Spock and Robot now, but before becoming a recognized star, Zachary Quinto played a terrifying supervillain in a groundbreaking superhero series. Long before Star Trek and Invincible captured the hearts and minds of audiences, Quinto's roots were firmly planted in the world of broadcast television. One of his earliest major roles was as a series regular in the massively popular espionage series, 24, where his character of CIA analyst Adam Kaufman played a major role in Season 3. He may have been an ally in 24, but he would play a much different — and far more evil — character in NBC's ambitious superhero drama Heroes.
These days, it almost feels like there's nothing but superhero shows, particularly ones related to Marvel, DC, and beyond. However, apart from the ordinary family-friendly cartoons, superhero shows were not the norm, let alone ones that explored dark and mature matters. That's what made Heroes so special when it first premiered in 2006, as it was a completely original show about superheroes that presented them in a grounded setting and wasn't afraid to tell its story with some grit and nuance (or as much as you could for a network television show in the mid-2000s). Ask any fan what the best part of the show is, and odds are many of them will say that it's Zachary Quinto's engaging and legitimately disturbing serial killer supervillain, Sylar.
Heroes
TV-14DramaSuperheroFantasySci-FiCommon people discover that they have super powers. Their lives intertwine as a devastating event must be prevented.
- Release Date
- September 25, 2006
- Creator
- Tim Kring
- Cast
- Adrian Pasdar , Hayden Panettiere , Zachary Quinto , Milo Ventimiglia , Sendhil Ramamurthy , Masi Oka , Jack Coleman , Greg Grunberg
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 4
Zachary Quinto's Sylar Is a Power Hungry Monster in 'Heroes' Season 1
Sylar is not the name that Gabriel Gray was born with. His serial killer moniker comes from his favorite brand of wristwatch, as he used to repair clocks for a living before turning to a life of super crime. Gabriel's life is completely normal until a geneticist named Chandra Suresh (Erick Avari) lands on his doorstep one day. Chandra has theorized that people with miraculous superpowers and abilities were walking among the average population, and he believes Gabriel may be one of them. The idea of being a superhero is undeniably appealing to Gabriel, who had spent his whole life living a completely mundane and unexciting life. However, Chandra concludes he's made a mistake with Gabriel when none of his tests yield any results.
Gabriel is enraged and feels cheated, but when a man who can move objects with his mind enters his shop, he sees that Chandra is onto something. It is at around this point that Gabriel makes a breakthrough — he can understand and replicate abilities or knowledge by studying someone's inner workings. In a passionate desire for further knowledge, Gabriel murders the man by beating him with a blunt object. When he examines the man's brain, Gabriel steals his powers, thus giving birth to the all-powerful Sylar.
Sylar soon becomes obsessed with acquiring more powers and knowledge from other superhumans, leading to his reputation as a mysterious and infamous serial killer. Sylar's calling card involves him cracking the skulls of his victims open so he can see their brains and steal their powers, but his path changes when he meets a comic book artist named Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera), who can see into the future. Isaac foresees that Sylar will die at the hands of a hero. That certainly wouldn't be ideal for Sylar, so it's a good thing he's heard about a cheerleader with a regenerative healing factor named Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere). If he gets a look at her brain, then he'll be virtually indestructible.
Sylar's pursuit of Claire is the first time we see him in the events of the series, as the show tends to bounce around in Heroes' timeline. For the first few episodes, all we know of Sylar is the path of death and destruction he's left in his wake. The build-up he's given is sensational, and he feels like an unsettling threat before he even appears on-screen. When Sylar does appear, Quinto perfectly portrays him as a sadistic and power-hungry monster who's enjoying every second of his nefarious quest.
Sylar's Story Gets Muddled in 'Heroes' Later Seasons
Sylar is seemingly defeated by the titular heroes in Season 1, and given the direction his character took in future seasons, maybe it should have stayed that way. The consensus with Heroes is that the subsequent seasons failed to live up to the strong storytelling and characters of the first installment, and the various directions the show tries to take Sylar in are a testament to that belief.
The show tries at various points in subsequent seasons to give Sylar a redemption arc, which doesn't really feel fitting for someone who has slaughtered dozens of innocent people. This leads to the series' attempt to justify that behavior by retconning Sylar's desire for power as a psychological compulsion that he's unable to resist. Perhaps the most ridiculous plot point is when a twist reveals Sylar is the long-lost brother of two of the show's main protagonists, Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) and Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar), only for that to be revealed as a lie later in the season. Do the later seasons make Sylar's incredible arc in Season 1 any worse? Not really, but it's a shame that his character didn't go in more interesting directions after an incredible debut.
Zachary Quinto Has Returned to Superhero Shows With 'Invincible'
Having already played a complex villain in a superhero show, it seemed only fitting that Zachary Quinto returned to the genre as a complicated hero in Invincible. Quinto plays the character of Robot — a technologically advanced hero who becomes the new leader of the Guardians of the Globe when the former team members are killed. While leading the team, Robot meets and falls in love with Monster Girl (Grey Griffin), a woman in her twenties who ages backward every time she uses her powers.
Robot is typically a noble hero, but even a brilliant scientist falls sway to his desires to be with Monster Girl. Using his teammate Rex's (Jason Mantzoukas) DNA and breaking the Mauler Twins (Kevin Michael Richardson) out of prison, Robot makes a new young body for himself. It's certainly a bizarre set of circumstances, but Robot still consistently comes to the aid of his friends and teammates when the need arises. That's certainly something his more villainous character in Heroes wouldn't be caught dead doing.
Invincible Season 2 and Heroes are both available to stream on Prime Video.
