"Villains" was originally designed to be included within the second season; however, due to the writers' strike, the volume was carried over into season three. The lead-in to "Villains" showed Sylar regaining his lost powers, shown as the final scene of the "Generations" finale. Tim Kring has said that the new volume will bring a cadre of villains to the show, hence the title. On December 5, 2007, at the Jules Verne Film Festival Adventure, Tim Kring showed a video-preview of volume three. According to an interview with Allan Arkush, filming for season three began on May 1, 2008. On May 9, 2008, a season three promo clip was released with hints at possible "inner villains" within the heroes. The promo stated, "In every hero there could be a villain," before plastering the words "hero" and "villain" over the face of every major character. Finally, during the featured "Heroes" panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, the entire first hour of the first episode of the "Villains" arc was shown.