As previously reported, the status of Kristen Bell is not 100% certain for season three. Technically the actress is yet to sign a new contract to appear on the show again.

In a recent interview with TV Guide, though, Bell didn’t sound too worried about it:

“I’ve had an unbelievable experience thus far and they seem to like me and want to keep me onboard, so we’re going to keep that ball rolling for as long as we can.”

While the actress is busy shooting and promoting Forgetting Sarah Marshall over the next few months, she says that by the time she gets back “[Heroes] will be getting things together to start shooting. So I’ll be free.”

She also teases that Elle “is so evil and so broken, yet she actually redeems herself over the next couple of episodes.”

We can’t wait.

As for what will goes down in season three, here are a few more Heroes spoilers we’ve been hearing:

• A Japanese woman comes into Ando’s (James Kyson Lee) life.
• Nikki really is dead, but is replaced by one of her alter egos.
• There’s another appearance from Future Hiro (Masi Oka).
• There will also be a couple of new characters added to the New Orleans storyline. One is Officer Warren, a handsome police officer who may be a love interest for Monica (Dana Davis).
• There will also be a new character named Knox, a frightening villain recently sprung from prison.

Amidst rumors that Kristen Bell isn’t signed on for season three of Heroes, Kristin of E! Online has the following message for fans;

I have it on good authority that Elle is very much a part of the writers’ grand plan for season three. (Fear not: Tim Kring loves her just as much as we do!) So, if there is a holdup, I assure you it is more on the business (rather than creative) side of things, and there is still time to get this worked out before they go back into production.

Oh, and by the by, we might not see much of Claire-bear in the first episode or two. Hayden Panettiere told us at her Candies soiree that production is “gearing up in April and I’ll be joining them in May when I come back from shooting I Love You, Beth Cooper in Vancouver.”

We may have to wait until the fall for new episodes, but at least we can look over a few Heroes spoilers for that season now.

During the recent Jules Verne Festival, show creator Tim Kring and Jeph Loeb presented footage of the chapter “Villains.” We showed the video here - but here’s a rundown of changes that lie ahead for the show:

• Angela Petrelli has moved into a powerful role at The Company.  It has also been revealed that Level Five, one of The Company’s prison areas where the most dangerous and powerful killers are detained, gets breached.

• There’s also a scene in which most of the major Heroes are all dead.  Described by Noah Bennet like “12 Sylars running free,” the shots shows Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) as a corpse in a pool of blood, Hiro (Masi Oka) been pinned to the wall with his own sword and Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) with his throat torn open.

Our thanks to Kristin from E! Online for this latest Heroes spoiler.

She’s already told us that Elle, Adam, Nathan and Niki (or a different alter-ego portrayed by Ali Later) will all be back when the show returns.

But here’s an interesting new tidbit: Adam Monroe was once named Richard Sanders… and is related to Niki! How many identities can one guy have? Guess when you’ve been alive for over 400 years, names can pile up.

We just gave you a Heroes spoiler about a new actor coming aboard the show, Jamie Hector.

Now, courtesy of Kristin from E! Online, here’s information about a well-established actor/character on the series: Will we be seeing Niki again?

If you threatened to electrocute me with your lightning powers, I’d say…no. But I’d also tell you that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of Ali Larter. I’m hearing that the plan as of the last time the writers met up (prestrike) was for Niki to be dead—but for an alter ego to take over.

Not Jessica, not the whipped-cream chick from Varsity Blues, and that leaves…come on, you can guess it! It’s someone we’ve seen before. Of course, all that is subject to change due to the current holding pattern.

Volume three of Heroes will air at some point. We promise.

And when it does, actor Jamie Hector will appear on the series. Best known for his role on HBO’s The Wire, Hector recently discussed his upcoming part on Heroes:

My character’s name on Heroes is Benjamin Knox Washington. I can’t really disclose much about him, but I can tell you it’s a lot of fun. So many special effects — and it all winds up looking so real.

The set is different — it’s warmer outside, obviously — and in Baltimore, since most of us are not from Baltimore, we all hang out and go to dinner after shooting. We’re like a family.

The cast of Heroes attended the Jules Vern Film Festival yesterday.

Aside from presenting an award to comic legend Stan Lee, the crew showed festival attendees a quick, one-minute sneak peek of the upcoming chapter, titled “Villains.”

Here’s an exciting look, for those yearning for some Heroes spoilers:

Don’t read any further if you haven’t watched last night’s episode yet. Major Heroes spoiler alert!

Kristin from E! Online has the following to report regarding the character/actors that appeared to have died during the finale of “Generations.”

Ali Larter: According to Heroes insiders, Niki is not expected to return to the show. But her devilish alter ego Jessica? We’ll see her as soon as the show comes back to the airwaves (when the strike is through). At least, that’s the current plan, according to sources, who sayproducers had “done all they could do” with Niki.

David Anders: You can bet Hiro’s sworn nemesis will return. Insiders say the current plan is for Adam Monroe to be back to torment our favorite squinty teleporter, i.e. the “carp.”

Adrian Pasdar: The production and writing staff is somewhat split as to whether Nathan should return to the show when the show returns. Really, though?!? Heroes without the brothers would be like Prison Break or Brothers & Sisters without the brothers: i.e., a waste of time! Surely Claire’s blood can save her own father, right?!

What do you think? Who should come back and who should remain deceased? Let us know right now on the Heroes forum!

We’re just a few days away from the Heroes winter finale. As we hope and pray that the writers’ strike comes to an end and Monday’s show isn’t the season finale, here’s NBC’s official preview for it:

Deep below Primatech Paper in Odessa, TX, Peter’s (Milo Ventimiglia) reunion with Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) turns violent when the brothers, Matt (Greg Grunberg) and Hiro (Masi Oka) all clash thanks to Adam (David Anders) and his pursuit of the deadly Shanti Virus.

After watching his heroic cousin captured by a street gang, Micah (Noah Gray-Cabey) turns to the one person who can help him save Monica (Dana Davis): his mom (Ali Larter).

Meanwhile, Maya (Dania Ramirez) tragically learns how much of a monster Sylar (Zachary Quinto) really is during his kidnapping of Molly (Adair Tishler) and Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy). Also, Elle (Kristen Bell) decides to play hero to get back into her father’s (Stephen Tobolowsky) good graces.

Two Heroes will fall. One villain will rise.

We all heard the voiceover and saw the preview for this Monday’s Heroes episode, right? But just which characters will perish? And will they really be gone forever? This is Heroes, after all…

Kristin from E! Online, wrote the following spoilers/teasers regarding who we can expect to say goodbye to next week:

We’ll call the first death Final, the second death Uncertain and the third death Reversed (thanks to Claire’s miracle juice - yay!). (And no, they don’t go down in that order.)

Although you may be shocked by all of these deaths - because they are all series regulars and very pretty people! - you probably won’t cry over Final or Reversed (that’s just my hunch). But if Uncertain turns out to stick, well, let’s just say the Heroes producers best be stocking up on some hazmat suits for the s–t storm that’s about to erupt! The fans will not be happy.

(In other winter-finale news, Mama Petrelli just might be the worst mother ever in the history of the planet, while Noah Bennet has my vote for Father of the Year, while Sylar is the Comeback Kid.)

Who do you think will die? Let us know right now in our Heroes forum!