He met many soldiers who were familiar with his show, and had strong opinions about his character's nemesis, Sylar (played diabolically by Zachary Quinto).

"When I was over in Iraq and Afghanistan, a lot of soldiers were like, `Dude, will you just kill Sylar already? Will you just get rid of him?'" Ventimiglia told The Associated Press during a telephone interview this week. "And I'm like, `Man, I don't know if you're gonna want that just yet. I think you're going to be very surprised as to what happens.'"

NBC-released video teasers for the series' third season, premiering Sept. 22, promote the theme of the next "Heroes" chapter, titled "Villains." In one clip, these ominous words pop up: "Good will battle evil. Because in every hero, there could be a villain."

In that case, could Peter - one of the so-called good guys - wind up swapping places with Sylar?

Ventimiglia said he wouldn't disagree with that theory. He also said Volume Three will be "so good" - a step in the right direction from season two, which was criticized heavily by fans for its draggy plotlines, among other complaints.

"I'm a tough critic," Ventimiglia said. "The first season, I remember the producers would come up to me ... after we'd all watch an episode, and they'd say, sort of, `What do you think?' And I'd either hem or haw or say it was good or not. They kinda won me this year. The scripts are great, the feeling on set is nothing but fun. I mean, we're really just doing some good work that I'm very proud of."

The 31-year-old actor said returning to Los Angeles - and to work on "Heroes" - feels surreal after his weeklong USO tour. His travel compantions included NFL players Drew Brees, Osi Umenyiora and two Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.

Blinded by the football star power, some soldiers would "look at me like I was an AP photographer because I was carrying around this gigantic camera with me all the time," joked Ventimiglia, who snapped a "bunch of great shots" during his trip.

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