The amazing Peter Petrelli lives on

How many times can Peter Petrelli die? Apparently, we're up to about a half dozen times.

"I'm sure everybody will be surprised to see what happens," says actor Milo Ventimiglia, who plays the durable Peter on "Heroes" (9 p.m., Mondays, NBC).

So far this season, Peter has been thrown off a building, smashed on pavement and had his skull sliced up.

In visions, he's shown going nuclear and exploding, taking half of New York City with him.

The future doesn't look so bright for Peter, one of the show's characters central to the apocalyptic storyline.

Of all the super-powered characters on "Heroes," Peter is definitely the group's punching bag.

Yet there he is, back for the next week, none the worse for the wear.

Ask Ventimiglia if he's getting killed off the show once and for all by season's end, and he has a quick answer.

"No," he says.

Then he follows up with the kind of grin usually reserved for a Cheshire cat.

Typically coy anyway, Ventimiglia - who walked away from the security of a hit like "Gilmore Girls" in 2003 to try his own thing - claims he doesn't know the ultimate fate of Peter, a nurse who has the ability to mimic other people's super abilities.

(Peter has staved off the Grim Reaper so often because he's absorbed the cheerleader's knack for invincibility and durability.)

But, throughout most of the entire season, a horrific vision of the future keeps pointing to one fact: Peter will die and take most of New York with him.

But for most of the season, the cast of "Heroes" has been as much in the dark about developments as the audience.

"We're just (shooting) a couple of episodes ahead (of airing)," he says.

"At some point, there will be an end for Peter. All shows come to an end anyway. All characters serve their purpose. I am prepping myself for when it will eventually happen."

Ventimiglia is committed to do one feature film so far during his "Heroes" break. It's a thriller called "Pathology," about medical students looking to cover up a crime. But beyond that?

"I'll tell you what, if you see me auditioning for pilots, you'll know something's up," he says. "Right now I am happy where I am."