While Paramount+'s Halo series was certainly divisive at launch, one thing that almost everyone agreed on about the adaptation was that the action featured was a highlight. With a massive budget and large-scale production, plenty of work was put in to assure that combat between the UNSC and Covenant forces felt like the games and let Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) and the Spartans shine. In anticipation of the series' first season releasing physically in 4K Ultra HD later this month, Collider can exclusively reveal a new featurette that takes fans behind the scenes of The Battle of Madrigal and goes over everything that went into creating one of the show's most vital action set pieces.

The new featurette, titled "Dissecting The Battle of Madrigal," starts off with some production details regarding the series. Schreiber explains that much of the action was filmed across a four-month period sandwiched between the pre-pandemic non-action shoots and more production in Fall 2021. For that four-month stretch, it was only about action which included plenty of pyrotechnics work, wire stunts, and much more. One thing everyone emphasizes is the scale of the production relative to other shows. At times, it was difficult to pull off the various scenes due to having so many extras on-screen fighting and dying at the same time while the Spartans jump around taking out Covenant elites.

To show the journey from production to the final product, the featurette routinely flashes between the on-set performance and the actual show. One scene in particular that gets the spotlight is a shot of Master Chief jumping onto a ruined vehicle and flipping over to gun down an elite. Not only is the wire work shown off, but it's highlighted that plenty of wire rehearsal days were needed to nail the scene. Those days were especially hard to come by due to the show shooting the action scenes in late winter and early spring, meaning rain and snow was a constant problem on set.

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Image Via Paramount+

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The featurette is just one piece of what comes with the physical release of Halo Season 1. Touting over 75 minutes of exclusive behind-the-scenes special features, the five-disc collection comes with a total of five hours of extra content along with all nine episodes. Expect to explore more of how massive scenes like The Battle of Madrigal came together, as well as how the iconic costumes, weapons, and vehicles were translated from the games and what it was like for the cast members to become Spartan super soldiers, among other things.

Halo Season 1 Details

Produced by Showtime in collaboration with 343 Studios and Amblin Television, Halo adapts Xbox's landmark first-person shooter games centering on humanity's conflict with the alien Covenant. As the extraterrestrial alliance begins invading and destroying humanity's colonies all in the name of their own ambitions, it falls to Master Chief John-117 to thwart their plans and save humanity while coming to terms with his own past. Alongside Schreiber, the series sees Jen Taylor reprise her role as Cortana from the games with Natascha McElhone, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy, and Danny Sapani rounding out the cast.

Production recently kicked off on Season 2 of Halo with Schreiber getting back to the gym in preparation for his return as Master Chief. Before returning to the fight, fans can revisit the events of the series so far when Season 1 releases on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on November 15. The series can also be streamed on Paramount+ and is available digitally. Check out the exclusive featurette below.