Adapting video games to TV and film is a risky business, they can flop, or they can fly. We’ve seen series such as Arcane (2021) and films including Tomb Raider (2018) achieve pretty great reviews across the board, but there have also been numerous busts: Warcraft (2016), Silent Hill (2006), and dare we even mention the 1995 production of Mortal Kombat? It is fair to say a series based on one of the most popular video game franchises of all time has a pretty big weight on its shoulders. So what can we expect from Kyle Killen (Lone Star) and Steven Kane’s (The Last Ship) Halo, set to be released on Paramount+?
The development of a TV series based on the insanely popular Xbox game series Halo was first announced back in 2013 and has been in development ever since, however, the potential for creating small screen action has never been overlooked. This isn’t the first live-action adaption of the game franchise, albeit having by far the biggest budget. In 2007, a series of three short films directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9) under the name Halo: Landfall were released to promote Halo 3. Netflix hosted a web series of 15-minute episodes called Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn in 2012, which has since been removed and is hard to find online. Finally, in 2014 a higher production series was made to launch alongside the Master Chief Collection on Xbox One, which is still available to buy and rent on the Xbox store.
However, finally, fans have a series with an established cast, experienced showrunners, and a mega-budget to fulfill their Halo content desires. Without further ado, here is all we know so far about the new series.
When Is the Halo Series' Release Date and Where Can You Watch it?
While release was originally planned for 2021, production was halted briefly. Now, Halo is set to premiere on Paramount+ on March 24, 2022. There are 9 episodes expected from Season 1, which will be released weekly (finishing on the 19th of May). While the show is exclusive to Paramount+, it is available as a paid channel on Amazon Prime Video, and is also included in the Sky bundle for UK viewers.
What Is the Premise of Halo 2022?
Little has been released regarding the actual plot of Halo. We know from the synopsis that Halo is going to be "an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. Halo will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.”
Here's the full synopsis:
Dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant, Halo the series will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future. In a war for humanity's very survival, our deadliest weapon is our greatest hope. See Master Chief, Cortana, the Covenant, and the other Spartans of Silver Team more in this epic trailer for the new Paramount+ Original Series, Halo. Find the Halo, win the war.
Executive producer Kiki Wolfkill has also revealed that the series is a non-canon standalone story inspired by the game franchise and isn’t intended to be a direct adaptation from the games themselves. That said, obviously there are many elements from the trailer which fans of the games will recognize that tease a plot line, read on for what we can gather from the trailer itself.
Everything We Got From the Halo Trailer
If you haven’t yet seen the Halo trailer, we highly recommend you watch it here.
Firstly, the aesthetic of the games is certainly shown in the trailer: settings, weapons, and themes to boot. Eagle-eyed fans perhaps notice the trademark weapons found in the franchise such as the shining fan favorite energy sword wielded by large alien creatures. Secondly, Halo is set to follow the story of super soldier Master Chief, the main character from all the Halo games, however we appear to be set to indeed delve deeper into his story, as there are shots of the famous decades old character without his signature suit and helmet.
From the trailer (and confirmed by the cast list) it appears that much like the games we also have a United Nations Space Command, who work on behalf of the human race to colonize planets and use genetically engineered “Spartans” (a group which Master Chief leads) to protect humanity. It seems from the trailer that there is going to be some discourse between the UNSC and Master Chief, who is the perfect soldier due to his ability to be “controlled”, this is something that we might see change.
The Covenant is also a big part of the Halo games, and the threat we see in the trailer. The Covenant is an alien race who in the games and apparently the series come into conflict with the humans over the Halo rings. Within the games the Halo rings are huge weaponized structures to eradicate sentient life, believed by the Covenant to be religious relics which can allow them to transcend. It is likely from what we have seen so far that this will be a similar theme in the show, however we don’t want to speculate too much as we know the show will be taking a leap away from the game itself. We would like to point out, if you didn’t recognize the signature voice, that we love that Cortana, Master Chief’s AI partner in the war against the Covenant (in the games) is being voiced by Jen Taylor. Taylor has voiced the character for the games since the first game Halo:Combat Evolved in 2001 up until the most recently released game Halo: Infinite in 2021.
Who Is in the Halo TV Series Cast?
While we will see Jen Taylor reprising her in-game character of Cortana, the main character, Master Chief (or more specifically Master Chief Petty Officer John-117), will not be played by Steve Downes who voices the character in the games. This is obviously due to the fact that Downes is not a screen actor, instead the mantle has been taken up by Pablo Schreiber (Orange is the New Black). Other notable cast members include Natascha McElhone (Designated Survivor) as Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, a scientist for the UNSC and creator of the Spartan project of which Master Chief is a part of. Danny Sapani (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Black Panther) as Captain Jacob Keyes, a UNSC commander and ‘friend’ of Master Chief's. Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders) plays the haunting Makee, the humanoid Covenant figure seen in the trailer. Also featuring are Yerin Ha who will star as Kwan Ha Boo, Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, Director of ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence), Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066, Olive Gray as Miranda Keyes, Kate Kennedy as Kai-125, Natasha Culzac as Riz-028 and Bentley Kalu as Vannak-134.
Will There be a Halo Season 2?
If you are already hyped for Season 1 you will be delighted to know that Season 2 has already been confirmed. Season 2 will, however, see Season 1’s showrunner Steve Kane replaced with David Wiener (Fear the Walking Dead).