New footage hints at faithfully adapted visuals and a remixed and reimagined narrative.
Paramount+ dropped the first official trailer for its Halo TV series yesterday, giving fans of the gaming franchise a lot to chew on.
Visually, the screen adaptation seems to have seamlessly captured the game’s signature look, but narratively, this new footage hints at a very different Halo. Already, fans have been quick to point out that the series’ major plot points have been ascribed whole new backstories: the origins of the titular Halo and Master Chief’s identity are now reimagined, and other elements from the games’ stories are mixed and matched for the new show.
In this take on Halo, Master Chief (voiced by Pablo Schreiber) is introduced as Dr. Halsey’s (Natascha McElhone) ultimate creation -- a Spartan super soldier considered to be humanity’s best means of protection against a malevolent species of invading aliens known as the Covenant. “He is lethal, upgradable, and most importantly, controllable,” Dr. Halsey intones as the trailer flashes some kinetic cuts of Master Chief in combat. (That “controllable” part will be challenged as the series unfolds, when Master Chief’s underlying emotions are unlocked by the discovery of a mysterious glowing object.)
Watch the official trailer for Halo below:
Starring alongside Schreiber and McElhone are Jen Taylor as Cortana; Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky; Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066; Charlie Murphy as Makee; Kate Kennedy as Kai-125; Natasha Culzac as Riz-028; Bentley Kalu as Vannak-134; Olive Gray; Yerin Ha; and Danny Sapani. Ryan McParland, Burn Gorman, and Fiona O’Shaughnessy also join the cast as original characters.
The visual effects, so essential to Halo’s faithful world-building, were made by Cinesite (VFX supervisor Sean Stranks), Mr. X (VFX supervisor Craig Calvert), MPC Episodic, Pixomondo, Rocket Science VFX (VFX supervisor Greg Behrens), and Rodeo FX.
The show is produced by Showtime, Halo video game developer 343 Industries, and Amblin Television. Steven Kane executive produces alongside Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank, and Justin Falvey for Amblin. Otto Bathurst and Toby Leslie executive produce for One Big Picture, with Bathurst directing several episodes; Kyle Killen and Scott Pennington executive produce for Chapter Eleven; Kiki Wolfkill, Frank O’Connor, and Bonnie Ross serve as executive producers for 343 Industries. The series is distributed internationally by ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group.
Halo will run for 10 episodes, with the first premiering March 24, 2022.
Max Weinstein is a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. He is the Editor-at-Large of 'Dread Central' and former Editorial Director of 'MovieMaker.' His work has been featured in 'Cineaste,' 'Fangoria,' 'Playboy,' 'Vice,' and 'The Week.'
