Halo

In 2018, the Showtime network greenlit a television show based on the Halo video game series. Since then they’ve been slowly turning their Halo series project into a reality. It ended up premiering on Paramount+ starring Pablo Schreiber in the lead role.

The series has been a moderate success for the streamer, coming in with higher expectations because of the video game’s popularity.

Let’s take a look at what we know about Halo and what is to coming with this franchise.

Halo Season 1 Premiered On Paramount+ In 2022

The first season of Halo was on the Paramount+ network, hitting the streamer in March 2022. The series adapted the stories from the incredibly popular video game franchise and it was the first attempt at really bringing this story to the masses in a way that could appeal to those who hadn’t actually played the game.

Pablo Schreiber Is Master Chief Petty Officer John-117

The biggest piece of the Halo series was casting the lead role and even there was some controversy about how things should be handled. That’s because in the video game, the character rarely if ever removes his helmet. He’s somewhat anonymous, meant to be that way in order to allow players to imagine themselves (presumably) in the role.

But this being a television series, it was rather unlikely that we would go the whole time without seeing Schreiber’s face in the show. Unlike The Mandorlian, which has stayed mostly true to form in this sense, Pablo Schreiber’s Master Chief does take the helmet off in the series, somewhat nonchalantly even.

Not all fans have been down with this move, even if the mechanics behind it made sense. In the end, Schreiber is an incredible actor, so bringing humanity (so to speak) to the part made sense on a higher level, especially for those coming to the series without having played the actual game themselves.

The Halo Series Cast

In addition to Pablo Schreiber, there are a number of other names added to the Halo cast. Most notably, Jen Taylor was on as Cortana, the AI that’s implanted into Master Chief’s brain as an aid in the fight against the Covenant. Miller voiced the character in the video game franchise as well, so staying true to form for this casting was a win in fan’s eyes.

Also in the Halo cast are Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky and Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, two key pieces in the series. They are at the top of the Spartan project that Master Chief is a part of in the fight against the Covenant.

Kyle Killen Led The Show

Kyle Killen was been selected as both showrunner and writer for the Halo series. Killen has written for shows such as Lone Star and Mind Games, neither one a huge success, so Showtime may be rolling the dice here.

Levine explained, through Gamespot, the reasoning behind the Killen hire, “We made a conscious decision to hire a writer not known for sci-fi and not known for big battle movies or anything. Because that’s already baked into the Halo franchise and we will service that. But we also want to ensure that we get underneath the formidable armor of the Spartans.”

Halo Season 2 Is In The Works

It didn’t come as much of a surprise to know that Halo season 2 is coming down the pike for Paramount+. While it wasn’t an enormous hit for the streamer, and some criticism was leveled at the somewhat reductive plot mechanics, this is simply too big of a franchise to stop after one season.

There are no firm timelines for a second season, but production is expected to begin in 2023.