The long-gestating Halo series still doesn’t have a release date, but it has another trailer! Following last month’s teeny-tiny teaser, this new look focused less on Spartan super-soldier Master Chief (American Gods‘ Pablo Schreiber) and more on giving us a glimpse of the epic world of Halo and the rest of the characters.
But Master Chief is there, never fear.
Halo also stars Jen Taylor, who continues her game role as the advanced AI Cortana, and Natasha McElhone, who plays Dr. Catherine Halsey, the creator of Cortana and the Spartan super-soldiers. In the 26th century world of Halo, those soldiers battle the alien Covenant, but it’s not clear yet how closely the series will follow the narrative of the game.
Schreiber told Entertainment Weekly that the show is a “classic hero’s journey” that will “crack the veneer” of Master Chief. He continued:
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“It takes place very much in the universe that the video games created, but it’s a TV show. We get to expand that universe and create stories in it. There’s going to be some new characters that are introduced, there’s going to be a lot of familiar characters that everyone will know from the game.”
This is a very good way to say very little: It’ll be new, but familiar, and like the game, but not like the game! The summary with the trailer doesn’t offer much more:
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.
Halo is produced Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television and 343 Industries, and had Steve Kane (The Last Ship, The Closer) as showrunner for this first season, though he won’t return should the show continue. Along with Schreiber, Taylor, and McElhone, it stars Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy, and Danny Sapani.
Halo arrives on Paramount+ sometime next year.
