During the three-hour telecast of The Game Awards, viewers and fans were able to witness tease of the new Halo series set to launch on Paramount+ next year. Starring American Gods’ Pablo Schreiber in the titular role as Master Chief, the show is based on the first Xbox exclusive video game that debuted 20 years ago. Check the teaser below.
For the random few who have never heard of the revolutionary first-person shooter and insanely popular multiplayer title, Halo takes place centuries into the future as an alien race known as The Covenant relinquishes a long-standing war with humanity. The universe’s only hope is a genetically-engineered “supersoldier” to lead Earth’s Spartan fleets across the galaxy where new alliances and foes await in the battle for survival.
The brief-minute trailer showcases some of the series’ vast locales and main characters as a familiar voice narrates. For die-hard fans of the tentpole video game series, that voice is none other than Master Chief’s trusted AI companion, Cortana, voiced by the original actor, Jen Taylor (Halo 2, Super Mario Sunshine).
As the camera sweeps through mountainous terrains, industrial space stations, and foreign planets, we get glimpses of the main cast we will follow before landing on the iconic Master Chief. Natasha McElhone (Ronin, Solaris) appears as “supersoldier” physician, Dr. Catherine Halsey. Yerin Ha (Reef Break) is boldly depicted as her series original character, Quan Ah. We see another new character in Charlie Murphy’s (Peaky Blinders, Happy Valley) orphaned human, Makee, who was raised by the enemy alien race. Bookem Woodbine (Fargo, Queen & Slim) appears as privateer Soren-066. And Olive Gray (Half Moon Investigations, Rose) portrays Covenant expert, Miranda Keyes.
A brief shot highlights three Spartan soldiers which we can assume are Bentley Kalu’s (Edge of Tomorrow, Black Ops) deputy Spartan Vannak-134, Natasha Culzac’s (The Witcher, Cursed) Spartan Riz-028, and Kate Kennedy’s (Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Gregor) Spartan Kai-125. The trailer also shows Casper Knopf (Small Hand) who has been cast as a young John-117, Master Chief’s human identity.
The first live-action adaptation has had an almost decade-long journey, as it was originally set for Showtime when the network acquired the rights in 2013. Six years later the series began production in Budapest, and like every other series, faced COVID-19 delays. The series returned to filming in November of 2020.
The trailer’s release coincides with the recent launch of Halo Infinite, the latest entry in the video game’s 20-year franchise. Before the full-fledged series, the video game spawned into comics, animated films, the popular Red Vs Blue series, and other media.