The new Paramount+ Halo series just had a new trailer released showcasing some sweet live-action moments from the show. Not much is known at this point about the series as a whole, however, the trailer comes at the perfect time to coincide with Halo: Infinite’s launch. The new trailer reveals a lot of cool aspects of the world, including debuting their live-action Master Chief. Fans are tentative as to how good this series will be, with every iota of detail in the trailer being picked apart, however, there are a few key things that the Halo series could do to succeed.
Halo has seen a few different live-action iterations over the years. Often done as pure promotion for new games, the live-action shows have generally received positive feedback. Most of these live-action shows haven’t focused on Master Chief, however, with many instead detailing other stories of marines or side characters. One notable live-action show that did feature Master Chief came in the form of Forward Unto Dawn. This series had the green-armored hero appearing later on in the series to help save the main character and was praised for an agreeable depiction of Chief. With Paramount+’s new show, Chief will again be at the forefront.
The Story of Halo
The main struggle that any live-action series will run into is what story it should tell. Following the first Halo game, Halo: Combat Evolved in 2001, every game thereafter has taken place almost completely concurrently as far as their stories go. The plots are designed to run directly from one game to the next, with nothing truly important happening between as far as Master Chief’s story goes.
This new series, seemingly featuring Dr. Halsey and Master Chief as main characters, has some uncertainty as to where in the timeline it will place itself. If this series truly wants to succeed as far as the story goes, it will take a fresh story set in the same world. Fans of properties that are transferring mediums consistently ask why something would need to be retreaded. If the show simply showcases the same stories that fans have already seen, it’s just that much more likely that the show won’t match up to the memory of these stories fans have, let alone the actual stories themselves.
Anything set before the games would also, unfortunately, struggle seeing as there are multiple books detailing John’s story leading up to and through him first becoming a Spartan. There are some blank spots between his first adventures as a Spartan and where the games pick up, and the series would likely be able to pull some fresh stories from this time period. It’s also possible, however, that Master Chief won’t actually feature as much in this story as it seems. There is always the chance that Master Chief is simply being used as a marketing piece for a story that follows others in the world of Halo.
Getting Master Chief Right
One of the most important pieces to any Halo story will be correctly portraying Master Chief, regardless of whether or not it’s just a cameo appearance. Fans have played Halo and been a part of Master Chief’s story since 2001, so they are incredibly familiar with who the character is from how he speaks down to how he walks. The series has only shown a little of Master Chief at this point, with just a short scene of him walking and a hero’s landing so far, so it’s difficult to determine if he will be done justice as of yet.
Some fans have already voiced some complaints about little details such as Master Chief’s walk looking off or his armor not quite looking up to snuff. These are small complaints, and likely stem more from people not having enough to dissect at this point other than these short clips. The elements shown outside of Master Chief look rather amazing so far, so it’s possible that Chief will look better in motion. It will be interesting to see if the writing can live up to the games as well, with Master Chief being a character that is sometimes seen as more of a blank slate rather than an actual character. Writing-wise, Chief is most well known for saying memorable lines and always being a hero.
It will be interesting to see what the Paramount+ series has chosen to do with its story when it premieres. Many fans are prepared to go into this new series with a fully open mind, however, others are very apprehensive about what it might be. Fans have been burned before by promising stories such as Halo: Nightfall in 2014. There are some big shoes to fill, so hopefully, this series’ long development has been spent perfecting the story and fans will be happily surprised upon release.
Halo will premiere on Paramount+ in 2022.