Paramount+
After nearly a decade in development, a screen adaptation of Xbox’s flagship game series “Halo” made it out of the gate in the form of a big-budget Paramount+ action series.
The result was a mess. Critics reviews were mixed, audience reviews were even worse and behind-the-scenes issues led to the first season showrunners exiting and being replaced.
There was praise for the action and VFX quality, but a huge amount of criticism for its derivative writing and major alterations to the source material (though it technically takes place in its own timeline).
The series didn’t directly adapt the game or any of the lengthy reams of lore from tie-in material for the franchise. Instead they delivered a new story incorporating imagery from random points in the games.
Using that selective iconography caused numerous controversies amongst the fanbase, most notably a sequence in the penultimate episode when Pablo Schreiber’s Master Chief John-117 hooks up with Makee (Charlie Murphy).
The fans hated the scene, and so did Schreiber who tells SFX Magazine he fought against that scene’s inclusion:
“The decision to make the connection between Makee and John a romantic connection was a huge mistake. I felt it was a huge mistake at the time and I argued against it and fought against it. But I am who I am. I don’t write the scripts. I only give my opinion. It wasn’t listened to.”
That was hardly the only one. Executive producer Kiki Wolfkill says the decision to include a scene with Master Chief’s flashing his naked backside early in the season is a creative choice she’s still not hearing the end of:
“There are things like ‘Master Cheeks’ where I will say, admittedly, it was a blind spot for me how strong the reaction would be. At the end of the day, taking a risk like that again is more about, do we need it to support the story? At the end of the day, does ‘Master Cheeks’ need to happen again to support the story? Probably not. That’s not the kind of risk that’s worth taking.”
Then there was arguably the most common complaint of all – that Master Chief keeps taking off his helmet throughout the season. Fans have complained, saying it should be like “The Mandalorian” where the helmet seldom comes off. This is one where Schreiber disagrees with the complaints:
“People who don’t feel the helmet was necessary to come off, they’re at such an early conception of what the show could be. In order to fully explore the discrepancy between these two versions of the character [Chief and John-117], you can’t tell that story without taking the helmet off. If you don’t agree with the helmet coming off in the show, you don’t like our show. So there’s no point discussing it.”
David Wiener takes over as showrunner for the new season which begins in the wake of a shocking event on a desolate planet. Master Chief cannot shake the feeling that his war is about to change and risks everything to prove what no one else will believe – that the Covenant is preparing to attack humanity’s greatest stronghold. He embarks on a journey to find the key to humankind’s salvation, or its extinction: the Halo.
The returning cast includes Natascha McElhone as Dr. Halsey, along with Jen Taylor as Cortana, Bokeem Woodbine, Natasha Culzac, Shabana Azmi, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Tylan Bailey, and Danny Sapani.
New to the season are Joseph Morgan, Cristina Rodlo and Christina Bennington. Two episodes will premiere on Paramount+ on February 8th with the remainder weekly through until March 21st.
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