The producers of Paramount’s upcoming Halo series have already made it clear that the story will be set in a unique alternative canon, called the Silver Timeline, but fans of the long-running first-person shooter can’t help but wonder if that means the show will deviate too much from the video games.
More specifically, some are worried that this version of the Master Chief won’t live up to their own headcanon due to differences often lost in translation when adapting something from a completely different medium. Well, according to what executive producer Kiki Wolfkill has revealed at the Paramount+ TCA event, this new series will explore the humanity of our characters and their inner dilemmas.
Wolfkill acknowledged the challenges of adapting a beloved franchise like Halo, though maintained that the experience was creatively satisfying, saying:
“You know, adapting a beloved video game with 20 years of history and story and character development is, it’s a daunting task but it’s also really gratifying. And so for us, we really looked at this as: How do we take the essence of the game experience and really express it in our own voice, the show’s unique voice? And so with that, we set out to build a huge epic sci-fi 26-century world, with brutal aliens, Spartan super soldiers, artificial intelligence, military politics, and ancient mystery.”
As for characterization and how Master Chief, in particular, will be portrayed, Wolfkill had the following to say.
“But at the same time against that backdrop, [we’re] really, really trying to tell some very personal stories and explore the humanity or lack thereof and complexity of our characters,” He continued. “And in particular, the Master Chief who, you know, is the very best of us but also has had a lot taken away from him. So, I think really for us, with so much at stake, we really tried to explore, you know, how much of our humanity are we willing to sacrifice in order to save it.”
Halo will premiere on Paramount’s streaming service on Mar. 24.
Published: Feb 3, 2022 10:50 am