One of the biggest franchises in modern gaming is coming to Paramount+, and it's looking pretty promising so far. After many years and false starts, a Halo series is finally coming to Paramount+ (not Showtime as once intended), and fans of the franchise finally have a trailer. In it, we see Elites with Covenant Swords, lots of explosions, and of course, Master Chief!
The trailer shows a lot of familiar faces beyond the hero of the franchise, all embroiled in battle as humanity fights for survival against the Covenant. The TV series is said to take place around the same events as the original 2001 game. But there have been some creative tweaks in order to tell more personal stories, and perhaps retool some aspects that translate well to video games but maybe not so much television shows. The official term for the Halo show universe is dubbed the "Silver Timeline," named partly for the show's Silver Team Spartans and because of the series finally jumping to a big production series.
Pablo Schrieber (who appears on streaming again following a show with Chris Evans) stars as Master Chief and based on what we hear in the trailer, will play a hero that humanity has concerns about controlling. Franchise devotees know that Chief is reliable when it comes to following the mission though historically, his small AI assistant Cortana (played by Jen Taylor who voices Cortana in the games) not so much. The video games would indicate that we're a little far off from any Cortana problems just yet, though who knows how this show will alter the original story.
As a fan of the Halo franchise, it's hard not to get excited by the Paramount+ trailer. The footage is visually stunning, and the action looks to be on par with what's shown in the games. At the same time, other fans have already griped about the little changes (like Cortana not being blue) and, obviously, that raises concerns from some about how much will be changed in the adaptation.
Other fans might just be happy to see the show finally get out of development hell, as this show has been in the works since 2013. Steven Spielberg was first attached at the time of the announcement but, a few setbacks later, the show is now headed to streaming with Robin Hood director Otto Bathurst on board as a producer. Delayed projects usually sit in on the shelf for a variety of reasons though, for now, all signs point to positive that that wait was worth it. Of course, the fans will be the ultimate judge of that, and whether this series becomes streaming's next hit or not.
Halo premieres on Paramount+ on Thursday, March 24th. Be sure to get ready for its arrival by picking up a subscription to the service and, once that's done, check out all the other cool Paramount+ shows available to stream.
