Halo (TV series)

Halo is an American military science fiction television series developed by Kyle Killen and Steven Kane for the streaming service Paramount+. Based on the video game franchise created by Bungie and developed by 343 Industries, the series follows a 26th-century war between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant, a theocratic-military alliance of several alien races determined to eradicate humanity. Pablo Schreiber and Jen Taylor star as Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 and Cortana; the latter reprises her voice role from the video game series.

Development for a Halo television series began in mid-2013. Killen and Kane serve as showrunners for the series' first season, which consists of nine episodes. Filming began in Ontario, Canada, in October 2019, although post-production for the first five episodes was affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming eventually resumed in Budapest, Hungary, in February 2021. In February 2022, ahead of its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season, set to be headed and executive produced by David Wiener. Filming for the second season began in September 2022, and wrapped in May 2023.

The first season of Halo premiered on March 24, 2022, and ran until May 19. It was met with mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise given for its action scenes, cast, and visual effects but criticism for its derivative writing and alterations from the source material. A second season premiered on February 8, 2024, and ran for eight episodes until March 21. It was met with positive reviews from critics, who declared it to be an improvement over the previous season. In July 2024, the series was canceled after two seasons.

Premise
Halo is set in the 26th century and follows the conflict between humanity and a formidable alien alliance known as the Covenant. The story is centered around Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, a super-soldier of the Spartan-II program, and several other major characters from the video games series.

Executive producer Kiki Wolfkill revealed that the series is a standalone story that takes place within its own "Silver Timeline" that is separate from and inspired by the core canon and lore of the transmedia franchise rather than a continuation, adaptation, prequel, or sequel, explaining that they wished to give the two Halo canons a chance to evolve individually to suit their media.

Main

 * Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, a towering, genetically-engineered Spartan supersoldier and the leader of Silver Team.
 * Logan Shearer portrays a teenage John.
 * Casper Knopf portrays a child John.
 * Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, the commander-in-chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI).
 * Natasha Culzac as Riz-028, a Spartan member of Silver Team.
 * Olive Gray as Commander Miranda Keyes, a UNSC (United Nations Space Command) officer and scientist and the daughter of Jacob Keyes and Catherine Halsey.
 * Yerin Ha as Kwan Ha, an Insurrectionist teenager from the Outer Colony planet of Madrigal and daughter of Jin Ha.
 * Bentley Kalu as Vannak-134, a Spartan member of Silver Team.
 * Kate Kennedy as Kai-125, a Spartan member of Silver Team.
 * Charlie Murphy as Makee, a misanthropic human member of the Covenant who was raised by the Hierarchs as a "Blessed One".
 * Zazie Hayhurst portrays a young Makee.
 * Danny Sapani as Captain Jacob Keyes, a seasoned UNSC officer and the father of Miranda Keyes.
 * Jen Taylor and Christina Bennington (season 2) as Cortana, an artificial intelligence (AI) construct modeled on the brain of Dr. Halsey and implanted in the brain of Master Chief as a means of influencing his decisions. Taylor reprises her voice role from the Halo video game series and also provides motion capture for the character in the first season, while Bennington physically portrays the character in the second season.
 * Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066, a Spartan deserter who later became a pirate on the Rubble.
 * Jude Cudjoe portrays a teenage Soren.
 * Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, a scientist for the UNSC, the creator of the SPARTAN-II program, and the mother of Miranda Keyes.
 * McElhone also portrays two flash clones of Halsey.
 * Joseph Morgan as Colonel James Ackerson (season 2), a formidable intelligence operative who has spent his career climbing the ranks of the UNSC's secretive Office of Naval Intelligence.
 * Fiona O'Shaughnessy as Laera (season 2; guest season 1), Soren's wife.
 * Cristina Rodlo as Talia Perez (season 2), a corporal specializing in linguistics for a UNSC Marine Corps communications unit before later joining the SPARTAN-III program.
 * Viktor Åkerblom as Arbiter Var 'Gatanai (season 2), a high-ranking Elite who leads the Covenant's invasion of Reach. Åkerblom both voices and provides motion capture for the character.
 * Tylan Bailey as Kessler (season 2; guest season 1), Soren's son.
 * Harry Lloyd voices "The Monitor" (season 2), a Forerunner AI construct and the caretaker of Halo.

Recurring

 * Burn Gorman as Vinsher Grath (season 1), a politician and UNSC collaborator who suppresses the Insurrectionist movement on Madrigal.
 * Ryan McParland as Dr. Adun Saly (season 1), Dr. Halsey's assistant.
 * The Hierarchs (season 1), the leaders of the Covenant High Council:
 * Julian Bleach voices the Prophet of Mercy.
 * Karl Johnson voices the Prophet of Truth.
 * Hilton McRae voices the Prophet of Regret.
 * Sarah Ridgeway as John's mother (season 1)
 * Duncan Pow as John's father (season 1)

Guest

 * Jeong-hwan Kong as General Jin Ha (season 1), Kwan's father and an Insurrectionist leader on Madrigal.
 * Jamie Beamish as the motion capture model of:
 * The Kaidon (season 1), the Covenant Elite survivor of the Battle of Madrigal.
 * Uto 'Mdama (season 2), a Covenant Elite priest who serves under The Arbiter.
 * Keir Dullea as Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood (season 1), the commander-in-chief of UNSC FLEETCOM.
 * Johann Myers as Reth (season 1), a former Covenant prisoner who had been driven insane.
 * Yuna Shin as Soojin Ha (season 1), Kwan's aunt and a member of the Insurrectionists.
 * Angie Cepeda as Violetta Franco (season 1), a bounty hunter hired by Vinsher.
 * Josette Simon as Desiderata (season 1), the leader of the Mystics.
 * Olwen Fouéré as The Mother (season 2), a shaman on the planet Sanctuary.
 * Ivanno Jeremiah as Antares (season 2), the second-in-command of Soren's crew.
 * Marvin Jones III as Louis-036 (season 2), Riz's personal trainer and a former Spartan who retired due to becoming blind.
 * Christian Ochoa Lavernia as Danilo (season 2), Louis' husband.
 * Bronte Carmichael as Julia (season 2), Ackerson's sister.
 * Bill Paterson as Ackerson's father (season 2)
 * Anna Koval as Captain Briggs (season 2), the leader of a UNSC black ops unit who reports to Ackerson.
 * Dani Klupsch as Lieutenant Mullins (season 2), the team leader of Talia's squad of Spartan-IIIs.

Development
The television series had gone through development hell with a planned release in 2015 that later changed to a 2019 release with Rupert Wyatt as director and executive producer, then a 2020 release; ultimately releasing in 2022 with Otto Bathurst replacing Wyatt in both roles.

In May 2013, Steven Spielberg was attached in executive producing a television series based on the video game franchise Halo, distributed by Xbox Entertainment Studios, with Spielberg's company Amblin Television involved. As of August 2015, the series had still been in active development.

On June 28, 2018, Showtime was given a 10-episode series order. Kyle Killen was set to be showrunner, writer and executive producer, while Rupert Wyatt was attached as director and executive producer. On August 12, it was announced that Master Chief would be the main lead of the series and that the series would tell a new story from the video games while respecting their canon at the same time. On December 3, Wyatt stepped down as director and EP due to scheduling conflicts. He was replaced by Otto Bathurst in February 2019, when it was reported that Bathurst would be directing the pilot along with several other episodes. It was also revealed that the episode count had decreased from 10 episodes to 9. In March 2019, Steven Kane was added as co-showrunner alongside Killen.

On February 24, 2021, the series was moved from Showtime to Paramount+. Showtime president Gary Levine said that the show was an outlier for the company's brand, and as a "big broad tentpole show" it was a better fit on Paramount's service. On June 25, 2021, it was reported that both Kane and Killen would be exiting as showrunners following the completion of season one. Killen had left prior to the start of production, due to him feeling like he wasn't able to fulfill the duties of showrunner, with Kane taking the reins as lead showrunner until post-production work had been completed. However, should the show get picked up for a second season, Kane would not return.

In January 2022, it was revealed by executive producer Justin Falvey that the show has potential to last multiple seasons and that David Wiener was being eyed as the showrunner for a potential season two, with Kane staying on board as a consultant. On February 15, 2022, ahead of its premiere, Paramount+ renewed the series for a second season, with Wiener set as showrunner and executive producer.

In July 2024, the series was canceled after two seasons, with the show's producers and the production companies 343 Industries and Amblin Television actively seeking a new home for a third season.

Casting
From April to August 2019, the cast for the series was announced, with Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief. He was joined by Yerin Ha, Natascha McElhone, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac and Kate Kennedy. In November 2020, Jen Taylor replaced McElhone as Cortana. In September 2022, Joseph Morgan and Cristina Rodlo joined the cast, while Fiona O'Shaughnessy and Tylan Bailey were promoted to series regulars for the second season.

Filming
Principal photography commenced in October 2019. In 2019, the series spent over $40 million on production costs. The five filmed episodes were re-edited under the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, with production on the sixth episode and reshoots being planned in Ontario, Canada. Filming eventually resumed fully in Budapest, Hungary in February 2021. The total production of the series including the post-production is estimated to cost between $90–200 million for the first season. Filming for the second season began on September 15, 2022 in Iceland, and wrapped on May 1, 2023.

Music
In February 2022, Sean Callery was revealed to be scoring the series' first season. In February 2024, it was revealed that Bear McCreary's production studio, Sparks & Shadows, would compose the music for the second season, with McCreary writing a new main title theme for the series that utilizes themes written by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori for the Halo video game series.

Marketing
The first trailer for the series debuted online during the 2022 AFC Championship Game, while also revealing the March release date. Tie-in content themed around the series was released for Halo Infinite on May 10, 2022 in the form of in-game cosmetics for the game's multiplayer component.

Broadcast
The first two episodes premiered ahead of release on March 14 at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival. The series then debuted on Paramount+ on March 24, 2022. The first episode set a record as Paramount+'s most-watched series premiere globally in its first 24 hours, though no exact viewership numbers were revealed. The first season overall was the second-most watched original series for Paramount+ as of June 2022. In the United Kingdom, the first episode of the series premiered on Channel 5 on June 22, 2022 to promote the launch of the Paramount+ streaming service in that country.

The second season premiered on February 8, 2024 with its first two episodes. Subsequent episodes were released weekly through March 21.

Home media
The first season of Halo was released digitally on November 7, 2022, and on 4K UHD Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray, and DVD on November 15, 2022.

Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 70%, with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 71 reviews for the first season. The website's critics consensus reads, "Halo is too derivative of better science-fiction series to emerge a fully-formed elite, but glimmers of promise and faithfulness to the source material signal it's not out of the fight just yet." On Metacritic, the show's first season has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 20 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The second season holds a 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.8/10, based on 21 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Reloading on surer footing, Halo streamlined second season is a leaner and meaner dose of sci-fi that comes closer to realizing the property's potential." On Metacritic, the second season has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 8 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Jesse Schedeen of IGN, rated the first season a 7/10, saying, "[it] is by no means a perfect adaptation of the beloved source material." However he later backed it up with, "This is an adaptation willing to take some risks, and those risks tend to pay off." Gene Park from the Washington Post criticized the writing behind Kwan Ha and described the sex scene between the Master Chief and Makee in the penultimate episode of the first season as "rushed". He stated that the series "has its greatest successes in vignettes of exciting tense and well-acted, well-directed drama, but rarely ever earning those best moments within the context of all it's trying to juggle." Todd Martens from The Los Angeles Times criticized the script for shifting from a character-driven narrative to a plot-driven one. Martens also felt that the series sacrificed some of the "silliness" from the games. Marcus Lehto, one of the co-creators of Halo: Combat Evolved (2001), stated that the show is "not the Halo I made", but later stated that he "never said [he] didn't like it".

The second season has received a more positive reception from critics, with some declaring it to be a big improvement over the first season. Hayden Mears of IGN gave a 7/10 rating to the second season's first four episodes, stating that the season is "leagues more coherent and inspired than the first".

Master Chief has been described as acting out of character compared to his core canon counterpart, and Kwan Ha, an original character created for the Silver Timeline canon, has received negative reception due to her story being perceived as too "disjointed" and "divorced" from the main plotline of the series and the Halo universe.

The sex scene between Master Chief/John and Makee, another original character created for the Silver Timeline canon, in the eighth episode of the first season has received a polarized reaction from audiences and critics; discussions included whether the scene was "contrived and forced", whether Master Chief commits a war crime by having sex with a prisoner of war who is unable to properly provide her consent, and whether this is atypical behavior of Master Chief in comparison to the core canon (this is the first time John has sex in either the core or Silver canons). Kiki Wolfkill, the studio head of transmedia at 343 Industries and an executive producer of the show, defended the addition of the scene, stating that while the creative team had "a lot of conversation leading up to whether to do that or not and... there's a lot of different opinions and voices", that the scene was necessary in order to humanize John by providing him with "a human connection with someone" in order to end the season with him as "a fully defined character". Pablo Schreiber later described the inclusion of this scene as "a huge mistake," adding that he argued against it at the time but that his opinion was not listened to.