Halo executive producer Kiki Wolfkill explained the possibility of fan-favorite characters from the video game, such as the Arbiter, would appear in the live-action Paramount+ series.
"What I would say is, again, we always come from a place of canon," Wolfkill said in an interview with ComicBook.com. "And even though the silver timeline is a branch and canon adjacent in some places, part of the amazing thing of working in this universe is you do have these amazing characters to draw from. And so we're absolutely always looking for ways where we can bring in some of these characters that we love in a way that also enhances the story and builds on the story, or even becomes the focus of some of the story points."
Wolfkill continued, "And there's also, we learned a lot from season one, and we'll continue to, and we take that forward. So there's places where we want to spend more time with some of the characters in season one than we might have." Leading up to the release of the Halo TV series, fans have wondered if the Paramount+ adaptation will occupy the same canon as the video games. Wolfkill, who also serves as the head of transmedia at 343 Industries, addressed these questions in previous interviews.
"[W]e do have some context and perspective that is different from some of the stories we've experienced, or read about in the games," Wolfkill said of the show. "We're referring to this as the 'Halo Silver Timeline' as a way of differentiating it from core canon -- and both protecting core canon and protecting the television story," she continued. "And by that I mean, being able to give ourselves the chance to evolve both, and for both to be what they need to be for their mediums, without colliding with each other."
The original Halo video game trilogy was first developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios with Halo: Combat Evolved in 2001, followed by Halo 2 for the Xbox in 2004, which is where the Arbiter was introduced to the franchise. Halo 3 followed in 2007, which was released for the Xbox 360. After a number of spinoff games, such as 2009's Halo 3: ODST and 2010's Halo: Reach, Bungie would depart the franchise in 2012, with 343 Industries serving as the developer ever since. Master Chief would return in 2012's Halo 4 and its sequel, Halo 5: Guardians, in 2015, before his recent appearance in Halo Infinity for the Xbox Series X/S in 2021.
Paramount+'s live-action adaptation of Halo stars Pablo Schrieber as Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, also known as simply Master Chief. Halo also stars Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, Yerin Ha, Charlie Murphy and Jen Taylor reprising her video game role as the voice of the AI known as Cortana.
Originally intended to launch at Showtime in 2015 with Stephen Spielberg at the helm as a producer, plans for the Halo television series were pushed back several times until it finally landed at Paramount, where it was recently renewed for a second season. Halo premieres exclusively on Paramount+ March 24, 2022.
Source: ComicBook.com