Paramount+'s Halo series will unmask Master Chief, played by Pablo Schrieber, for the first time.
Halo executive producer and 343 Industries' Studio Head of Transmedia, Kiki Wolfkill, revealed in an interview with IGN that showing Master Chief's face is important for the show's overall story. "I think we set out to tell a character story and a personal story," she said. "And once we really got into what that story was, it became clear that you really needed to see the person in the armor and under the helmet."
Since the original Halo video game trilogy began with Halo: Combat Evolved in 2001, Master Chief's face has never been shown, apart from very brief glimpses at his eyes or the back of his head in cutscenes. "You will see his face," Wolfkill continued. "For some people, it's been a moment 20 years in the making, and for other people, it is something that feels very hard to imagine. We absolutely respect both sides of that fence, those who really want to see Chief's face and those who really don't. But for the nature of this story, it felt really important to connect with the Master Chief in a different way, and that meant showing the face."
Leading up to the premiere of Halo on Paramount+, fans were recently offered the first full look at Master Chief's armor, who will be portrayed in live-action by Schreiber. He also appeared briefly in a first-look trailer released by Paramount in December 2021, which provided fans with a glimpse of the live-action version of the character's iconic MJOLNIR armor. "The biggest challenge with adapting the game is, the game is designed to put you into Chief's armor," Wolfkill previously said about the live-action adaptation of Master Chief. "What we're asking people to do with the show is to sit back and say we're going to present a side of Chief that you just don't get to play in the game."
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 in 2004 and Halo 3 in 2007. After a number of spinoff games, Bungie would later depart the franchise in 2012, with 343 Industries serving as the developer ever since.
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. Starring Schreiber, Natascha McElhone, Yerin Ha, Charlie Murphy and Jen Taylor, Halo premieres exclusively on Paramount+ March 24, 2022.
Source: IGN