Final ‘Halo’ Trailer Hits Ahead of March 24 Debut, First Reviews Arrive
The highly anticipated Halo TV series has dropped a surprise second official trailer ahead of its March 24 debut next week, plus the first reviews are coming in from SXSW.
After spending much of the series’ post-production period extremely silent, the marketing team behind Halo has been ramping up excitement since last December. Now, a final trailer has hit in preparation for next week’s arrival. Check it out below:
This new preview doubles down on the more dramatic beats of the story, but also gives viewers brief new looks at the show’s extensive worldbuilding and character dynamics. It appears to be a profoundly character-driven adaptation, a logical decision once you embrace the space a TV series offers against a big film. Moreover, there’s a clear deviation from the video games’ main plot (at least during the first season), taking full advantage of the newly created “Silver Timeline” to give this new iteration of the universe a distinct identity.
Meanwhile, reviews of the first two episodes have started arriving from SXSW, with the show’s Metascore now sitting at 62/100 (generally favorable reviews). Many critics are saying Halo isn’t committing nearly enough to its action-heavy roots, and some claim its first steps are a bit muddled, but the general reception appears to be mostly optimistic even if the show doesn’t quite stick its first landing — this could be considered a sizable win for a live-action video game adaptation. On the strictly positive side of comments, it appears that Pablo Schreiber’s Master Chief steals the show and promises a more layered version of the iconic legend.
Pablo Schreiber stars in the series as Master Chief, the main character in the games, a super soldier created as part of the Spartan–II program to turn the tide against the Covenant, a theocratic hegemony made up of multiple alien species. He’s joined by Natascha McElhone, Jen Taylor (reprising her role from the games as the AI Cortana), Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac, Kate Kennedy, Danny Sapani, Olive Gray, and Charlie Murphy.
The series, now renewed for Season 2, is being produced by Showtime with 343 Industries, the video game developer behind the first-person shooter franchise originally created by Bungie. Amblin Television is also producing, with Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank, and Justin Falvey serving as executive producers. Otto Bathurst and Toby Leslie executive produce for One Big Picture, with Bathurst (Peaky Blinders, His Dark Materials) also directing multiple episodes. Killen and Scott Pennington executive produce for Chapter Eleven, with Kane also executive producing. Kiki Wolfkill, Frank O’Connor, and Bonnie Ross serve as executive producers on behalf of 343 Industries.
Francisco J. Ruiz is that guy who has watched Jurassic Park a thousand times and loves Star Wars. His hunger for movies is only matched by his love for video games. He graduated in English Studies from the University of Malaga, in Spain. As he keeps writing about what he enjoys (and doesn’t) for websites all over, he’s continuing his studies.
