Master Chief actor Pablo Schreiber reveals he researched deep Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 and the genetically enhanced Spartan soldiers as they take the fight to the Covenant to protect humanity.
Schreiber leads the cast of Halo alongside Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Halsey, the creator of the Spartan project, Yerin Ha, Charlie Murphy, Shabana Azmi, Bokeem Woodbine and Jen Taylor as artificial intelligence Cortana. Development on an adaptation of Microsoft's video game franchise has languished in hell for over a decade, having first started as a film before being changed to a TV series, first set at Showtime with Kyle Killen set as showrunner and writer before being moved to Paramount+ with Killen departing and Steven Kane taking the reins. Production on Halo would finally get underway in late 2019, though would shut down for over a year due to the ongoing pandemic, later getting back to it in early 2021.
As part of the streamer's Television Critics Association presentation, the cast and crew of Paramount+'s Halo offered some insight into the long development of the series adaptation. Master Chief actor Pablo Schreiber revealed his prep for the series included researching deep Halo franchise lore in order to properly grasp the story of the universe and expressed his excitement for what's to come. See what Schreiber said below:
"Story is the entry point and I studied all the cinematics for the game obviously. And anything that's been established in of lore in the video game universe, I looked at. And then with the expanded literature with the books and the graphic novels and a lot of the other media that's been made… The amount of material that we have to draw from going forward is unprecedented."
As Schreiber states, the Halo franchise has expanded far past its console video games, thanks in large part to its strong sales over the past 20 years. This expansion has included 36 published novels by various authors, a number of graphic novels and comics published by Marvel and multiple animated movies and short web shows. At the time of writing, the Halo franchise has sold over 81 million copies across its 14 titles and reportedly being worth over $6.5 billion.
Schreiber's reveal that he did deep Halo franchise research in order to take on the role of Master Chief should come as a promising sign for fans of the source material, indicating the star's devotion to helping capture the spirit of his iconic hero and universe. Though some are divided on the first trailer showing a non-blue-hued Cortana and the showrunners' confirmation that the series is set in a timeline outside of the games, anticipation is still generally high for the long-awaited series. Only time will tell how Halo resonates with fans of the franchise when it premieres on March 24.