After many years in development hell, a live-action adaptation of the Halo video game franchise finally made its way out into the world as a Paramount+ streaming series back in 2022, with the first episode of the show quickly becoming Paramount+’s most-watched premiere. But while the TV series is returning for a second season, which is scheduled to begin streaming on February 8th, the first season wasn’t met with overwhelming positivity, as many fans of the video game source material were disappointed by some of the choices made for the adaptation. Not even star Pablo Schreiber, who plays the character Master Chief on the show, was entirely happy with that first season. Speaking with SFX Magazine, Schreiber revealed there was even one element that he felt was a huge mistake: the romantic storyline with Master Chief and Makee (Charlie Murphy), which even included a sex scene.
If you’re not up on your Halo, Screen Rant has some helpful information. Master Chief is the lead Spartan in the United Nations Space Command, which is battling an alliance of aliens called The Covenant that is seeking to eliminate humanity. Makee, a character created for the TV show, is a human member of The Covenant who is “worshipped for her ability to harness Forerunner technology, a trait shared only with Master Chief. After an attempt to infiltrate the UNSC to gain a Forerunner artifact, Makee is captured, eventually bonding with and gaining the trust of Master Chief, as the two find that they have more in common than anticipated.”
Schreiber had this to say about the interactions between Master Chief and Makee: “The decision to make the connection between Makee and John a romantic connection was a huge mistake. I felt it was a huge mistake at the time and I argued against it and fought against it. But I am who I am. I don’t write the scripts. I only give my opinion. It wasn’t listened to.“
Here’s hoping Halo season 2 has less bad ideas for Schreiber to argue against.
Schreiber and Murphy are joined in the cast by Natasha McElhone as Dr. Halsey, “the brilliant, conflicted and inscrutable creator of the Spartan super soldiers”. Schreiber and McElhone both have producing credits on the new season of the show. Additional returning cast members include Jen Taylor, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Tylan Bailey, and Danny Sapani. New additions to the cast for season 2 include Joseph Morgan (Vampire Diaries), Cristina Rodlo (No One Gets Out of Here Alive), and Christina Bennington (Midsomer Murders).
Halo is produced by Showtime, in association with 343 Industries and Amblin Television. The second season is executive produced by showrunner David Wiener, alongside Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey for Amblin Television. Kiki Wolfkill is executive producer for Xbox/343 Industries, with Otto Bathurst and Toby Leslie for One Big Picture, and Gian Paolo Varani.
What did you think of the first season of the Halo TV series and the Master Chief / Makee romance? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.