Halo TV series' first full trailer shows off Cortana, High Charity, and other Spartans

We finally got a full trailer for Paramount+'s upcoming Halo TV series, and it really seems to be taking a page or two from the Mandalorian with its bleak desert exteriors, Pablo Schreiber's performance as a faceless-yet-charismatic future fighting gun man, and the seeming set-up of a Lone Wolf and Cub-style friendship between the Chief and a human rebel played by Yerin Ha.

It looks like the series is focusing on the Chief's battles with the Covenant prior to the events of the first game, and it'll be interesting to see how closely it follows established series lore versus breaking off and telling its own story with the setting. The trailer begins with the Chief fighting human rebels like the ones sketched out in the series' backstory and novels, but the war with the Covenant seems to be a well-established conflict as in the games. Captain Keyes has been cast in the series with actor Danny Sapani filling the role, so you could see the initial events of Halo: Combat Evolved making for a compelling finale or even mid-season surprise.

The trailer teases some interesting stories, including emphasizing the Spartans' angst at the experimental procedures which turned them into such fun FPS protagonists. Dr. Catherine Halsey, here portrayed by Natascha McElhone, muses in narration about the Spartans' pliability from their training while one of the Spartans, Soren-066 played by Bokeem Woodbrine, laments what was done to them. The trailer also shows off a storyline featuring what looks like a human collaborator with the Covenant meeting with the prophets of High Charity, an interesting angle on the series' longtime antagonists yet to be featured in the games.

If nothing else, it certainly looks like some good flashy sci-fi fun, and we'll be able to see what surprises the show has in store when it's made available on the Paramount+ streaming service on March 24.

Associate Editor

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.

Read more
Secret Level show
The Secret Level creator wants you to know that they did ask Halo to take part in the series, but Microsoft turned them down: 'Man, you think we didn't talk to Halo?'
A space marine of the Mortifactors chapter in the teaser for Astartes 2
The trailer for Astartes 2, the official follow-up to 40K fan film Astartes, goes unbelievably hard
Devil May Cry Netflix screenshots
We've just got a first look at Vergil in Netflix's upcoming Devil May Cry series alongside another key character from Devil May Cry 3
Andor from Andor, smirking
Andor Season 2 trailer is action-packed, but hopefully the show is still actually packed with interesting people quietly talking to each other
the last of us season 2 trailer
The Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in April
Saber Interactive's head honcho pulled a wild stunt to nab the Halo: Combat Evolved remaster, telling Microsoft he'd do the job for free before ultimately squeezing the publisher for millions
Latest in Movies & TV
Split Fiction screenshot
Split Fiction is reportedly at the center of a bidding war for its movie rights
Adeline Rudolph depicting Mortal Kombat 2 character Kitana, standing ready for combat with a fan splayed in each hand.
Karl Urban as Johnny Cage and Adeline Rudolph as Kitana look like good additions to the Mortal Kombat 2 movie, but I think a flawless victory is still far from certain
A Minecraft movie promo image of the main cast standing side by side,
This is why the Minecraft movie is called A Minecraft Movie
Kratos is angry.
'I'm not a gamer,' says God of War Amazon series' new showrunner, unwittingly kicking a hornet's nest despite years of acclaimed writing experience
MrBeast posing in front of a stack of cashing, promoting Beast Games season 2
Beast Games opens casting for season 2: MrBeast lost a ton of money on season 1 but apparently not enough that he won't do it again
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Latest in News
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway