August 2, 2019 Now we know eight cast members for the Halo TV series.
The Halo TV series at Showtime is continuing to progress, and today six new members of the cast have been announced, alongside the previously-confirmed Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief and Yerin Ha as new character Kwan Ha. The series is now scheduled for a nine episode production – one less than initially announced – and is expected to launch in 2021.
Most prominent among the new cast members is Natascha McElhone, who will portray both Spartan creator Dr. Catherine Halsey and the AI Cortana. As Variety reports, she’ll be joined by Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066, and Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, both of which were relatively minor characters in previously-established Halo lore.
There are also some new characters represented in the cast, with three original Spartans joining the lineup. Bentley Kalu will play Spartan Vannak-134, a “de facto deputy to the Master Chief,” Natasha Culzac will play the “focused, professional, and deadly” Spartan Riz-028, and Kate Kennedy will play the “courageous, curious, and deadly” Spartan Riz-028
The show is currently set to hit production in Budapest later this year, but isn’t expected to launch until the first quarter of 2021.
At Reboot Develop earlier this year, 343 Industries executive producer Kiki Wolfkill let fans know that some of the details of the lore might shift around. We might see Master Chief’s face, Wolfkill joked, since “There are occasions where he showers.”
As VG247 reports, Wolfkill said that “there are some details that we may shift, but we want to respect the fans and what they love about the IP.” She acknowledged that some people will be upset no matter what changes are made, but added the specifics that “we may shift dates, locations, or ethnicity of characters.”
Of course, most fans are really looking for the Halo Infinite release date at this point. We can at least expect Master Chief’s next digital adventure to come through before the TV series.