Kiki Wolfkill, who oversees the Halo franchise, has been speaking to Halo Waypoint about the controversial decision for Master Chief to remove his helmet in the Halo TV series. It’s impossible for a TV show to replicate the first-person experience of inhabiting Master Chief from inside the helmet, so TV has to find other ways for us to connect with the character. The show comes to Paramount Plus on March 24, with Pablo Schreiber in the lead role.
Wolfkill says; “I know that one particularly controversial topic is that of the Master Chief removing his helmet in the television series, which we revealed in the IGN Fan Fest panel earlier this week. I’ll start by saying that the decision to remove Chief’s helmet was not a decision made lightly.”
She continues; “That said, it was always a goal of the show to deliver a differentiated experience from the games, not a carbon copy. In our games, you as the player inhabit the armour – that experience makes both the mystery and the understanding of who the Master Chief is very personal.”
Wolfkill explains the differences between a gaming experience and a TV viewing experience; “With the television series, we want to take you on John’s journey and let you experience, as a viewer, his story and evolution from an external, subjective viewpoint; for that, it felt important to see John outside of his armour. For us and the show, it felt critical to explore the human within the armour and present a deep set of character stories that gives the audience a different way to experience the Halo universe.”
And finally, she praises Schreiber and what he has brought to the role; “I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on the talent and commitment of Pablo Schreiber in bringing this version of the Master Chief to life. There is no end to the respect with which he treated this role and inhabited the suit; we had a lot of conversations around what it meant for John to remove his helmet and it was a responsibility Pablo felt every bit as deeply as we do.”
While we’re waiting to see Master Chief’s face revealed on March 24, check out our guide to the best science-fiction movies.