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The first season of Paramount+’s Halo series kicked off an action-packed bang, and Season 2 will keep up the momentum with another big opening spectacle. Speaking to Collider, director Otto Bathurst revealed the sequel is starting out with a significant moment from the franchise’s canon, although it may not necessarily come from a place of action.
“Again, I mean, as you say, the opening episode of Season 1 was like, ‘Wow,’ it blew you away. And this is a big spectacle, it’s not a massive battle, but it is a big spectacle. It’s a big moment. It’s a really big moment in canon history, and it’s a big event in the world of Halo. So, it’s definitely a, ‘Oh my gosh, what moment’ but it’s not a big action sequence,” he said.
While the show has operated on a different timeline than the actual games so far, this seems to be building up to the Fall of Reach — one of the largest and bloodiest engagement in the Human-Convenant War. The event was the main narrative focus of the Halo: Reach game, which largely ignores the canon and timeline established in the “Halo: The Fall of Reach” novel; it’s unclear which version Season 2 will adapt, however, if true.
To that end, it also makes sense for Season 2 to have a grittier, darker tone than its predecessor. This, according to series star Pablo Schreiber, is the “biggest improvement”, as it makes the show feel “vastly more authentic” and more “alive”.
“I would say it’s much more raw and much more grounded, and much more subjective, and you’re much more with the characters,” added Bathurst in a separate interview. “It feels more like a kind of gritty political war drama rather than that slightly more kind of spec — I mean, it’s still a massive spectacle, but I would say that the main thing is it’s much more character-based. You’re much more with the characters. It’s much more subjective. It’s much more like you’re in it, you really feel like you’re in it.”
Season 2 of Halo premieres on Paramount+ on 8 February, with Schreiber reprising his role as Master Chief. Natascha McElhone, Jen Taylor, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy, Danny Sapani, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, and Tylan Bailey are all set to return. Titans star Joseph Morgan and Mexican actress Cristina Rodlo will round out the cast as franchise newcomers.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
