Showtime's Halo TV Series May Reveal Master Chief's Face

After several delays and false starts, a live-action Halo TV series is finally moving forward at Showtime. While the studio says it will stay true to the source material, there is one area that might make a big departure from the games: Master Chief’s face.“There’s all kinds of new drama that we will be exploring but we will stay faithful to the canon,” Showtime president Gary Levine told Deadline at the annual Television Critics Association. “We’re not going to violate anything that’s in the canon.”

However, Showtime may cross one line neither Bungie nor 343 Industries have walked over yet: showing Master Chief’s face.

When asked by Deadline if audiences will see Master Chief’s face in the Showtime series, Levine declined to answer and instead offered a non-committal, “We have to wait and see.”

Showtime cast American Gods’ Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief back in April 2019, and announced several more actors for key roles today, including actor Natascha McElhone as both Cortana and Dr. Catherine Halsey.

Otto Bathurst, who worked on shows like Peaky Blinders and Black Mirror, will direct the live-action Halo series for Showtime. He replaced director Rupert Wyatt, who left the project in December 2018.

343 Industries is working on the next installment of the Halo video game franchise with Halo Infinite

, a new title that once again stars Master Chief in the lead role. Halo Infinite will be released in 2020 for Project Scarlett.

There’s no release date yet for the live-action Halo TV series.

Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.