Sci-fi franchises never die; they just go MIA. It wasn’t that long ago that Halo was considered one of the most popular sci-fi franchises on the planet, thanks to the first two games turning Microsoft’s Xbox into a hit, and the third in the trilogy helped make the Xbox 360 the most popular console of its generation. Tie-in novels, competitive gaming leagues, board games, spin-offs, and even anime short films followed in the wake of Master Chief’s ascent as Microsoft’s mascot. Which is why it’s unfortunate that the 2022 live-action series has fallen down a memory hole, but now that it’s available on Netflix, maybe Halo will finally win over a jaded sci-fi audience.
If you’ve never played any of the games, don’t worry, the television series isn’t part of the existing story and is entirely separate, in what’s called the “Silver Timeline.” Think Star Trek’s “Kelvinverse,” but instead of infusing a legendary franchise with action and lens flares, it’s drenched in drama and coping with the trauma of being raised as a child soldier. Halo, the streaming series, takes every possible moment to humanize Master Chief, going as far as showing the character without his helmet, which might seem like a small detail, but in the video games, he’s never been seen without it.
Under the helmet is Pablo Schreiber, best known as Pornstache from Orange is the New Black, as Halo’s John-117, a genetically enhanced supersoldier and part of the Spartans. Trained from birth to be soldiers in humanity’s endless war against the Covenant, a collection of alien species who want to control the galaxy and/or wipe out all life using the giant Forerunner artifacts known as Halos to cause every living organism to transcend to the next life. In both the games and the series, a race is on between humanity, represented by the Spartans and the UNSC (United Nations Space Command) and the Covenant to acquire Forerunner relics and gain control of the Halo array.
If that sounds like a lot of background to know, not only is it only the very tip of the iceberg that is the Halo franchise, but the streaming series does a good job of bringing in newcomers. The inclusion of new Spartans (the Silver Team) who work alongside Master Chief, and humans working with the Covenant as “Blessed Ones,” particularly Makee (Charlie Murphy), an original character for the series, not only further humanizes Master Chief, but gives plenty of room for the series to explore different aspects of the world of Halo.
Season 1 goes deep into the weeds about Forerunners, the history of the Spartan program, and the creation of Master Chief’s A.I. companion Cortana (voiced in the series and the games by Jen Taylor). Still, by the time Season 2 rolls around, the series is leaner and tighter, but it was too little, too late. Halo looks amazing, and it’s clearly a big-budget streaming production, but that production cost meant Paramount was merciless and canceled it after the conclusion of Season 2, when the show’s creators clearly intended to tell more of the Silver Timeline.
Canceled in 2024, Halo was quickly shopped around to help recoup the cost of producing it through lucrative licensing fees, which is why Netflix snapped up the international rights to the show. Halo was available on the largest streaming service everywhere except the United States for months until October 1, 2025, when it finally landed on the domestic streaming service. Finally, being available to the largest streaming audience in the home country of Master Chief, can the series get the support needed to finish the fight?
Showrunners Kyle Killen and Steven Kane hope so. The pair have been actively shopping around for a deal to bring two more seasons of Halo to life, enough to wrap up the war with the Covenant and to introduce The Flood, the parasitic aliens so dangerous that the Halo array was created to wipe them out at the cost of all life in the galaxy. A Netflix bounce has helped other shows before, turning Suits into a megahit after its cancellation and bringing about a new spin-off, so it’s not without precedent, but it’s not likely.
Halo the series was a hit with critics, but the changes from the established lore turned away the built-in fanbase of gamers who had spent 20 years begging for a Halo series or movie. While it’s a decent sci-fi series, especially for fans of military sci-fi, it’s not the same as the Master Chief gamers experienced in Halo 3.
You can experience the divisive series for yourself now that Halo is available to stream on Netflix.
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