Halo: “Season 2 will explore the psychology and beliefs of the Covenant”
New showrunner David Wiener and producer Kiki Wolfkill tell us everything about the new season of the science fiction series, to watch on Paramount +.
The enormous saga Halo is set to resume on Paramount+. Season 2 will begin this Thursday, February 8 on the streaming platform and we will find Master Chief in his war against the Covenant Alliance. A new chapter that moves up a gear, even if it means breaking away from the video game.
“There was a lot to mark up in season 1“, confides to Première the producer Kiki Wolfkill, from Microsoft, explaining how this season 2 will be better structured narratively, by no longer systematically seeking to satisfy fans of the video game title. “We had to explain who the Spartans were, introduce viewers to the world of Halo. It was shown how the Covenant Alliance was the enemy, especially in the colonies. In season 2, we go more intensely into battles and we show that the threat is now on our planet. It focuses on a more specific place, closer to us, and it allows us to better feel the issues.”
Generally speaking, the production seems to have better control over the adaptation of its cult video game. Kiki Wolfkill admits :
“We learned while doing season 1. We encountered various challenges beyond just the special effects. I’m talking about the way in which we build a story from the game. Season 2 is more precise in the execution. And it’s not for nothing that we brought David in. He brings a different perspective, more focused, a human point of view, something more subjective. Halo, it’s both big science fiction and a realistic saga. So we wanted to emphasize this realistic aspect, while keeping in the background the wonder of SF.”
David Wiener has in fact been hired as the new showrunner, replacing Kyle Killen and Steven Kane. His ambition was immediately to make a series which “places the viewer squarely in the suit, in the middle of the fight against the Spartans. The idea is always to bring out the emotion behind the intergalactic conflict that is playing out. We explore much more the duality that exists between Master Chief, the soldier, the leader, and John-117, the man under the helmet. We take the basics of season 1 and we go further in fact.“With this in mind, the show is filmed differently. The battle scenes are always very impressive,”but we kept in mind this idea of doing something more personal, a form of first-person narration.”continues David Wiener.
“We designed the action sequences by wanting to create this feeling of being inside the fight. So we used a lot more hand-held camera shots, which bring movement, to give the feeling that we are at the heart of the action with the soldiers.”
The adaptation is therefore approached from a new angle, but retains the intrigues of season 1, and in particular this cliffhanger, where Master Chief seemed to leave the controls to the AI Cortana, to the point of losing his own consciousness.. “We don’t pick up directly after this cliffhanger”, reveals the showrunner. “We’re taking a little jump in time to start season 2. But we didn’t want to ignore this moment either. So we sought to integrate into our story this change that is happening in Master Chief’s head, which will resonate throughout season 2.” he teases, then confirming the unexpected comeback of Makee, who was left for dead in the finale: “We did everything to bring back Charlie Murphy. Makee does get shot at the end of season 1, but it was important that she didn’t die at that point. We have lots of other things to tell about her. And then his relationship with John will be very different this year. They will be focused on the destiny of the Halo, what it means and what their role is in it all.“
Finally, season 2 also focuses on the monsters of the Covenant Alliance. We will discover in more depth who these enemies are: “I wanted to take the opportunity to explore the psychology and beliefs of the Covenant,” insists David Wiener. “We will understand that the same power struggles play out among them, as among humans. There are similar mechanisms. Above all, it avoids treating these creatures as faceless villains. We want to understand why they do what they do, even if it is inherently horrible. You have to have a real understanding of the enemy when you talk about a war of civilization..”
Halo, season 2 in 8 episodes, to watch from February 8 to March 21, 2024 on Paramount Plus.
