I still remember when I first heard about Xbox making a Halo TV show. I’m not reminiscing about when the Paramount TV show was announced, but when they first mentioned that Steven Spielberg would be directing it in 2013. An entire decade before.
It was around the time of the Xbox One announcement and launch. The Halo TV show was part of the whole “all your entertainment in a single box” push. It was meant to usher in a new age at Microsoft, one that focused on programming and content for the customer.
After years of hearing, “Don’t worry, the Halo show is still coming,” we were finally blinded by Master Cheeks. Halo fans around the globe held their gaming controllers, hoping for a cinematic Master Piece. What they received was a show that not only missed the spirit of the franchise but somehow failed to even make a decent sci-fi series.
Once I heard the helmet was coming off, it was like I heard the sounds of distant Plasma Grenades echoing across the city. Lore was ignored or replaced, and we ended up with a weird romance being pitched between Master Chief and someone who wasn’t Cortana. It’s one of the easiest things to get right. I guess that’s what made the following news all the more confusing to me.
Microsoft said they weren’t interested
In an interview with Collider, Tim Miller and Dave Wilson, the men behind the new TV show Secret Level, revealed a few interesting tidbits that definitely caused some sore necks from the massive head turn we all did. For those unaware, Secret Level is an animated anthology series that covers the worlds of 15 different video games. Led in production by Blur Studios and Amazon MGM Studios, the series saw Pac-Man, Warhammer, Sifu, and more make the cut in the first season. It’s what didn’t show up that people found rather baffling.
When asked whether the showrunners went after certain games, Tim Miller responded with, “I get a little chafed when I read online, and they’re like, ‘Hold on, these assholes took Spelunky when they could have taken Halo?’ Or something like that. I’m like, ‘Man, you think that we didn’t talk to Halo or something?'”
Dave Wilson continued later, “The creative director at ID [Software] is a good friend of ours, and so are folks at Microsoft, so we made a big plea because one of the things both Tim and I would love to do is do something that isn’t currently available in the games, like crossovers. We wanted to make a Master Chief/Doom Slayer crossover episode, and I spent a whole weekend crafting this impassioned letter of my childhood. And it’s exactly what Tim said; they were like, ‘Nah.'”
Excuse me? Microsoft said what? You had showrunners who were absolutely enthralled with the world of Halo and Doom and wanted to make something extraordinary, and you said no? Not to mention, with Blur Studios leading development, a studio that has already worked on multiple Halo games, you could have had the easiest Stick of your life.
Okay, I get it. You just released your Halo show you’ve been grinding to get done for almost a decade, and it bombed to the point of cancellation. Maybe you’re a little Battle Rifle shy at the moment, but would it really have been any worse than what we got?
Why didn’t Microsoft say “Yah” instead of “Nah”?
Off the heels of the Halo TV show and layoffs at 343 Industries, Halo desperately needs a W. Even if a potential Halo and Doom crossover episode finds mixed reviews, it would already be infinitely better than what Paramount produced, but maybe that’s the issue.
Can Microsoft allow someone else to make a Halo TV show at the moment? After Paramounts failure, a successful spinoff like Secret Level could ruin the relationship between the two companies. While Halo failed, Microsoft has found success with Amazon and its award-winning take on Fallout. Netflix is also currently working on multiple Gears of War projects; there are plenty of IPs Microsoft has yet to explore.
It’s never a good idea to burn any bridges with a potential future partner on a project down the road. Even though Master Sheets didn’t do so well with audiences, that doesn’t mean Paramount is empty of video game-adapting talent. You only need to look at Sonic‘s success to see that (Don’t look at the early trailers). Respect the source material, and it’s pretty damn easy to find success. Gamers aren’t a mystery.
Had Microsoft said yes, maybe Paramount would have seen that as an action by Microsoft that admits the TV series they distributed was awful. It sounds silly, but I’ve seen companies halt production over sillier things before. Remember when Disney and Sony almost completely canceled the Spider-Man franchise that was worldly beloved?
Had Microsoft said yes, maybe Paramount would have seen that as an action by Microsoft that admits the TV series they distributed was awful. It sounds silly, but I’ve seen companies halt production over more childish things before. Remember when Disney and Sony almost completely canceled the Spider-Man franchise, which was a box-office record-setter?
That doesn’t mean we don’t deserve better
At the end of the day, the fans of the series still deserve better. How freaking awesome would it be to see the Doom Slayer and Master Chief ripping apart flood-infested demons to save the human race? You could do it with minimal dialogue, too, where Chief calls out, “I need a weapon,” and Doomguy tosses him a BFG with a nod. This writes itself, people!
After slaying the demon race and protecting humanity once more, Chief reports back to base for a briefing, and Doomguy goes into cryo while stealing Chief’s line, “Wake me when you need me.” I didn’t even realize how sad this whole thing was until I started writing this fanfic. Is it too late to petition Microsoft to say yes for the second season? At least the Halo Infinite storyline is pretty decent.
What do you think? Let us know below or on social media. I’ll be checking out the replies and conversing with anyone that wants to. If you’re like me, you’ll also daydream up some astonishing moments with cliche dialogue that seels the entire thing.
