American Gods star Pablo Schreiber cast as Master Chief in Showtime’s Halo show

Video game movies have a long history of being terrible. I mean, seriously, they’ve been coming out for over 20 years and even the best ones don’t rise about the level of campy fun. But what about video game TV shows? Barring a bunch of cartoons aimed at kids, there haven’t been many of those. Showtime is looking to change that with a new show based on Microsoft’s very successful and influential Halo franchise, about a man in a green helmet named Master Chief who kills aliens but good.

There is a story in the Halo games, but it’s usually taken a backseat to gunplay and first-person multiplayer mayhem. Per The Hollywood Reporter, it sounds like Showtime will flesh the cast out a bit by adding an original character named Quan Ah, played by Australian newcomer Yerin Ha, Quan is “shrewd, audacious 16-year-old from the Outer Colonies who meets Master Chief at a fateful time for them both.” So it sounds like Master Chief will get a teenage sidekick.

As for the man himself, Showtime has cast Pablo Schreiber, who you may recognize as very tall leprechaun Mad Sweeney from American Gods or George “Pornstache” Mendez from Orange Is The New Black. Master Chief’s thing is that he never takes off his helmet, so it’s unclear if we’ll ever get to see Schreiber’s face, which could be a bit of a bummer for him. Come to think of it, we don’t know if we’re ever going to see Pedro Pascal’s face in Disney’s upcoming Star Wars show The Mandalorian, either. This is officially a trend.

Showtime has described Halo as its “most ambitious series ever,” which makes sense; a lot of studios are breaking the bank these days making all kinds of elaborate shows, inspired by the budget-busting success of Game of Thrones. Will Halo be a success? It’s hard to say, but if it fails, there’s always the Kirby show:

Look for the Halo show to come out in 2020 at the earliest.

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