Halo TV show due in 2020, features Master Chief in lead role

Broadcaster Showtime has revealed a few new details on its upcoming, and long-anticipated, Halo TV series.

Two particularly pertinent bits of information were shared during Showtime's recent Television Critics Association summer press tour panel: that the new Halo television series is currently expected to air in 2020, and that it will indeed feature Master Chief as "a lead character".

Showtime's network president of programming, Gary Levine, noted during the panel (as reported by IGN) that Master Chief's aversion to showing his face "is a key question and an important part of our series." However, presumably to ensure there's a more relatable 'in' for audiences, the television show will feature other protagonists too.

The Halo series was finally confirmed to have been greenlit by Showtime and in production earlier this year, having floundered around in development hell for almost five years following its initial unveiling by Steven Spielberg in 2013.

Kyle Killen, who created the short-lived fantasy police procedural Awake, has been named as showrunner, writer, and executive producer for the Halo series' initial batch of ten episodes. Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt will direct a number of instalments.

According to Levine, the Halo series, which is described as "an enormous undertaking", will take place on multiple planets and follow "a new story". However, all involved are "being incredibly respectful of the canon" and working closely with developer 343 Industries "to be sure we don't violate any of that."

Showtime's previously released blurb called the Halo TV series "an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant", that would "weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future".