Halo fans are soiling themselves with rage over the recent revelation that the upcoming live-action series will show Master Chief without his iconic helmet.
Okay, so they're not actually soiling themselves, but it's clear they're pretty darn annoyed about the whole thing.
As I'm sure you're probably aware, both Bungie and 343 Industries have traditionally held back on showing us what John-177 really looks like for over two decades. There have been teases, for sure, but never anything close to a full face reveal.
It's worth noting there's not a specific in-universe reason for this. Master Chief isn't part of a Mandalorian-like religion that forbids him from removing his helmet. It's just that the games prefer to keep the Chief's face a mystery so that he can better mirror the player.
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As such, it's become something of a staple of the character... which is why longtime fans aren't exactly thrilled about this new development.
During a recent interview with IGN, Halo producer and 343 Industries Head of Transmedia Kiki Wolfkill confirmed that we will be seeing Master Chief's full mug for the first time ever. She explained that doing so is important to the story the team is trying to tell.
“I think we set out to tell a character story and a personal story,” she said. “And once we really got into what that story was, it became clear that you really needed to see the person in the armour and under the helmet.”
She added: “You will see his face. For some people, it’s been a moment 20 years in the making, and for other people it is something that feels very hard to imagine. We absolutely respect both sides of that fence, those who really want to see Chief’s face and those who really don’t. But for the nature of this story, it felt really important to connect with the Master Chief in a different way, and that meant showing the face.”
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In Paramount's Halo TV series, Master Chief is being played by Pablo Schreiber (Orange Is The New Black). So, unless he's going to be wearing heavy prosthetics underneath that helmet, we now know what Master Chief looks like. This has not gone down well.
Halo airs on Paramount Plus March 24.