Halo Season 2 footage reignites Master Chief helmet fury with Mandalorian comparison

Paramount’s Halo Season 2 is right around the corner and its impending release has sparked new debates about the constant removal of Master Chief’s helmet.

As Halo the series Season 2 looms, early footage has some fans praising the showrunners for “listening to feedback”. The first season of Paramount’s take on the beloved franchise received a less-than-stellar reception thanks to some deviation from the source material.

One of the major criticisms of the Halo series from fans of the games was the decision to show Master Chief’s (Pablo Schreiber) face so frequently. In the lead-up to Season 2, old quotes from Schreiber defending the decision to show so much of Master Chief’s face have resurfaced.

Speaking with TechRadar back in March 2022, Schreiber argued that it would be difficult to convey the emotions of Master Chief if his face was never visible. After digging these quotes up, fans of the series have pointed to Disney’s The Mandalorian to push back against the notion.

It's true no one ever liked Master Chief before this

It's also true there's not a science fiction show airing simultaneously with a guy always in a helmet that everyone loves https://t.co/P5O1GFNOb2

— Paul Tassi (@PaulTassi) January 13, 2024

Schreiber’s original argument was that the frequent showing of Master Chief’s face made the most sense for a story told on TV. “To go on this journey with your protagonist, you’re not going to be able to bring an audience along in a long-form story without having access to a character’s face, which tells you what they’re feeling, how they think about everything,” he explained.

Schreiber asserted that being able to show Chief with his helmet off was necessary for a “television show of quality”. Forbes’ chief writer for TV and Games Paul Tassi took to Twitter to dispel the notion.

“It’s true no one ever liked Master Chief before this,” Tassi wrote. “It’s also true there’s not a science fiction show airing simultaneously with a guy always in a helmet that everyone loves,” he added in reference to The Mandalorian.

Users in the comments accused Schreiber of “self-reporting” his own poor acting and argued that plenty of masked characters have successfully used body language for compelling performances. Chief among the examples were Hugo Weaving’s V in V for Vendetta and Karl Urban’s take on Judge Dredd though admittedly, we can see his mouth.

At the time of the interview, Schreiber himself noted that there would be counterpoints to his take on the Master Chief face reveal. “I would say to anybody who disagrees with that, I totally respect that opinion.”

Halo the series Season 2 launches on Paramount+ on February 8, 2024. It remains to be seen how much of a helmetless Master Chief we’ll see this season.