Halo actor Pablo Schreiber has doubled-down on his stance on the Master Chief helmet off / helmet on debate, insisting it’s impossible to like the show if you don’t like the fact the super soldier takes his helmet off.
Last week, the Halo TV show reignited the debate about the controversial decision for Master Chief to remove his helmet in the series.
Xbox and Paramount released a new trailer for the upcoming Halo Season 2, which continues the story of Master Chief’s live-action exploits following Season 1’s mixed reception, and showed Pablo Schreiber’s Master Chief in action with and without the helmet on. One action sequence sees John-117 fighting the Covenant without any armour at all.
Meanwhile, new posters of the show feature Master Chief without his helmet on, leading some fans to tweak the posters to put the helmet back on. In the Halo games, Master Chief never takes his helmet off and almost always appears in full armour.
Speaking to SFX magazine, via GamesRadar, Schreiber pulled no punches in defending the decision to remove Master Chief’s helmet for the show.
"People who don’t feel the helmet was necessary to come off, they’re at such an early conception of what the show could be," Schreiber said.
"In order to examine the discrepancy between these two versions of the character [Chief and John-117], you can’t tell that story without taking the helmet off. If you don’t agree with the helmet coming off in the show, you don’t like our show. So, there’s no point discussing it."
While Schreiber appears to agree with the decision to remove Master Chief’s helmet, it’s clear he did not agree with Season 1’s controversial sex scene. Last week, Schreiber insisted it was a “huge mistake” for the iconic super soldier to have sex.
But Schreiber sounds like he’s feeling a lot better about Season 2, calling it a "reset". “It's darker, it's more dangerous, all of the stunt and action sequences put you into the battle and inside the fighting,” he told GamesRadar. “To me, it's a much more effective way to deal with the show. I think [David Wiener, Halo's new showrunner] is just a more gifted writer, to be quite frank. I think his dialogue is better. He puts words in the mouth that feel more appropriate for the character."
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
