‘Halo’ Season 2 — Release Date, Trailer and Everything We Know So Far

It’s been a while since we’ve seen John 117 (Pablo Schreiber), more commonly known as Master Chief, and his ongoing conflict with the Covenant, but the wait will be over once Halo Season 2 finally releases. Based on the massively popular video game series of the same name, Halo finally brought the world of the Xbox games to life in a visually stunning fashion. In an age where video game adaptations are now more popular than ever, a successful Halo show was a great opportunity for the still-young Paramount+ streaming platform. While the series became Paramount+’s most-watched show and received favorable reviews from critics, it still generated some controversy online. The controversial decision by the show’s creators to not follow the games and not even play the games rubbed many fans of the iconic series the wrong way. This controversy reached a point of contention when it was announced that the show would break one of the franchise’s most sacred narrative rules and remove Master Cheif’s helmet for most of the show.

Despite online backlash from the fans, Paramount was so confident in the show’s success that Halo was greenlit for a second season before the first episode even aired. To learn more about the upcoming second season’s cast, plot, filming details, and more, here is everything we know so far about Halo Season 2.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on January 28, 2024.

When and Where Is ‘Halo’ Season 2 Coming Out?

The first two episodes of Halo Season 2 are set to stream on Paramount+ on Thursday, February 8, 2024. Subsequent episodes of Season 2 will stream every Thursday. Halo Season 2 will consist of eight episodes, one less than Season 1, with the finale streaming on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Here’s the link to the show’s landing page on the service, where you can now catch up on all of Season 1:

Watch on Paramount+

Is There a Trailer for ‘Halo’ Season 2?

The first look trailer for Halo Season 2 was unveiled during the show’s panel at the 2023 edition of CCXP on December 2, 2023. The 90-second preview teases a more action-heavy season of the popular series as the UNSC’s war against the Covenant rages on.

On January 11, 2024, we got our first full trailer for Halo season 2.

During halftime of the AFC Championship game, CBS revealed a new look at Halo Season 2.

Who’s In the ‘Halo’ Season 2 Cast?

As mentioned, Pablo Schreiber will be returning to the role of Master Chief, the de facto face of the Halo franchise and its core main protagonist. Before fighting aliens, Schreiber had some previous military acting experience when he starred in the Benghazi adaptation 13 Hours. Major cast members who are expected to return from Season 1 include Bokeem Woodbine as Soren, Jen Taylor as Cortana, Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Halsey, Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, Natasha Culzac as Riz, Olive Gray as Dr. Miranda Keyes, Yerin Ha as Kwan Ha, Bentley Kalu as Vannak, Kate Kennedy as Kai, Danny Sapani as Captain Jacob Keyes, Fiona O’Shaughnessy as Laera, and Tylan Bailey as Kessler. The second season will also be introducing newcomers in Joseph Morgan as James Ackerson and Christina Rodlo as Talia Perez.

What Happened in ‘Halo’ Season 1?

Season 1 of Halo begins in the 26th Century when the United Nations Space Command is fighting a war on two fronts. On one side, there is the Covenant, a highly advanced collection of alien lifeforms who aim to conquer the galaxy. On the other, a human rebellion that wishes to secede from the UNSC, by force if necessary. These three factions collide when the Covenant invades the rebel planet of Madrigal, where nearly the entire rebel force is killed. The sole survivor is Kwan Ha, a young woman who is saved by a group of UNSC super soldiers called Spartans, led by John 117, AKA Master Chief. Chief and his squad come across a Forerunner artifact, which grants John visions of his past, which were erased when he was kidnapped by Dr. Catherine Halsey as a young child.

This artifact is also being sought by the Prophets, the leaders of the Covenant who are seeking out the paradise Halo rings. They dispatch a human Covenant lieutenant named Makee (Charlie Murphy) to retrieve the artifact, allowing her to kill any humans who stand in her way. Chief meanwhile is ordered to kill Kwan Ha, but ultimately refuses, instead entrusting her to a former Spartan companion named Soren. Soren reluctantly aids Kwan Ha in returning to her homeworld to rebuild the resistance. Chief is also given an AI companion named Cortana. Chief, having a tepid alliance with the UNSC, is searching for more artifacts. He eventually comes into contact with Makee, who forms a romantic relationship with Chief while posing as a human prisoner. She later betrays them, albeit reluctantly, and takes another artifact to the Covenant. In the climactic final battle, Chief instructs Cortana to take over his body to turn the tide, knowing full well this may mean he’ll lose all his memories. Makee is killed in the aftermath and Chief now appears comatose, with Cortana now a silent driver of Master Chief’s body.

What Will ‘Halo’ Season 2 Be About?

The official plot synopsis for Halo Season 2 reads:

In season two, Master Chief John-117 leads his team of elite Spartans against the alien threat known as the Covenant. In the wake of a shocking event on a desolate planet, John cannot shake the feeling that his war is about to change and risks everything to prove what no one else will believe – that the Covenant are preparing to attack humanity’s greatest stronghold. With the galaxy on the brink, John embarks on a journey to find the key to humankind’s salvation, or its extinction — the Halo.

With Season 1 ending with Cortana taking over Master Chief’s body and effectively purging his personality, we can expect Season 2 to further explore what that means for his friends and the relationships he has built. On the one hand, this will likely mean that we’ll see Chief acting more in line with how he is in the games but of course, those aforementioned friends will likely try to find a way to reverse what’s happened to him.

Season 1 was also greatly concerned with the Forerunner artifacts, which have now revealed the location of the Halo ring world. This suggests that Season 2 will be a race between the Covenant and the UNSC to be the first to take possession of this mysterious world and its technology, which leads us to a key piece of the game canon that could make its way onto the show. In the games, the Forerunners created the Halo rings to kill all life in the universe as part of their war with a parasitic alien race called the Flood. The Flood are some of the most menacing creatures in the world of Halo, with the ability to take over the bodies of other beings, Covenant and human alike, making them an existential threat to all life. While Season 1 didn’t introduce the Flood, Season 2 could set them up as a devastating new faction which could lead to an alliance between the UNSC and the Covenant. Of course, whether that might actually happen is something we’ll have to wait and see.

Director Otto Bathurst spoke on the Covenant and their role in Season 2.

“This time, we’ve got two main characters from the Covenant, which you’re really going to actually get to meet and get to understand, and spend time with and understand what their motives are and what they want. And so, I think that’s going to be really fun because the enemy will be much more characterized and much more accessible. Whereas in the first season, it was a little hard to understand what they wanted or what their agenda was. I think that all slightly affected the season and your ability to really connect with it as to what the stakes were. But now, hopefully in this season, you’re going to feel a lot more of a connection to the Covenant, and a couple of the characters we’re bringing out are fan-favorites. So that’s going to go well.”

Who’s Making ‘Halo’ Season 2?

Halo Season 2 will feature a new showrunner, David Wiener, the Emmy-nominated producer of Fear the Walking Dead. Joining the executive producing crew for the first time are series stars Pablo Schrieber and Natascha McElhone. The show will also continue to be produced by Amblin Television through Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank, and Justin Falvey, 343 Inudstries through Frank O’Connor and Bonnie Ross, and One Big Picture through Otto Bathurst and Toby Leslie.

When Did ‘Halo’ Season 2 Film?

Filming on Halo Season 2 began back in September 2022, meaning it has more than likely wrapped principal photography by now and is likely in the post-production stages.