Iconic 'HALO' Master Chief Will Come to Life in New TV Series

Does Master Chief need to exist outside of the "HALO" gaming universe? Can plots and actors and a story really make the character any more iconic than he already is?

Showtime doesn't really care what we may think. 'HALO' is coming to television and they've cast actor Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief.

Schreiber got his first big break as Nick Sobotka on "The Wire," but our readers will know him best as the guy who played Kris 'Tanto' Paronto' in Michael Bay's Benghazi movie "13 Hours." He's also earned acclaim as prison guard George 'Pornstache' Mendez in "Orange Is the New Black" and as Olivia Benson's nemesis William Lewis on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." "HALO" will be his highest-profile role to date.

The network describes "HALO" as "weaving deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future." Those are not the reasons that any of us play "HALO," so let's hope they don't forget the weapons and explosions.

Schreiber's character is described as "Earth's most advanced warrior in the 26th century and the only hope of salvation for a civilization pushed to the brink of destruction by the Covenant, an unstoppable alliance of alien worlds committed to the destruction of humanity."

Part of the fun of playing "HALO" is the mystery of Master Chief. Players can project their own ideas and motivations onto a character who essentially a blank slate. Will these new stories help or hurt that experience? Showtime didn't announce any air dates so it looks we're going to have to wait until 2020 to find out.