The Halo TV Series Rounds Out its Cast as it Nears Production

With its debut scheduled for just over a year from now, it appears that Showtime's Halo television series will be ready to start filming soon. Two key characters from the original Halo trilogy have just been cast in the show, alongside a new character with intriguing ties to the Covenant.

Danny Sapani (Black Panther, Doctor Who, Harlots) will play Captain Jacob Keyes and Olive Gray (Half Moon Investigations, Sex Education, Fleabag) will play his daughter, Dr. Miranda Keyes. Introduced in Halo and Halo 2 respectively, Jacob and Miranda Keyes are essential to the story of Bungie's original Halo trilogy. It isn't made obvious in the games, but according to Halo canon Miranda's mother is Dr. Catherine Halsey, creator of both Cortana and the Spartan program. Natascha McElhone will portray both Halsey and Cortana in the Halo TV series.

The other newcomer joining Sapani and Gray on the cast is taking on a brand new character. Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Happy Valley, Love/Hate) will play Makee, a character who was orphaned as a child and raised by the Covenant. In the original games, Halo 2 gave us our first good look inside the Covenant mindset by way of the Arbiter, an Elite. So, perhaps Showtime's take on the Halo universe will introduce us to the Covenant's zealotry by way of Makee.

The official Twitter account for the Halo TV series tweeted out a picture of the main cast today. Production is set to start in Budapest, Hungary later this month. Showtime is targeting a Q1 2021 release for the series.

If all goes according to plan, then Halo fans will be in for a treat a year from now. The TV series is set to trail the release of Halo Infinite by only a few months. In recent months, the team behind Infinite at 343 Industries has seen its creative director and lead producer depart the project, but 343 community manager John Junyszek has assured fans that there's "no creative dilemma inside the studio." Halo Infinite is set to launch on the PC, Xbox One, and Project Scarlett alongside the new console's release in Holiday 2020.

Thanks, Variety.