San Diego Comic Con kicked off with a bang for fans of the Halo universe with a first look at Halo: Nightfall, the upcoming episodic live action feature designed to build up anticipation for Halo 5: Guardians in a way that Forward Unto Dawn built up Halo 4.
Halo: Nightfall will encompass five episodes and be released as a complete movie as part of the Halo: Master Chief Collection coming in November. The Comic Con panel introduced us to a few of the characters, as well as how they tie into Halo 5.
The series, with executive producer Ridley Scott at the helm, follows a character named Jameson Locke, played by actor Mike Colter. The movie is designed to be an origin story for Locke, who eventually be a playable character in Halo 5. He’s the one decked out in the Slimmer Spartan armor in the key art promoting the game. The game will be from Locke’s point of view, and Colter said he really likes how Nightfall sets his character up as a powerful, yet vulnerable individual.
Nightfall will give people insight into the motivations and background of Locke’s character before they will play him in the game, said Frank O’Connor, master architect of the Halo universe for 343 Industries. Locke will be part of a group of soldiers on the planet Sedra, a colony world forced to use a lot of scraps that the UNSC gives them. The story will be divided into two parts, the first taking place on Sedra, the second on a partially destroyed Halo ring from the original game that crashes inton the colony world. The ring is still somewhat functional, including its slipstream drive. O’Connor said that the remnants of the ring take on an almost malevolent characteristic as the story progresses.
Another character in the film will be Mesa, a member of the colonial guard played by actress Christina Chong. She said her character is an intelligent, ambitious marine who respects her commanding officer but has aspirations of her own that could include ONI, the Office of Naval Intelligence.
The footage for Sedra was shot in Northern Ireland, while the footage for the Ring was shot in Iceland. The panel joked about how intense the filming conditions were, with so many changes in weather, and a grueling regimen that required training in parkour and rappelling. There was a bet among the actors that whoever fell on camera had to but a round of drinks for everyone, Chong said.
Colter inadvertently revealed a new vehicle that will debut in the movie. It will be a Condor medium transport vehicle with a slipspace drive. O’Connor called it a “Super-Pelican” that was created by Sedra military forces from remnants of old equipment left behind or scrapped.
Colter also said that he has started his voice work for Halo 5: Guardians. He was asked how his character would relate to Master Chief, but refused divulge if they were friend or foe.
O’Connor promised more details coming from GamesCom later this year.
