There’s a lot of hype for Paramount’s Halo TV series, though nobody is particularly thrilled about Cortana’s live-action redesign. After mostly staying silent on the matter, the showrunners are finally opening up about why the character looks so different in the show.
In an interview with Gamesradar, 343 Industries studio head and executive producer Kiki Wolfkill spoke about why Cortana looks the way she does and the light backlash online.
“It’s so funny, because we change her design for every game. And a lot of that is driven by technology,” Wolfkill said. “A lot of the design changes as we progress[ed] through the game generations was because we had access to better graphics, technology, more pixels, and more effects. And so it’s always been about adapting Cortana to the environment.”
“In this situation, it’s so very different from the games in that she has to feel real. And by that, I don’t mean feel like a real human,” Wolfkill continues. “She has to feel like a real AI, a real hologram, and be a character that real people are acting against… That was really the impetus in designing her – how do we make her feel very tangible in this Halo world?”
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Jen Taylor, who’s voiced the character since Halo: Combat Evolved in 2022, also chimed in.
“I understand why people are protective of that [original design],” Taylor said. “I am curious to see how it’s received. I’m interested in seeing something different and seeing something new. I apologize for my wishy-washiness: Yes, I understand. Yes, I’m also interested to see what she looks like in this new version.”
The Halo TV series premiers next week, so we’ll see how it goes. GLHF’s Dave Aubrey also spoke with Wolfkill and others about the show. A second season is already in the works too.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
