The Halo show’s creators saw a world beyond the games — and Master Chief

polygon.com:

Everyone wants to talk about the Chevy Tahoe.

In the first big trailer for Halo, Paramount Plus’ big-budget adaptation of the decades-spanning Xbox sci-fi shooter, a rust-colored SUV appears tucked inside a mining compound. The vehicular prop got just enough airtime during the Super Bowl spot that people recognized the model as a GMT800 Tahoe, produced by General Motors from 2001 to 2006 — more than 500 years before Halo’s hero, Master Chief, was even born.

The Tahoe wasn’t what Halo’s creative team expected people to notice in a two-minute trailer full of Warthogs, Phantom dropships, a couple Mongooses, and a number of other fancy space vehicles. But people noticed, and those few shots of the Tahoe went viral.

“It’s both frightening and exhilarating to know people care that much,” Halo showrunner Steven Kane tells Polygon.

The Tahoe is there for a reason, Kane says. 343 Industries, the development studio behind the Halo games, spent nearly a decade turning Halo into a tentpole TV series. When it finally became a reality, 343 worked with the Paramount Plus production team to scrutinize every choice, big or small. Each prop was carefully thought through and set with intention. Something like a car couldn’t make it on set by accident.

“For people who haven’t spent time in the game industry, there’s no such thing as too fast a shot to notice something,” says Kiki Wolfkill, a studio head at 343 and Halo’s executive producer. “We have to assume every single frame will be examined.”

Kane and the Halo team knew the series would come alive in the tiny details, and they debated everything, from the plates space humans use to the economics of Halo world manufacturers. But making Halo work as a television show is about matching