The Internet Is Freaking Out Over Cortana's New Look In The Halo Trailer
The trailer for the highly anticipated "Halo" series from Paramount+ is here, and it's full of Energy Swords, Warthogs, and Master Chief himself. The new trailer has the internet buzzing, with fans of the video game universe and book series looking rather pleased with the outcome — with one exception. The trailer is a visual spectacle, and it looks like Paramount has spared no expense when it comes to the upcoming show. Master Chief's design has been getting lots of praise on Twitter, while other fans are saying it looks "absolutely amazing" all around.
Even the most skeptical fans are still cautiously optimistic. Most of the comments on YouTube reveal that many fans were expecting something different, but they admit that this is "pretty promising" and is something to look forward to, anyway. Despite the optimism, though, there's one thing fans can't get past.
As with any adaptation of a video game or book, it's hard for some OG fans to overlook the details that get lost in translation. "Halo" is no different. The biggest problem that seems to be bothering fans of the video game franchise is the design of Cortana. The AI is a staple in the video game universe, appearing in "Halo: Combat Evolved" and its sequels, "Halo 2," "Halo 3," "Halo 4," "Halo 5: Guardians," and "Halo Infinite." She has a distinct appearance in the games, which varies throughout each of them, but something about her appearance in the "Halo" television series is bothering fans.
Halo fans aren't happy with Cortana looking too human
Some fans have a big problem with Cortana's appearance in the new Paramount+ "Halo" trailer because her color is different, and she looks too much like a human. "Visually and scale wise it looks pretty good and I'm interested to see where they take this series. I'm really glad that they brought back Jen Taylor to voice Cortana, although it will take some time to get use to this non holographic look their going for," jediknight208 wrote on YouTube. "They should've made Cortana's skin bluish or hologrammy," Dookyman added.
Over on Twitter, the criticisms of Cortana were a little harsher. "The Cortana design, idk, doesn't look good..." @scifiguy_117 tweeted. "The trailer was epic, but wtf have they done to cortana," @THEMILKY92 added. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS S***??? NOOO WHY THEY DO CORTANA LIKE THAT???" @chefzombieplays wrote in anger.
On the "Halo" subreddit, fans continued expressing their frustration with the character design. "I hope they just flick a switch and turn her blue before the premier!" said u/VirgelFromage.
One of the most popular comments simply reads: "Make her blue, cowards."
Another video game adaptation, another fan base in anger. "We gotta sonic the hedgehog them into changing Cortana fr," said one fan, referring to the "Sonic the Hedeghog" fiasco where fans' outrage actually triggered a redesign of the character. With the upcoming release date for "Halo," there may not be enough time to change the AI's design — if Paramount is worried about it, that is.
Cortana's appearance has always been evolving
While it appears that the majority of "Halo" fans are disappointed by Cortana's new look, it's undeniable that the character's appearance has already gone through drastic changes across the video games. Notably, "Halo 4" focuses on the emotional and intellectual dissolution of Cortana, which is reflected by her new, human-like appearance. Her skin is still blue, but this was the first significant change to the character design.
It could be argued that her appearance in Paramount's "Halo" series is a natural progression of what AI can look like in this universe considering her updates over the years. However, it seems like fans are more concerned that she looks like "a human in a costume and makeup instead of a hologram" as one Redditor put it.
Other users pointed out how Cortana has been blue, purple, and green in different iterations of "Halo," regardless of how realistic she's looked. "She's still human looking even if she was blue," explained u/PeterJakeson. "It doesn't make her look less human and there's no reason she should be able to change her color to a human skin tone because... she's an AI with limited capabilities."
Some fans debated the quality of the CGI, but most stuck to mocking her new, 'Can I speak with your manager?' look. "She looks like she's gonna tell me how much I can save by switching to Boost Mobile," joked u/Greful, receiving more than 1,000 upvotes.
Love or hate Cortana's new look, "Halo" begins streaming on Paramount+ on March 24.