Comic-Con 2009 Shoulda Been Called Halo-Con @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on July 27, 2009

Special: That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over! Halo owns Comic-Con.

A few days ago, screenwriter Stuart Beattie told Sci-Fi Wire that he believes Halo is "like our generation's Star Wars." And Beattie should know, as he is one of the decade's most accomplished screenwriters, with movies such as the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Collateral and 30 Days of Night under his belt. He has also taken a crack at a script for Microsoft's planned Halo movie based on the novel Halo: Fall of the Reach.

It might be a long time before the Halo movie emerges from development hell, but in the meantime, a variety of new Halo projects were on hand at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. So much so that for fans of the Master Chief, this year's convention could have easily been known as Halo-Con.

The biggest news is of course the announcement the Halo Legends anime series. Similar to The Animatrix anime compilation in concept, the scope of Halo Legends will go beyond anything Warner Bros. and the Wachowski Brothers created. Nine episodes have already been confirmed and that is only from two of the five studios/segments.

And just to keep Halo fans salivating, Microsoft even released the first trailer of the project:

Going along with Halo Legends was the reveal of Halo Waypoint, a new "destination" for all things Halo on Xbox Live. In addition to the Halo Legends anime, the Halo Waypoint will include news, podcasts, trailers, screenshots and exclusive video footage. An interactive component will also be deployed so the Halo community can talk trash about their latest multiplayer victory or discuss the latest goings-on at Bungie.

Speaking of Bungie, the famed Halo developer has confirmed that they're finally ready to pass the baton as senior designer Lars Bakken confirmed that Halo: Reach will be the final Halo game on the Xbox 360 from the company. That carefully worded statement leaves open the possibility that Bungie could return to the Halo universe after Microsoft releases the successor to the 360, but it could also mean that Bungie is hard at work on that game right now. With speculation that Microsoft will launch the Xbox 720 (or whatever it'll be called) in 2011 or 2012, a new Halo game for the launch would make many Master Chief fans very happy.

Although, Bungie was sure to point out that they've begun work on their first non-Halo game in over a decade and that they're very close to signing a publishing deal for it.

Before we jump the gun and begin speculating about Halo 5, Microsoft used Comic-Con to reassure us that Halo 3: ODST is coming this Fall and that it'll be fantastic. Microsoft has released two new gameplay trailers from the show floor and even without the Master Chief, they definitely give hungry gamers a healthy dose of Halo.

However, it wasn't all sunshine and lollipops for Microsoft's mascot.

Peter Jackson confirmed in an interview with Joystiq that Halo: Chronicles, a spinoff game he was developing with Microsoft, has been cancelled for good. According to Jackson, the project fell apart once the Halo movie began it's descent into development hell...

Is the Halo project you were working on still happening?

Jackson: That Halo project is no longer happening, it sort of collapsed when the movie didn't end up happening.

And speaking of the movie, Neill Blomkamp, the director Jackson had tapped to helm the picture for his Wingnut Films, has confirmed that when the movie returns to production, it will be without him. On the bright side, he and Jackson ended up working together on the sci-fi flick District 9, and it debuted to rave reviews at Comic-Con.

In the end it all goes back to Beattie's quote. With four bestselling games (and two more on the way), several comic book series, a whole library of novels, toys from a variety of companies (including a few exclusive designs that were only available at Comic-Con), continued efforts to create a movie and now a compilation of anime episodes, Halo has become one of the biggest cross-media franchises in the world. While Star Wars is still a bit of a stretch, the adventures of Master Chief and the rest of the UNSC marines will continue to be told for many years to come.

And with that, we close the book on ~~Halo-Con 2009~~ Comic-Con 2009. All of this Halo news will keep us busy for a very long time. Probably until next year's Comic-Con.