We learned last summer that Showtime is developing a small screen adaptation of the Halo video game franchise, ordering a season of 9 episodes. The project is said to be Showtime’s “most ambitious series ever,” promised to “enthrall fans while also drawing the uninitiated into a world of complex characters that populate this unique universe.”

We’ve learned today Pablo Schreiber (“American Gods”) has joined the cast as main character Master Chief, Earth’s most advanced warrior in the 26th century and the only hope of salvation for a civilization pushed to the brink of destruction by the Covenant, an unstoppable alliance of alien worlds committed to the destruction of humanity.

Additionally, Yerin Ha will play new character Quan Ah: a shrewd, audacious 16-year-old from the Outer Colonies who meets Master Chief at a fateful time for them both.

Speaking with IGN last year, Showtime’s Gary Levine teased details about the series.

“It is a new story but we are being incredibly respectful of the canon and working with the Microsoft 343 people to be sure we don’t violate any of that,” he told the site.

“It is a very different genre, it’s futuristic, space-based science-fiction, it’s not fantasy,” he continued. “It took us a long time to get the script but we felt like we had something that was really interesting and felt like it belonged on Showtime in terms of its character depth, and it’s gonna be a big show.”

Otto Bathurst is on board to direct. Kyle Killen and Steven Kane are showrunners.