Halo: Nightfall is the origin story of Halo 5s next big Spartan

At San Diego Comic-Con, Microsoft showed the first footage of Halo Nightfall, the original Xbox programming that was announced back in 2013 during the Xbox One reveal event. But this Xbox-only live action series isn't just some spin-off--lead character Jameson Locke will appear in Halo 5 as the mysterious co-lead Spartan, and Nightfall will serve as his origin story.

The five-episode series takes viewers to a colony that had been abandoned in the previous Halo wars. A fragment of one of the Halos has crash landed there, and Locke and his team of marines are sent to investigate. In the brief footage shown, the characters explore the kind of natural landscapes you find on Halos, all filmed in the natural settings of Iceland and Northern Ireland. Though we don't know much about what, exactly, will happen in the series, the creators see it as an epic origin story for Locke that eventually leads to him entering the Spartan armor and becoming the character seen next to Master Chief in the early art for Halo 5: Guardians.

It's yet unconfirmed whether Locke is a friend or foe of Master Chief, but he will seemingly play a big role in the upcoming game, as actor Mike Colter talked up all the voice acting and motion capture hes currently doing for Halo 5. Locke will even wear a new form of Mjolnir armor, and hell seemingly have some relationship with the Arbiter, as seen in the E3 2014 trailer. Could Locke even be the future lead in the franchise, eventually replacing Master Chief? All we know right now is that youll get to meet him for the first time in Nightfall, which just might make it essential viewing.

Click on for more images of the show.