The following contains major spoilers for the Uncharted movie.
The new Uncharted movie is the long awaited, very long awaited if we’re being honest, film adaptation of the popular video game franchise of the same name. There are four proper games in the Sony PlayStation version of Uncharted and considering that the film version is an origin story for the character of Nathan Drake, it’s clear that the potential for turning this into a franchise is very much on the mind of the studio. If that wasn’t enough to convince you of the hopes for future films, then may I direct you to the two Uncharted end credits scenes that are part of the movie.
That’s right, Uncharted has done the thing that it seems all franchise movies now do and included not just one, but two scenes after the “end” of the movie, that give us a pretty strong indication of where a future Uncharted movie, or movies, may go. Assuming, of course, the first movie is successful enough to get the franchise machine rolling. Here’s what happens and what it could mean for a theoretical Uncharted 2.
What Happens In Uncharted’s First Credits Scene
The first scene barely counts as a “credits scene” but since the movie cuts to a title graphic, marking the end of the film proper, we’re going to count it. The scene starts someplace dank and dark that we have not been before. There is some light but the location could be mostly underground. We see a man in a uniform who looks asleep, and as the camera pulls closer we see rooms with bars with people behind them. We’re in some sort of prison. But not a very official looking one.
The men we see look pretty worse for wear. They have long hair and beards, they’re clearly not able to take care of themselves. The camera pulls into one cell where we see a man sitting on a bed writing something. When we get a close up of what he’s writing, it’s a postcard. It’s addressed to our hero Nathan Drake, and it’s telling him to be careful. It’s signed with a single S, the same way Nate’s brother Sam had signed all the postcards he sent to Nate, before he died.
We’re told by Sully (Mark Wahlberg) early in the film that he had worked with Nate’s brother Sam before he tracked down Nate. Initially Sully tells him that Sam just ran off, but eventually Sully confesses that during their quest for the treasure, there was a shootout with villain Braddock, and Sam was shot. Sully left him behind to save himself but both Sully and Braddock clearly believe that Sam died.
Obviously, that’s not the case. Sam survived his wound, but ended up in a prison. Exactly where he is, exactly who is holding him, is unclear. But Sam is alive, which probably wasn’t all that shocking to people who know the games. However, we can be sure if this becomes a franchise that at some point Nate will learn the truth.
What Happens To Nate And Sully In The Mid-Credits Scene
In Uncharted's final scene, Nathan Drake is meeting somebody in a seedy bar. The stranger has obtained a map that Nate wants. The man wants Nate’s ring, the one with the Sic Parvis Magna inscription, that was something that belonged to Nate’s brother Sam before the two parted as kids. Each has an object the other wants, but each also wants to know why the other one wants what they want. Eventually a number of guns are pulled on Nate by patrons in the bar who are more than patrons.
Luckily, Nate's backup has just arrived as well. Sully is in the doorway and he pulls his own gun. Nate and Sully do a bit of banter, as the two apparently haven’t seen each other in a while, and Sully has grown a mustache, making him look a bit more like the Victor Sullivan that fans of the games recognize.
Nate takes the opportunity to get the upper hand on the man across the table and Nate leaves with both the map and his ring. Nate and Sully then leave the bar and begin to run, but almost as soon as they turn they stop and throw up their hands. It appears that there’s yet somebody else with a gun who has stopped them, but we don’t see who that is. Cut to scrolling credits.
What It All Means For A Potential Uncharted 2
Even if there had not been these post-credits scenes, there’s every reason to believe that we could have gotten Uncharted sequels. The adventures of Nathan Drake in the games are largely disconnected, and just one treasure hunting adventure after another. Like Indiana Jones, Uncharted could have done that, but these scenes give us very specific plot elements that could be involved in the future.
First we have Nathan Drake’s brother Sam. One assumes that at some point in a sequel Nate will discover that Sam is actually still alive. The movie could be about Nate’s attempt to rescue Sam, or we could see Sam escape from his prison early in the movie and find Nate. Maybe whoever is holding Sam is after some other treasure that they can now go after together.
Then we have the second scene. How important this specific scene is, we can't really say. The scene is valuable in itself as it shows the way that Sully and Nate have grown. They are now full partners and they trust each other. This is the relationship they would have in a sequel.
Whether these particular events turn out to be directly important in a sequel is another matter. This could literally end up being a scene in Uncharted 2. Whatever that map leads to could be the next movie’s McGuffin. Alternatively, this could be used as something like the opening of a James Bond movie. This could be a small adventure that we get to see play out to its conclusion, before we get a cool credits sequence and the main story begins.
But the biggest question here is who stopped Nate and Sully? While we never see the face of the person holding them up, there’s one name that seems highly likely, Chloe Frazer. Nate and Sully left Chloe behind at the end of the movie and she wasn’t happy about it. Assuming she’s looking to get a measure of revenge, stealing the map they just stole would seem to be right up her alley.
Although there is a dark horse candidate for who Nate and Sully might be running into, Elena Fisher. She’s a journalist that is a friend of Nate’s (and more) throughout the games and she’s the most important character in the franchise who didn’t appear in the movie, so this would be a fun way to introduce her. Maybe the person isn’t pointing a gun, maybe it’s a camera.
Whether or not we’ll actually see any of these post-credits scene threads go anywhere will be dependent on whether or not Uncharted finds an audience. If people show that they want more of this, we’ll probably get it. If Uncharted 2 becomes an upcoming movie for Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland, we’ll certainly let you know.
