Have you heard? Tom Holland is going to be Nathan Drake in the new Uncharted movie. Fans of the long running video game series have been clamoring for this film for a long time, and a great many people were hoping that Nathan Fillion would fill in the role as the daring treasure hunter. There’s even a fan made video from 2018 that you can watch right here.
Still, there’s great hope for Tom Holland in the role and this movie in general, which has gone through a ridiculously long development cycle. But what is Uncharted anyway? Well, what started out as a sort of gender-swapped version of Tomb Raider created by Naughty Dog (which is the same studio that gave birth to Crash Bandicoot and The Last of Us) eventually became such a mainstay in the industry that the Tomb Raider reboot actually pulled elements from Uncharted. That was the impact that Uncharted had on the video game industry. So consider this article a crash course on the series. Because who knows? This might be one of the few video game movies that doesn’t actually suck.
What To Know About Tom Holland's Character, Nathan Drake
Here’s what we know so far about the Uncharted movie—It will star the treasure hunter, Nathan Drake -- and Sully. But we’ll get to him later -- and he will go on an adventure. Sure, there’s a bit more we possibly know about the film from released photos, but the one definite we do know is that Nathan Drake will be in the movie, and Tom Holland will be playing him.
Created by Amy Henning and voiced by veteran voice actor, Nolan North, Nathan Drake (If Drake is even his last name) has been described as one part Indiana Jones, one part Bruce Willis, and equal parts Nolan North who ad-libs a lot of the character’s witty dialogue. For the romantic aspects, Ms. Henning used Cary Grant as an inspiration. As for his appearance, he was modeled after Johnny Knoxville from Jackass fame. Nathan is loveable since he’s far from perfect. He talks to himself when he’s nervous, punches awkwardly, and even trips sometimes. In other words, he’s just some normal dude doing some extraordinary things (And gunning down tons of dudes in the process). But he’s also a thief with a sort of shady history. The fans might have wanted Nathan Fillion as Nathan Drake, but Tom Holland is not a bad pick for a young Nathan at all.
The Side Characters In Uncharted
There are a number of side characters in the Uncharted series, but the three main ones would be Victor “Sully” Sullivan, Elena Fisher, and Chloe Frazer. Sully is pretty much Drake’s mentor and a father figure to him. Often seen as a silver fox in the games, the movie version will be of a younger Sully played by Mark Wahlberg. We learn in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception that Sully took a young Drake in under his wing after Drake ran away from an orphanage. He has a lot of criminal ties and comes to Nathan’s aid when he needs him and vice versa.
Elena Fisher is Nathan’s on-again, off-again girlfriend and later wife. She’s been in every single mainline game in the Uncharted series. Elena is a journalist and documentarian who often gets into a lot of danger due to her commitment to her job. She is often seen as Drake’s sidekick, but can handle her own and is a strong female character. As far as we know right now, she is not in the film. But there are rumors that Chloe Frazer, who stars in her own game in the series called, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, might be in the movie, and that she also might be portrayed by Grey’s Anatomy actress, Sophia Ali.
Chloe is an old flame of Nathan’s and is often seen as “a darker version” of him, as she’s also a thief who often runs headlong into things without thinking them through. She’s Trouble with a capital T. So hopefully, she’s in the film.
Some Things To Know About The Uncharted Games
There are officially eight games in the series, but four mainline titles, three of which appeared on the Playstation 3 (Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception), and one on the Playstation 4 (Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End). There have also been 2 games on the Playstation Vita (Uncharted: Golden Abyss, which is a spin-off, and Uncharted: Fight for Fortune, which was a digital card game), and the aforementioned Uncharted: The Lost Legacy for the PS4, which is the most recent game and stars Chloe Frazer as well as the side characters, Nadine Ross and Nathan’s brother, Samuel Drake.
The Uncharted series, in a nutshell, is a lot of treasure hunting, climbing (lots and lots of climbing), shooting whole armies of dudes, and massive set pieces. Think Indiana Jones, but with a lot more gunplay and in a modern setting. Each game has Drake tracking down some new treasure and the gamers uncovering more information about his backstory—For instance, we find out that Drake even has a brother in Uncharted 4, who we hadn’t known up to this point in the story. Overall, Uncharted is as much known for its storytelling as it is for its gameplay, so the movie should hopefully be one of the good video game movies that doesn’t suck.
The Villains In Uncharted
The Uncharted games are full of twists and turns, as well as double crosses and even red herrings. For example, in the original Uncharted game, Atoq Navarro, who up to a point was seen as a side villain turns out to be the main villain once he shoots his boss, Gabriel Roman. And take Katherine Marlowe in Uncharted 3 who actually has a history with Sully and is willing to torture Drake if she has to.
And then you can’t forget about Nadine Ross, who is actually a good character in The Lost Legacy. But she gives Nathan and Sully plenty of trouble in Uncharted 4 and just solidifies the fact that this is a series that can write good female characters. And finally, you have the Serbian war criminal Zoran Lazarevic in probably the best Uncharted game, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. He and Drake are both on the hunt to uncover the lost city of Shambhala. So the series definitely has its handful of baddies. That said, at this point, we don’t know if the movie will use one of these villains or have a brand new antagonist, but Antonio Banderas has been cast in the film, so he might just be the villain. We don’t know yet.
Uncharted has been a super popular video game series for a reason, and here’s hoping that the movie can be more Detective Pikachu than Assassin’s Creed when it comes to good video game movies. We shall see when the movie releases July 16, 2021
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