By introducing Nathan Drake’s brother Sam nice and early in the first movie, Tom Holland’s Uncharted sequel has already avoided one of the biggest complaints from the video game franchise. For the most part, the Uncharted movie was a disappointing adaptation of the games — especially compared to the warmly received Nathan Fillion-led fan film. The official movie’s set-pieces are nowhere near as cinematic as the games’, its mystery storyline is nowhere near as engaging, and Holland and Mark Wahlberg failed to recapture Nate and Sully’s endearing father-son dynamic.

But the movie did avoid one of the most common complaints about the games. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was widely praised as one of the greatest video games ever made, but it wasn’t without its detractors. Some fans of the original trilogy were disappointed that the fourth game didn’t feature the franchise’s traditional supernatural twist in the final act — especially since the possibility of pirate ghosts had been floated in the second act. The biggest complaint about Uncharted 4 was that it introduced Nate’s previously unmentioned brother out of nowhere, but the movie adaptation has already avoided this problem.

Uncharted 4 Was Criticized For Introducing Nate’s Long-Lost Brother Out Of The Blue

It Seemed Odd That Nate Never Mentioned Sam Before

Although Uncharted 4 was met with almost universal acclaim from fans and critics alike, it was met with some complaints about the introduction of Nate’s long-lost brother, who had never been mentioned in the previous games. Sam wasn’t even brought up by Katherine Marlowe in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, who seemingly knew every detail of Nate’s childhood. Uncharted 4 reveals that Sam was Nate’s treasure-hunting partner until they got separated during a daring prison break. At the beginning of Uncharted 4, Sam comes back into Nate’s life to recruit his help finding the lost fortune of Henry Avery.

The game does go out of its way to explain why Sam was never mentioned before. Nate felt so guilty about leaving Sam behind that he didn’t want to talk about him, even to his wife and his best friend. But that still didn’t explain why Marlowe didn’t know about Sam. As great as Nate and Sam’s relationship in Uncharted 4 was, it felt like a retcon to suddenly bring in the long-lost brother who shaped Nate’s whole idenтιтy. By introducing Sam from the very beginning and establishing his imprisonment and supposed death, the movie franchise already avoided this problem.

Tom Holland’s Uncharted Movie Included Sam From The Very Beginning

The Uncharted Movie Made Sam A Major Character From The Offset

The Uncharted movie made Sam a major player from the very beginning. The opening flashback establishes that Nate grew up in an orphanage with his older brother. When they’re caught trying to steal a map made after the Magellan expedition, Sam sneaks out of the orphanage and promises Nate he’ll return. Before leaving, he gives Nate a ring belonging to Sir Francis Drake — a key motif from the games. When Sully tracks down Nate in the present day, he reveals that he worked with Sam to find the Magellan crew’s treasure, and that Sam has vanished without a trace.

Later in the movie, Sully confesses that Sam was sH๏τ and supposedly killed by Braddock three years ago, and that he left him for ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. This is slightly different from Sam’s backstory in the games — in the games, he was sH๏τ during a prison break and Nate reluctantly left him behind — but the outcome is the same: Sam is thought to be ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, but he’s really stuck in a jail cell halfway around the world. At the end of the Uncharted movie, Sam is revealed to be in prison, writing another postcard to Nate.

Uncharted 2 Is Set Up To Explore One Of The Games’ Best Relationships

Nate & Sam Are One Of The Uncharted Franchise’s Most Endearing Character Pairings

Now that Nate’s history with Sam has been established in the first movie, the Uncharted sequel is set to explore their relationship. The movie adaptation already botched Nate and Sully’s relationship. Rather than portraying Sully as the wise, older mentor he is in the games, Wahlberg just played Sully as an older version of Nate, so the movie had two Nates. It’s a big part of why it doesn’t really feel like a proper Uncharted movie. The sequel can redeem that misstep if it gets Nate and Sam’s relationship right.

Nate and Sam have a unique dynamic in Uncharted 4. Although Sam is the older brother, Nate is the more mature and responsible one who has to act as the voice of reason. Nolan North and Troy Baker brought that relationship to life in the game, which made Uncharted 4 more emotionally engaging than any of its predecessors. For the Uncharted movie’s long-awaited sequel to succeed, Holland and Rudy Pankow will have to recapture that.