I really wasn’t a fan of what 2022’s Uncharted did to Nathan “Nate” Drake, but Tom Holland’s version of the character is actually incredibly faithful to the source material – albeit only very briefly. There’s one scene that looks like it has been lifted directly from one of the Uncharted games, and Holland’s portrayal of the quippy explorer can be perfectly overlaid with his digital counterpart. It’s a shame the Uncharted movie’s game changes were so extreme, but it at least proves something exciting about the upcoming sequel.

Uncharted 2‘s confirmation means Sony has committed to its reimagined version of the saga and will continue the story of Tom Holland’s Nathan Drake. Despite the backlash from established fans, the first movie was incredibly profitable. Box Office Mojo reports that the movie took over $407m, so it’s not really surprising that a sequel has been greenlit – especially with Sony’s recent efforts like Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web both crashing and burning at the box office in 2024. Hopefully, Uncharted 2 builds on the flash of authenticity in the first movie.

Uncharted’s Post-Credit Scene Swaps Nathan Drake’s Original Backstory With His Future

Tom Holland’s Drake looks just like the younger version of the protagonist in the source material

The main body of the Uncharted movie shows a much younger Nathan Drake than I am accustomed to seeing, and omits huge parts of his backstory from the source material. Instead, the live-action adaptation provides Holland’s Drake with an alternate arc, showing him meeting Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) when the former is already an adult. In the games, Nate and Sully meet when the franchise’s primary protagonist is a teenager. Holland’s youthful looks make him much closer in appearance to this younger version of the character, but he’s playing a version somewhere in between.

Uncharted‘s post-credit scene gives Holland’s character a costume and setting that places him in a scene that’s pretty much a beat-for-beat reproduction of a flashback from the games. So, the movie’s Drake suddenly looks far more faithful to the source material. The issue here is that it’s set after he has already met Sully and has a history of working with him. Therefore, what is aesthetically Drake’s backstory has been thrust forward into the timeline of Holland’s version, which seems like a strange creative choice. It would’ve made more sense for a live-action Nathan Drake origin story to start here.

Why The Uncharted Movie Changed The Game’s Nathan Drake Origin Story

Uncharted’s cinematic cutscenes wouldn’t have worked with an inexperienced Nathan Drake

One of the Uncharted franchise’s biggest hallmarks is the big action sequences. In Drake’s younger years, he didn’t have the experience or the skill to navigate those sorts of encounters. So, when the games show a more fresh-faced version of the character, the levels are far more story-driven and lack the explosive excitement from later in Nathan Drake’s Uncharted timeline. So, for the movie to recreate those cinematic set pieces, Drake needs to be older. Holland’s casting presents a problem there, because he looks too young to match Adult Drake’s avatar, but too old to line up with Teenage Drake.

So, although the Uncharted movie proved it was capable of game-accurate moments with the post-credit scene, it wouldn’t have worked for the story to have started from this point. An inexperienced Nathan Drake doesn’t make for very exciting viewing, so the flashbacks to the last time he saw his brother are the movie’s stand-ins for those moments – and those are inspired by a sequence from the source material as well. It’s all a little messy, but it makes sense when considering how difficult it was to place Holland’s Drake in the character’s established timeline.

The Uncharted Movie’s Weird Backstory Decision Sets Up A More Faithful Sequel

Uncharted 2 will benefit from the first movie’s messy changes

It took an entire movie to get Holland’s Drake to the point where his casting makes sense, but at least that’s been achieved now. I was among the many flummoxed fans who questioned the decision to make Tom Holland Uncharted‘s leading man, as well as Mark Wahlberg’s casting. However, the post-credit scene’s mᴀssive nod to the games makes me far more excited about the upcoming sequel.

My prediction is that Uncharted 2 will have the feel of the flashback sequences in the third game, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception​​​, which show when and how Nathan and Sully met and started working together. It would perhaps be an odd era to set an entire movie around, but the fact the duo already have a history thanks to the first film means the sequel can embark on the franchise’s signature high-stakes capers. Either way, I’m almost certain it will be a more well-formed movie than the first installment in the Uncharted film series.

Source: Box Office Mojo