Hey Everyone,
Paul here…
This week we got our first look at Tom Holland is Nathan Drake in the upcoming Uncharted film, (which you can see in the above photo) an adaptation of the ultra popular video game series of the same name. Nathan Drake is basically a modern day Indiana Jones and I mean that comparison in the best possible way. Despite the similarities of the two characters, Nathan Drake isn’t just a rip off of Henry Jones Jr. Drake has stood out as an iconic and compelling, fan favorite, video game hero for years.Uncharted always seemed like a no brainer for adaptation to the big screen. After all, the games are so incredibly cinematic themselves.
There have been a few attempts to bring an Uncharted films to cinemas, most notably David O. Russell (The Fighter) was attached to direct with Mark Wahlberg starring Nathan Drake. It seemed like Russell didn’t really understand what made the Uncharted series so fantastic in the first place. His take on the story was so vastly different from the source material that, except for the title and the names of the characters, it was an Uncharted film in name alone. That is well as the seemingly odd casting of Wahlberg as Drake, made me breath a sigh of relief when this particular attempt at making an Uncharted movie, fell apart.
The fan favorite choice for the role has always been Nathan Fillion. Most well known for playing Capt. Mal Reynolds in the TV series Firefly and the sequel film Serenity, as well as his role as a crime author in the television series Castle. While he would’ve been incredible in the role of Nathan Drake, he had sadly aged out of the part and he was never quite a big enough meme to be considered seriously in earlier attempts to adapt an Uncharted film. However, a few years ago, he played Nathan Drake in a fantastic short film that he also produced. It’s fucking great. It’s very, very fun and really cool. You can watch it right here and I highly recommend that you take a look…
Now, we have our first look at Tom Holland as Nathan Drake. I’ve gotta say, it looks pretty much dead on. I’ve heard a few people say that Holland is too young for the role, which is a fair criticism. Drake is classically portrayed as being a bit older. In the first Uncharted game, he’s roughly between his late 20’s and early 30’s. However, throughout the series we see Nathan Drake at many different points in his life, all the way from a young orphan boy to a middle aged man. Glimpses of the character’s past as a young adventurer, we’re not unheard of in the games. So it’s not as if we haven’t seen a younger Drake in the video game series before. Looking at it optimistically, if the film does well, Holland’s ages is actually an asset because he’s certainly not going to age out of the part anytime soon. Let’s not forget, most of us may look at Tom Holland and associate him with the role of Peter Parker in The MCU, but he’s also an extremely talented and accomplished actor outside of his superhero work. As anyone who has seen the recent Netflix film, Devil All The Time, can attest to.
In another interesting bit of casting news, even though he’s no longer portraying Nathan Drake, Mark Wahlberg is still set to appear in the film in a major role. Wahlberg will be playing fan favorite character, Sully, Drake’s mentor, partner, friend, and father figure. For much of the series Sully is the closest thing Drake has to a family (that may or may not change as the story progresses, but I’ll say no more for fear of future spoilers). This is another instance where someone may point out that Wahlberg is a little too young to play the role of Sully, which is true, but it’s perfectly age-appropriate for the younger version of Drake that they’re going for here. Casting Wahlberg still makes him the older mentor figure, without changing the age gap between the two characters. Holland has already shown his ability to play protégé opposite a superstar actor without letting himself get overshadowed. Mark Wahlberg wouldn’t be my first choice to play Sully, but I’m excited to see what he’ll bring to the role and just what his chemistry on screen with Tom Holland will look like. The relationship between Nathan Drake and Sully is arguably the most important in the entire series, so it’s very important that they get this one right.
All in all, from the very little we have seen, I like what we have been shown so far. Hopefully will get a better glimpse at the movie with a trailer or poster, in the near future. Let’s also hope that by the time this movie comes out, we can actually go see it in a movie theater! So what are you guys think? Do you like Tom Holland as Nathan Drake? What about Mark Wahlberg as Sully? Please let me know in the comments below!
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-Paul
World’s Best Media 