Summary

• Drake's younger age in the Uncharted movie alters his backstory significantly, impacting emotional reunions in potential sequels.
• The introduction of Sam Drake in the movie universe changes Nathan's history, reducing the impact of their eventual reunion.
• While the Uncharted movie maintains dynamics between characters, alterations and character introductions affect the emotional depth compared to the games.

The first Uncharted 2 hasn't yet been confirmed, the financial success of the first movie and comments from the film's stars suggest the sequel is inevitable.

The actors who form the cast of the Uncharted movie are generally much younger than their game counterparts, but the dynamics between them all are largely the same. However, there's a character who isn't introduced in the game series until 2016's Uncharted 4: A Thief's End who has already made his debut in the movie universe. While it makes sense for Sony to include the figure in question much sooner in the movies, a big alteration means his reunion with Tom Holland's Nathan Drake will lack the gravitas it had in the games.

Nathan Drake Thought His Brother Was Dead In The Uncharted Games

Holland's Drake doesn't hold the same belief in the Uncharted movie

In the Naughty Dog game series, Nathan Drake doesn't mention his older brother Sam until the fourth installment. When Uncharted 4: Thief's End was released, the studio retroactively gave Nathan a brother who the story's hero thought had died during a prison escape. In the 2022 movie adaptation, Nathan isn't just aware his brother is alive but has been receiving postcards from him the entire time.

Samuel Drake is played by Troy Baker in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, the same actor who played Joel Miller in both The Last of Us games.

The Uncharted movie was right to include Sam Drake as soon as they did, as his randomly appearing in the games without ever being mentioned, while surprising, was a little unrealistic. Introducing Sam to the audience as part of Nathan's origin story gives the younger Drake an interesting and believable reason regarding why he wants to explore the world. However, not having Holland's Drake thinking his brother was dead was a misguided addition to the adaptation.

The Uncharted Movie Changes The Backstory Of Tom Holland's Nathan Drake

The movie's Nathan Drake has never been to prison

The movie includes a flashback to the childhood of the Drake brothers, which is largely consistent with the same sequence in the fourth Uncharted game, but Uncharted's post-credits scenes show Sam in prison alone. In A Thief's End, Nathan and Sam escape prison together, only for Sam to seemingly fall to his death when the brothers are so close to success. Before their reunion, this dramatic moment was the last time Nathan laid eyes on Sam, making it a core memory for the game series' protagonist.

Although it's possible the prison escape scene could make it into Uncharted 2, feigning Sam's death at that point would be a little inert.

In the Uncharted movie, Sam leaves Nathan behind in the orphanage after declaring, "I'll come back for you, Nate. I promise." Fifteen years go by without Sam fulfilling his promise, but he does keep in touch. This retcons a big part of Nathan's history, as his life experience by the time of the movie is much less than that of his game counterpart. Although it's possible the prison escape scene could make it into Uncharted 2, feigning Sam's death at that point would be a little inert.

The Uncharted Movies Game Changes Reduce The Impact Of Nathan's Big Reunion

The Uncharted movie has already ruined Sam's big reveal

While Holland's Drake doesn't know his brother is incarcerated, the audience finds out about Sam's existence long before those who played the original games. So, even when Nathan's brotherly movie reunion inevitably takes place, it won't be as effective. In the games, it's been fifteen years since the prison break, and Nathan is roughly 50 years old. In the Uncharted movie, while it's still been 15 years since they last met, Nathan doesn't think Sam is dead, and he's also had a much less storied adventuring career. Holland's Drake is in his mid-twenties, so Sam has also missed much less.

When the Drake brothers meet again in the movie franchise, the scene will still be rewarding, but it won't come close to the reveal in A Thief's End. Everything from their origin, shared history, and age all contributed to the emotion of the cutscene in the game. In addition, the Nathan Drake in the games is an established character by that point, so finding out such a surprising piece of information that predates the first game is thrilling. Holland's Drake is just one movie in. As such, it's more difficult to be too invested in his character's truncated Uncharted past.

Uncharted can be streamed on Hulu, but Uncharted 2 hasn't yet been confirmed.