We’re still reeling from the sweeping conclusion to the Spider-Man’s Homecoming trilogy. But just like that Tom Holland is about to grace the big screen again in Uncharted. We’ve been awaiting Holland’s turn as Nathan Drake for several years now, as the actor was first attached to the project in 2017. But now, with just a month to go, we’re learning exactly how Tom Holland as Nathan Drake came to be.
During the Sony CES event, which we first saw at Kotaku, the actor shared that he first discovered the Uncharted games while on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming. With a little help from the film’s studio. Holland’s Spider-Man films are, if you recall, Sony films, after all. He shared that the cast’s trailers included a sweet set-up of Sony electronics. Specifically a TV, a PlayStation, and some games. Including the Naughty Dog game.
Soon enough, Holland was addicted. “As soon as we started we couldn’t stop,” he shared. “I remember them trying to drag me out of my trailer, I was like ‘No no no, we’re about to complete this mission.’”
However, Holland’s love for the Uncharted games led to a conversation with Sony Pictures chairman Thomas Rothman. And the rest is movie-making history. Holland stars alongside Mark Whalberg, who was once himself rumored to play Nathan Drake. Whalberg is instead Drake’s partner Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan. Ruben Fleischer directs, with a script from Wheel of Time creator Rafe Judkins and screenwriting pair Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.
You can watch the whole showcase below. (Tom Holland’s appearance begins around the 9 minute mark through 15:35.)
During the event, Holland and Rothman noted that the Nathan Drake in the upcoming movie is quite a bit younger than game players recognize. To go from high school senior Peter Parker to Uncharted games-era Nathan Drake is quite the leap. But the Uncharted film serves as a bit of a prequel, revealing exactly how the storied adventurer came to be.
To that end, Holland shared how important it was to maintain the games’ energy, even with a younger Nathan Drake at the center. “Our goal was to bring this character to life in a new way, a refreshing way, while maintaining what we loved about the character from the games,” he said. “We didn’t want to lose the essence of the games so for us as a team of creatives, we put our heads together and came up with this interesting take on Nathan Drake. And I’m delighted to say that I think we achieved our goal.”
We’ll see for sure soon enough. Uncharted lands in theaters on February 18.