Nathan Drake is one of the most iconic characters in video games. He first hit the scene in 2007 with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. After that, he became a staple of the PlayStation family. It has been quite some time since fans have seen him in a new game though. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy was in 2017, but that didn't even feature Nate.
Nate's last game was Uncharted 4: A Thief's End in 2016. After the stinger of that game, it seems like Nate has hung up his guns for good. For fans waiting to see him again, thankfully there is this new Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland as Nate. Unsurprisingly the film changes a couple of things about the adventurer; while some people may be disappointed by the modifications, they are mostly mild.
There will be spoilers ahead for the movie and the series overall.
7 The Timeline
Nate was born in 1976 in the game series but everything was updated in the movie to be more modern. Nate’s exact age isn’t given in the movie, however, Tom Holland is 25 in real life. Therefore, his character must be somewhere around that age.
As Uncharted takes place in the present day, it’s safe to assume Nate was born somewhere in the late '90s if the film takes place in 2022. This doesn’t change who Nate is dramatically, but it should still be noted.
6 How Sam Leaves
The beginning of the movie shows Sam getting kicked out of the orphanage. This is similar to how it goes down in the games. However, Sam keeps his promise to Nate and comes back only a couple of years later. They then go on all kinds of adventures, including ones with Sully.
The Uncharted film paints a different picture. Sam never returns. All Nate gets is a few lousy postcards and a bunch of empty promises. These postcards eventually lead Nate to the ships and various other ruins. Then Nate finds out that Sam died in an expedition, which proves to be a lie as he is actually in prison. This happens in the games too, only Nate believes that Sam died in prison and that it was his fault. Turns out Sam was okay.
5 The Ring And Sully
Before Sam leaves in the Uncharted movie, he gives Nate his ring. He tells Nate that it belonged to their ancestor, Sir Francis Drake. The ring looks spot on to the one in the games, but Naughty Dog wrote a different reason for how Nate gets it. While out on his own, Nate is looking into a Colombian museum.
This is where he finds the ring, which he steals ahead of Sully. At this point, Nate also meets Katherine Marlowe, who is the villain in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. This flashback takes place in 1990 when Nate is only 14. This is also another example of how young Nate is supposed to be when he meets Sully.
4 Nate Holds Back On Killing
One of the most memed aspects about the Uncharted games is that Nathan Drake is a cold-blooded serial killer who mows down hundreds of people each game. Is that supposed to be a relatable everyman hero? Nate doesn’t have a problem killing in the games at all.
However, Nate doesn’t kill on purpose for most of the Uncharted movie. There’s a great quote in the plane scene when he kicks a guy off of a luggage barge. “Oh my god, that was purely reactive.” He is horrified that he just murdered someone, but it is played as an accident. This takes a turn when he gets his iconic gun holster in the last scene of Uncharted and he starts killing like a pro.
3 Sam’s Death
Sam is a nonexistent character in the first three games of the series. Naughty Dog changed this in the fourth entry when Sam came out of the blue. Sam was supposed to have died during a prison break, and Nate blamed himself for his death; consequently, the lore wants players to think a guilt-ridden Nate erased Sam from his memories in the previous entries.
That’s not completely farfetched, but it is still pretty wild. Lo and behold, he isn’t dead after all. There might be a moment like that if Uncharted gets a sequel movie because Nate thinks Sam died during an expedition. Jo, Sully, and Chloe all confirm Sam's passing. If that is the case, who is writing those postcards in prison then?
2 Chloe Frazer
Chloe comes into the Uncharted movie a little way in. Sully introduces her to Nate as his friend. In the original lore, Chloe meets the two of them together. In Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, there is implied history between Nate and Chloe, suggesting they were previously romantically involved.
Overall, their backstory isn’t deeply explored in the games. However, their first encounter is in the comics, which confirms that the three met together unlike how the Uncharted movie depicts it.
1 Sully Has A Cat
Nate and Sully have a great relationship in the games. While their foundation is rockier in the film, they do have good chemistry. One of the more fun things the movie has Nate do is buy Sully a cat.
Sully doesn’t have a cat in the games, or at least, he doesn’t melt over his cat, unlike Mr. Whiskers. Overall, Sully is a bit more of a goofy character in the Uncharted movie. Admittedly, this does not have a lot to do with Nate’s changes as a character, however, it is still worth mentioning since he purchases the cat for Sully.