'Uncharted' Fans Complain Of Nathan Fillion Not Being Cast In New Film Version As Nathan Drake

Fans of the “Uncharted” video game have taken to Twitter Inc TWTR to express their deep disappointment over the casting of Tom Holland in the role of adventurer Nathan Drake, insisting the only actor who should have been cast was Nathan Fillion.

What Happened: Sony Group Corp SONY released the trailer online yesterday for its “Uncharted” film, which is designed as a prequel to the game series. In the film, Nathan Drake is a young bartender recruited by fortune hunter Victor Sullivan, played by Mark Wahlberg.

Fillion had already played the Drake role in a 2018 fan film directed by Allan Ungar and released on YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Although the film was not authorized by Naughty Dog, the developer of the "Uncharted" game, company vice president Neil Druckmann and franchise creator Amy Hennig voiced their praise on social media for this endeavor.

What Happened Next: The film version of “Uncharted” had been in development since 2008, with both Fillion and Wahlberg among the actors who were considered for the Drake role. But the project was repeatedly delayed over the years and the actors became too old to play the youthful version of Drake. Holland was cast in May 2017 and principal cinematography began in June 2020.

Nonetheless, the sight of Holland in the role that many “Uncharted” fans envisioned as being Fillion’s exclusive domain set off a series of angry tweets.

Twitter user FPSCarol complained, “Not casting Nathan Fillion to be Nathan Drake is like living in a universe where both the Shrek video games and Shrek himself exist and a movie studio decides to not cast Shrek as Shrek."

Another user, Fresh Pressed Film, tweeted, “It’s seriously incredible how the fan film NAILED the Uncharted tone and the new movie trailer is just…its own thing entirely. Nathan Fillion is a national treasure.”

Another account going by the handle Planetary Federation of Unions also complained about Wahlberg’s casting, tweeting, “Nathan Fillion & Bruce Campbell should have been Drake & Sully. Hopefully Sony plans to have them in the future.”

However, the user Shifu pointed out that Fillion’s fame is mostly based on television series including “Firefly,” “Castle” and “The Rookie” whereas Holland is a bonafide movie star.

“Nathan Fillion’s name doesn't put butts in theater seats,” Shifu tweeted.

Fillion, who is active on Twitter, stayed out of the discussion. “Uncharted” is scheduled to open theatrically on Feb. 18, 2022.

Photo: Screen shot of Nathan Fillion as Nathan Drake in the 2018 fan film version of "Uncharted."