About five years ago we ran a piece on the Uncharted movie and our picks for the main stars. Well, time has moved on; we’ve had a change of staff, and opinions and trends have altered. So we thought it would be a good idea to update the topic somewhat. Rather than specify directly who we believe should or could play the role of Nathan Drake, here we present some of the names we most often hear associated with the role. People tweet us all the time with their suggestions, and so we are in a good position to curate a little roundup.

Nathan Fillion

Nathan Fillion has been suggested many times by many people. Nathan Fillion was the star of Firefly and Serenity, playing the leading role of Captain Mal Reynolds. Mal is a charismatic rogue, not unlike our hero, Nathan Drake. Fillion has the talent, and he has the support, however, is he a little too old to be our Nate?.

Nolan North

Nolan North has been the voice, body and personality of Nathan Drake from the outset, and as such no one, bar Amy Hennig, knows Nate better. He loves the character, and has often said that he would like to reprise the role. We believe he should at least be given a shot. Whenever we have posed the question of Nathan’s casting to our audience, Nolan’s name has come back the most often, and with the most love. However, the worry is that the studio will be hunting for a more ‘Hollywood’ name. After all, appealing to the existing audience would be daft, right?

Jensen Ackles

Jensen Ackles has been a feature of Supernatural for some time, and it is mainly through this role that he has gained attention as a possible Drake. He tends to divide fans; personally I don’t believe he has the rough, rugged handsomeness that Nate has in spades, and I don’t find him exciting enough. On the other hand, his name is consistently suggested, so he certainly impresses some.

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg was initially David O. Russell’s choice, but with his departure we also believed that Wahlberg’s involvement had come to an end. However, recent reports link Wahlberg to the part even now. It is conceivable that this is merely a hangover from previous rumours, but it cannot be ignored. While I don’t often hear anything openly negative about Wahlberg as an actor, the overriding impression that people’s comments leave me with is that Wahlberg simply doesn’t embody Nathan Drake, neither in looks nor personality. I would have thought that the studio would have noticed fans’ indifference to Wahlberg the first time around.

Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper has been seen in several successful films lately (not least Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, both directed by David O. Russell), and is another name that we hear often in association with the part of Nathan Drake. We could see him don the holster and the belt buckle, and I am sure we would enjoy the film, but he wouldn’t be our first choice.

Honourable mentions

Chris Pratt, David Giuntoli, David Boreanaz, Ryan Culver.

And finally a quick word about Elena Fisher.

Honestly, why does Hollywood even need to think about the casting for Elena? Emily Rose has proved herself in live action work, is the spitting image of Elena, and wants  the part like nobody’s business. So please, Hollywood, get it right.

So there you go. These are the runners and riders for the Uncharted movie. Anything you disagree with, or would like to add? You know what to do.