The Uncharted Movie Ignores One Of The Most Important Game Characters

Warning: Spoilers for Uncharted!

The Uncharted movie introduces some of the titular video game series’ most prominent characters to live-action, though it leaves out one undeniably important figure. In the film, Uncharted‘s protagonist Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) teams up with his eventual longtime partner-in-crime Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) and Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) in a race to recover Ferdinand Magellan’s lost fortune. In addition to the aforementioned trio, Elena Fisher featured in the video games as Nate’s primary love interest through the Uncharted video games’ four main titles. However, she does not appear in the movie.

Elena was first introduced in the series’ premiere title, Uncharted: Among Thieves, which was released in 2007. She initially followed Nate’s treasure-hunting endeavors as a journalist, but the two eventually sparked a romance in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. By the beginning of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End‘s story, Nate and Elena were married and had a daughter. Elena embodied more than just Nate’s love interest, as she also took up arms against enemies and assisted Nate in his treacherous undertakings.

As a prequel that canonically diverges from the Playstation games, Uncharted‘s entrance into the film landscape neglects Elena’s thorough involvement in is source material’s main story. Elena’s absence from the Uncharted movie was a missed opportunity for Sony to bring the full scope of its popular video game franchise to life. Even though the film takes place at a time before the games’ core narratives, Elena’s presence could have been justified due to its modified timeline that remains separate from the Playstation series’ canon. Although a massive undertaking such as an Uncharted theatrical film seems incomplete without one of the most compelling characters from the games, the decision to hold off on introducing Elena is understandable considering the franchise’s promising cinematic future.

Given that Uncharted‘s movie storyline revolves around Nate’s days as a young treasure-hunter and his budding partnership with Sully, Elena was never likely to appear. However, the movie’s divergence from the video games’ canon story left room for a change in Elena’s involvement. For example, while Uncharted 3 depicted Nate meeting Sully for the first time as a teenager, the film instead depicts the duo’s convergence as the former is in his mid-20s. Additionally, Uncharted‘s movie introduced antagonists Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas) and Jo Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) — neither of whom existed in the games. Sony likely opted to exclude Elena to avoid an overabundance of characters in the film. While fans of the video games may have enjoyed seeing Elena in live-action, those experiencing Uncharted for the first time would have been overwhelmed.

Despite Elena’s disappointing omission from Uncharted’s first feature film, not all hope is lost for her eventual live-action debut. Rumors of a sequel have already surfaced, as Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman dubbed Uncharted as the studio’s “new hit movie franchise.” Furthermore, Uncharted‘s box-office performance has exceeded expectations even with its mixed reviews, as the film exceeded $100 million in domestic profits and represents the biggest opening of 2022. If all goes as planned, there is a good chance that Elena, like Nate’s brother Sam, and potentially other figures from the beloved Uncharted video game series will adorn the big screen in the future.

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