Tom Holland might be best known for playing Spider-Man at this stage in his career, but it's not hard to imagine him making a great James Bond down the line. However, it was the actor's suggestion that he could star in a "young James Bond" project that led to Uncharted becoming a reality.
"I had a meeting, after or during Spider-Man 2 [Far From Home], with Sony to pitch this idea of a young Bond film that I’d come up with," Holland told Games Radar during a recent interview. "It was the origin story of James Bond. It didn’t really make sense. It didn’t work. It was the dream of a young kid, and I don’t think the Bond estate were particularly interested."
The idea of exploring Bond's youth has been touted before, most famously in a series of novels (not written by Ian Fleming). Casino Royale explored the spy's transformation into 007, and going further into his past does seem a tad unnecessary. However, Holland's suggestions ultimately helped make Sony Pictures realise that there was a different approach they could take to Uncharted.
"The idea of a young Bond film sparked this idea, in turn, that you could do a Nathan Drake story as an origin story, rather than as an addition to the games. And that opened a conversation."
We don't know who the next actor will be to play James Bond on screen, though Eternals star Richard Madden remains one of the most popular possibilities. As for Holland, Uncharted could be a whole new action franchise for him to take centre stage in along with the next Spider-Man trilogy for Marvel.
The Bond influence on this first movie is certainly interesting, especially as the franchise doesn't really have a huge amount in common with Uncharted. The story takes place at an early stage of Nathan Drake's career as an adventurer, though, so there's plenty of time to borrow more from the games.
Uncharted is set to arrive in theaters on February 18. In the UK, it arrives a little sooner on February 11.