Uncharted has now arrived in cinemas and it won't be a surprise to know it's packed with Easter eggs and references to the video game series it's based on.
While the new movie isn't a direct adaptation of any of the games, it has taken inspiration from across the series to tell its own origin story of how Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) met Victor 'Sully' Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) and their first quest together.
You don't have to have played the games to see the movie, but if you've spent time with Nate before, there are lots of nods that add to the experience. So we thought we'd highlight the best Easter eggs and references in case you didn't spot them on first watch.
Be warned, spoilers are ahead, so don't read on unless you've seen the movie.
1. Sam Drake
In Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, it's revealed that Nate has a long-lost brother who comes back into his life after being presumed dead to continue a quest they started years earlier.
The movie takes inspiration from this storyline, but changes it for the movie universe as we see Nate and his brother Sam separate when they are children. Sam runs away from the orphanage they're living at to avoid capture and while he sends Nate postcards, the two haven't seen each other for 15 years.
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Before he leaves, Sam gives Nate his ring with the engraving "sic parvis magna" that fans will recognise from the games. He tells Nate that he'll be back to get the ring back, but during the movie, Nate is told by Sully that Sam died when they tried to get an earlier clue to Ferdinand Magellan's treasure.
The first credit scene reveals this not to be the case as Sam is seen in a jail cell, meaning we can expect a Drake family reunion in a potential Uncharted 2.
2. Naughty Dog
Talking of the Drake ring, Nate decides to take it with him when he sets off with Sully in search of the Magellan treasure.
He takes the ring from his suitcase of keepsakes, including photos of Sam and Nate when they were children. Eagle-eyed fans will have spotted that on the inside of the suitcase's lid is a sticker of the Naughty Dog logo, the creators of the Uncharted games.
Uncharted marks the first movie produced by PlayStation Productions and their next offering will be The Last of Us TV series, also based on a Naughty Dog game and set to hit our screens this year.
3. Auction heist
The crucial first aspect of Nate and Sully's quest for the gold sees them infiltrate an auction to steal a cross that is actually one of two keys that are needed to find the treasure.
This is another nod to A Thief's End as in that game, Nate, Sully and Sam sneak into an auction to get their hands on the St Dismas cross which contains a map to the treasure. However, in the movie, it's not the St Dismas cross and is La Cruz de la Hermandad.
Rather than containing a map, this cross was formerly on the altar in Santa Maria del Pi in Barcelona and together with the cross that Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) has in her possession, they act as two keys that guide them to a map which contains the real location of the gold.
The auction heist isn't the only set piece inspired by the game as we also get the cargo plane sequence from Uncharted 3. We get a teaser of this sequence at the beginning of the movie, before we return to the full thing later on. As with the auction heist, it's not a direct adaptation of the game version, especially in terms of how Nate gets out of it.
There's also a potential homage to the rooftop chase scene from the same game as after meeting Chloe in Barcelona, she steals Nate and Sully's cross which forces Nate to chase her across the rooftops in the city.
4. Snakes or nuns?
The Uncharted series was inspired by the likes of Indiana Jones, so it's no surprise that the movie version feels influenced by Indy too.
But it's not just the general 'find the treasure' vibe as the writers decide to pay homage to Harrison Ford's iconic character when Nate finds something he doesn't like in Santa Maria del Pi. Where Indy hated snakes, Nate has a severe dislike of nuns after his childhood spent in an orphanage staffed by nuns.
"Nuns. Why'd it always gotta be nuns?," Nate quips after spotting one in the church in a paraphrase of Indy's classic line, "Snakes! Why does it always have to be snakes?".
If that nod was too subtle for you though, Indy is namechecked when somebody tells Nate: "When did you decide to become Indiana Jones?"
5. "Well, well, well"
Nate, Sully and Chloe's quest in Barcelona doesn't lead them to the treasure, but just to an ancient Roman storehouse that contains a map with the genuine location of the treasure.
The final aspect of this quest sees Nate and Chloe almost drown underground until Sully turns a key in a Papa John's restaurant above ground (genuinely). A tunnel between the two locations looks a bit like a well, leading Sully to deadpan, "Well, well, well" as he looks down at Nate and Chloe.
Fans will know that this is a nod to the exact same gag from Sully in Uncharted 3 (and repeated in Uncharted 4).
6. Nolan North
When the first image of Holland as Nate was released in October 2020, we also got a set photo of Holland hanging out with Nolan North who plays Nate in the games.
North had been insisting earlier that he had no part to play in the movie, so it's a nice surprise to see him pop up in a funny cameo after Nate and Chloe escape from the cargo plane and swim to a nearby beach.
They come across a tourist on the beach, played by North, who asks them what happened and Nate tells him everything about the plane, leading to North's tourist replying: "Something like that happened to me once."
We see what you did there...
7. Pirate ships
The central quest of the movie has clearly been inspired by A Thief's End and the hunt for the treasure of pirate Henry Avery, and there's one final nod to the game in the movie's finale.
Nate tracks the treasure to a cove in the Philippines where he finds two pirate ships that belonged to Magellan (the Avery of the movie). They're filled with treasure which is where the comparisons end as there's no sword fight as the ship burns around Nate.
Instead, the two ships (the game only had one) are lifted out of the cove and Nate fights with Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) and her goons in mid-air. In the game, Nate dropped treasure on the villainous Rafe to kill him, but here, it's Sully who drops his bag of gold on Braddock to save Nate's life.
Luckily, Nate took some gold for Sully for their troubles, a nod to the game reveal that Nate's brother gave some treasure to Nate's wife Elena.
8. Gun holster
During this final battle, Holland's Nate makes the final move to becoming the Nate we know from the games with one key accessory: a shoulder gun holster.
He already has the rest of the outfit on point (it's not hard really, a plain t-shirt and cargo pants or jeans), but this crucial element is found by Nate on one of the pirate ships as he battles against Braddock's henchmen.
Talking of important accessories...
9. Sully's 'tache
While he remains clean-shaven throughout the movie, Sully pops up with a moustache in the post-credits scene.
He also has his cat, Mr Whiskers, in tow which Sully doesn't have in the games, but we're here for any extra cats that the producers want to add into any potential sequel. As long as Sully keeps his 'tache.
Uncharted is out now in cinemas.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
