Uncharted, one of Sony's biggest video game-turned potential movie adaptations, has endured a rough year. Back in October, Academy Award-nominated director David O. Russell was signed as the Uncharted helmer. One month later, Russell began talking-up his now controversial "family dynamic" angle and brought-on Mark Wahlberg to star as fan-favorite adventurer, Nathan Drake.

However, through all the ups and downs that led to the eventual exit of the director (and subsequently Wahlberg as well), one thing remained constant - many fans were still holding-out hope that Castle star, Nathan Fillion, would get a crack at playing Drake on the big screen. Unsurprisingly, Fillion is still very interested in the role - but on one very respectable condition.

At Comic-Con 2011, we got a chance to catch-up with Fillion about the recently vacated starring role (and director's chair) for the Uncharted movie, and while the actor was forthcoming about his interest in the part, he made it clear that he didn't want to step on newly-signed director Neil Burger's shoes - but also wasn't above trying "Inception" if it'd help his chances:

"I am certainly still interested in playing Nathan Drake. I think every actor I know wants their action-adventure hero, their Indiana Jones. That would be a good one for me, I think. What I don't want is people pressuring that poor man [director Neil Burger] and souring him on the actual idea. If we could somehow just... do you remember the movie Inception? I think that's what we need to do. We need to let him land on the idea on his own."

Fillion's respectful petition for the part is no doubt in response to the growing mass of Uncharted fans who have pushed the boundary between a passionate appeal and flat-out harassing ex-director Russell for casting anyone but their top choice. While Russell's approach to the film and casting differed dramatically from the source material - and would be, many argued, Uncharted in name alone - fans were especially harsh in their reaction to the director's attempt at bringing the franchise to the big screen.

Uncharted Movie Will Not Star Mark Wahlberg Nathan Fillion Up for the Role

It's great to see that Fillion, who no doubts wants to headline his own "action-adventure hero film," is interested in seeing the best Uncharted film that Neil Burger can make - even if it means that he misses out on the opportunity to play Nathan Drake. It's hard to imagine Burger will experiment with as many liberties as Russell, especially considering Sony was reportedly against the "family dynamic" idea, and as a result, it's unlikely that they'd have signed-off on an Uncharted film that was so disconnected from the game. Regardless, the Castle star's approach to the situation is good food-for-thought for any fans who will be crestfallen if Burger also passes on Fillion.

That said, it probably wouldn't hurt for an exceptionally dedicated (and brainy) fan to get to work on an Inception-like dream machine - Nathan Fillion (and plenty of fans) would undoubtedly be grateful.

Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick and let us know who you'd like to see play Nathan Drake in Uncharted.

We'll keep you up to date with further casting details as pre-production on the Uncharted film gets underway.