The new action-packed Uncharted movie was apparently much harder for Tom Holland to film than Spider-Man: No Way Home. Known for his role as the friendly neighborhood web-slinger, Tom Holland is no stranger to the demanding work of creating blockbuster hits. However, during the filming of the new Uncharted film, Tom Holland faced some significant challenges.
Uncharted, based on the Naughty Dog video-game series of the same name, follows the adventures of treasure-hunter Nathan Drake. Drake is a wisecracking explorer with a keen eye for solving puzzles and incredible grip strength. This film will act as a prequel to the video games, establishing Uncharted's cast of scheming characters and some particularly perilous predicaments.
Tom Holland has said in multiple interviews that the stunt work in Uncharted was much more difficult to film than the stunts in Spider-Man: No Way Home. This is because the MCU is allowed to take extreme liberties with the laws of physics and CGI enhancements - or even full-body replacements - when depicting a superhuman character onscreen. But the Uncharted filmmakers wanted to keep things more grounded in reality, and as such, had to shoot a lot more of the stunts practically. For example, the cargo plane sequence shown in the trailer was a massive undertaking that involved everything short of Tom Holland actually hanging onto a real plane like Tom Cruise. The scene involves close combat fighting, parachutes, an unfortunately placed red Mercedes, and protagonists and antagonists alike leaping between moving cargo containers suspended off the back of the plane. While the entire sequence could have easily been generated on a computer, the vast amount of practical stuntwork creates a much more visceral experience for the audience.
Much of the superhuman stuntwork in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is accomplished through the use of CGI, especially the more dangerous acrobatics such as jumping over a helicopter or falling from high places. Even though the young actor has been involved in action-packed movies for over six years now, Tom Holland faced more pressure in filming Uncharted than when he was playing Spider-Man. Here are the actor's own words on the pressure he's faced as a performer from an exclusive interview with Screen Rant:
“Lip Sync Battle was pretty stressful if I'm honest. Because no one really knew who I was back then and I was really worried that it gonna be like, "Who is this guy dancing in the rain with Zendaya? Like who is this person?" But I think preparing for Spider-Man, I was too young and naive to understand the pressure I was under, which I think was a really good thing. Filming Uncharted, I'm older now, and I'm aware of the public exposure that comes with making these kinds of films. So the pressure felt a lot more heavy while making Uncharted.”
Though he is unquestionably a talented and successful actor, fans were initially skeptical of Holland being cast as Nathan Drake, even going so far as to demand Nathan Fillion or Mark Wahlberg himself play the role. However, the casting choice was praised by the original Uncharted game director. Holland became the right person at the right time for the role, especially given his ballet, gymnastics, and Marvel superhero backgrounds. And even though it may have presented more difficulties, filming more practical stunts in Uncharted will no doubt set it apart from other adventure films.