Biggest Unanswered Questions In Uncharted

The movie "Uncharted" is based on the PlayStation video game series of the same name. And like a video game, it focuses on a single adventure that has most of its loose ends tied up by the film's conclusion. However, that doesn't mean it doesn't leave a few questions unanswered by the time the credits roll. In fact, many of those questions come from the film's intriguing final scene and a mid-credits sequence that nods toward adventures to come.

The movie tells the story of the first partnership between treasure hunter Victor "Sully" Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) and Nathan Drake (Tom Holland), a young bartender who's enlisted by Sully to help find the lost treasure of Ferdinand Magellan. Nate's older brother Sam had told him stories of the treasure before disappearing from Nate's life years ago, so the possibility of finding the missing gold and maybe even learning what happened to Sam is too much for Nate to turn down. Nate and Sully's pursuit of clues that will lead to the location of the prize takes them across the globe and into all kinds of dangerous situations. 

But now that their first adventure is under their belts, what will the duo search for in their next adventure? And will a sequel see them encountering characters from their last adventure and maybe even Nate's brother? These are just a couple of the biggest unanswered questions from "Uncharted."

After Sully and Nate have found — and lost — Magellan's treasure and flown off into the sunset together, "Uncharted" reveals something shocking. From early in the film, the fate of Nate's brother is a big question mark. After being caught breaking and entering and threatened with prison, Sam escapes from the orphanage where he and Nate are living. While Sam promises he'll come back, he never does, leaving Nate to wonder where Sam went and what he's been doing.

Although Sully admits that Sam used to be his treasure-hunting partner, he avoids talking about Sam's fate for most of the film. Eventually however, it becomes clear that Sully and his sometimes ally Chloe (Sophia Ali) believe Sam is dead, and the mercenary Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) even indicates she's the one who killed him. Yet at the end of the film, there's a brief scene set in a dingy prison that tells a different story: as the camera moves, it focuses on a cell with a man inside. Although it's hard to see his face under his unkempt blond hair, he's writing a postcard, the form of communication Nate's brother used to reach out to him. It appears Sam's alive and imprisoned. But where is he and how did he survive if Sully, Chloe, and Braddock all thought they saw him die? Is someone lying about what happened to him? It's an intriguing mystery for the sequel to solve.

The final scene of "Uncharted" establishes that Sam is still alive, opening up many questions about what happened to the character. Yet it also sets up the opportunity for a grand reunion between Sam and Nate, the brother he left behind, and Sully, his onetime partner. But when could this happen and what would be the circumstances surrounding it?

In the movie, we see Sam has communicated with his brother for years via postcards. The postcards contain brief messages that don't give Nate any real information about Sam's life. However, later in the film, Nate realizes Sam has embedded clues in secret ink on the postcards that help him locate Magellan's treasure. But that means Sam was sending Nate clues instead of just sharing them with his partner Sully. Could that mean Sam didn't trust Sully? And if Sam didn't trust Sully, could that mean that Sully knows what really happened to Sam?

There are several tantalizing ways that Nate and Sully could learn about Sam's situation. They could find out from a third party and rescue him. Nate could find out from Sully, leading to a rift in their growing partnership. Or Sam could escape and seek out the pair in some unexpected way. No matter which way the filmmakers choose to go, this could very well make an "Uncharted" sequel especially emotionally resonant.

While "Uncharted" makes it seem as though Antonio Banderas' Santiago Moncada is the film's main villain, when Braddock, the mercenary he hired, kills him midway through the film, she becomes the story's true antagonist. Moncada was willing to do whatever it took to find and claim Magellan's treasure — which he believed he had a familial right to — but he didn't like to get his hands dirty. Braddock, on the other hand, is more than happy to get her hands dirty, and has a band of goons who seem to share her murderous impulses.

That doesn't mean she's a great villain. Her motivations mostly seem to revolve around the desire for a ginormous payday. Nonetheless, she keeps the film's scenes of hand-to-hand combat interesting, including in the final fight on one of Magellan's ships as it's being flown by helicopter to a new location. However, when she loses the fight and falls into the ocean, that ship ends up crashing into the water on top of her. Given the circumstances, it seems like Braddock must have died on contact, but there are plenty of movies that have made it seem like the villain is dead only to resurrect them in the sequel. Could this happen here? After all, if Braddock was a strong swimmer, she could have gotten away before the ship hit the sea and we wouldn't have seen it.

"Uncharted" includes a mid-credits sequence that's all about setting up Nate and Sully's next adventure. In it, Nate meets a man with an eyepatch in a cafe to make a trade. Nate's goal is to acquire a map that will lead to Nazi treasure, although it's never clear what he's hoping to find specifically.

In World War II, the Nazis confiscated and looted all kinds of valuable art and artifacts, so it wouldn't be all that surprising if Nate and Sully heard about and decided to go after one of those treasures. Besides, Nazis come up a couple times during the "Uncharted" games, so it's possible their mention in the mid-credits scene is a nod to that or even an indication that, although this "Uncharted" film told an original story, the plot of the sequel will take its cues from the plot of one of the games.

Either way, going up against Nazis is a popular trope in action-adventure films. Everyone from Indiana Jones to Captain America have done it, so perhaps it's no surprise that Nathan Drake and Sully would do so as well. We'll have to wait for the sequel to find out exactly what they're looking for.

The man that Sully meets in the mid-credits scene references his boss during their exchange. We don't know much about this boss, but one of the things he requests in exchange for the Nazi map is the ring Nate wears on a strap around his neck. The ring has sentimental value for Nate: It was originally Sam's, and Sam gave it to Nate when he left. Yet as Nate points out, it has no real-world value. The man with the eyepatch's boss isn't seeking financial gain by trading for it, though. As the man explains, his boss wants it because it has value to Nate.

Even though that isn't a lot to go on, it seems as though this unseen boss could be an interesting antagonist. Of course, it's unclear whether he will be the main villain in the next movie, as Nate and Sully could find themselves racing against someone else to claim the treasure. Yet the fact that this boss is still unknown indicates he could be a big player in the next film. Could this be a villain from the "Uncharted" games? Or maybe it's Nate's brother. After all, if Sam escaped from prison and amassed his own gang, it could explain why the man with the eyepatch said his boss wanted Nate's ring. It may be far-fetched, but it would definitely set up maximum drama for the sequel.

In the last moments of the mid-credits scene, Sully shows up to help Nate after his meeting with the man with the eyepatch has gone south. After Sully gets the situation under control, Nate joins him in the doorway of the cafe and they leave together. As they walk away, they bicker about Sully's delayed arrival. That is, until they see something that stops them in their tracks. The final second of the film shows them looking dumbfounded as they stare at something in front of them. But what do they see that would make them react this way?

It's entirely possible that they've run into a new character or characters that we won't meet until a follow-up film is released. On the other hand, the fact that the movie ends on this note suggests that they may have encountered a character we're familiar with. Perhaps Braddock really is alive and has finally hunted them down. Or perhaps this is the point where Sam reveals he's still among the living. There are a ton of possibilities, but without an idea of the potential story for the sequel, it's hard to narrow them down.

Throughout their treasure hunt in "Uncharted," Nate and Sully work with Chloe Fraser. Sully summons Chloe when they first arrive in Spain, and even though Chloe aims a gun at them and ends up stealing from Nate, they eventually team up to track down a map that will help them find Magellan's gold. Yet Chloe doesn't make for the most trustworthy partner. Nate and Sully learn she was actually working for Moncada when she was helping them out and she regularly makes it clear that she doesn't trust anyone. Still, as penance for double-crossing the pair, she helps them reclaim the artifacts they need from Moncada's plane.

Nonetheless, by the time Nate figures out the coordinates of the location of the treasure, he's learned he can't blindly rely on Chloe. So he leaves out a set of fake coordinates just in case she takes off before he wakes up in the morning. Unfortunately for Chloe, she takes the bait instead of waiting for Nate, which means instead of finding the gold with him, she goes on a wild goose chase. Yet the movie gives no indication of what that means for her relationship with Nate or Sully, leaving open the question of what could happen if she ever meets up with them again. And given her shaky alliances, there's no telling how she could factor into a sequel — or even if she'll factor in at all.

Okay, this last question is a bit of a joke ... or is it? Early in "Uncharted," Nate tells Sully he needs a cat to pull off a job. But when Sully gets the cat, Nate explains he never really needed the animal. Instead, Nate decided Sully needs a companion because his life seems sad. Sully is annoyed and claims he has no desire to own a cat. Yet toward the middle of the film, it appears his feelings may be changing. He mentions that he's worried because he hasn't heard from the person who's supposed to be caring for the cat while he's out of town.

Then, during the mid-credits scene, he tells Nate that he arrived late because he was having trouble getting the cat, who he's now dubbed Mr. Whiskers, through customs. And when Nate realizes that Sully has the cat with him in a backpack, Sully explains that he takes Mr. Whiskers everywhere. So if Mr. Whiskers is now Sully's companion wherever he goes, even when he's searching for lost treasure, could that mean Mr. Whiskers will become key to the plot of a follow-up? That would definitely be one way to set an "Uncharted" franchise apart from other treasure-hunting films.