Bruce Campbell: Is Sully in Uncharted the role he was born to play?

Bruce Campbell always comes up in conversation when fans talk about the movie adaptation of the hit treasure hunting video game, Uncharted. Now, that director Shawn Levy has left the film behind, will the actor ever get a shot at Sully, the role he was born to play?

Bruce Campbell is always at the top of fans’ lists for certain types of characters. For years, they have always wanted him to play Mysterio in the Spider-Man series. So much so, that a theory was developed under the pretense that Sam Raimi was setting him up to portray Quentin Beck from the first time we were introduced to him as the Ring Announcer.

Another franchise that consistently gets mentioned is the Uncharted series. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this particular third person shooter video game, it is developed by Naughty Dog and distributed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. In 2007, PlayStation introduced us to Nathan Drake, a modern-day Indiana Jones type who traverses the world hunting various treasures while also solving mysteries.

One of the main characters in this series is Victor Sullivan a.k.a. “Sully” who is the right-hand man and amigo of Nathan. While he may have been involved in questionable liaisons with certain individuals, he has always been a stalwart associate and back-up for Drake.

Uncharted is so successful that it has spawned 9 games with the most recent one being released in 2017. Of course, it was only inevitable that Hollywood would come knocking, right? It did but ever since the project has turned into a revolving door of talent.

In 2015, it looked like a production might be underway. David O. Russell was attached to direct and rumor had it that Mark Wahlberg, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci would be along for the ride. Then subsequently, everyone dropped out.

Jensen Ackles of Supernatural appeared to be a candidate for Drake with Neil Berger as a director but that never came to fruition either. Seth Rogen and his partner Evan Goldberg were asked if they would be interested in penning a script. They turned down the chance to be involved as well.

Enter Tom Holland from Spider-Man: Homecoming and director Shawn Levy of Date Night. Holland campaigned for Chris Pratt to play Sully. This wasn’t meant to be either. So, somehow or other according to IMDb, Bryan Cranston is allegedly in the running for the role of Drake’s partner.

Now, Newsweek has cited that Levy has moved on to a “different video game-themed movie named Free Guy,” starring none other than box-office darling, Ryan Reynolds. The best part is that the publication also makes note that no one is on board yet to play Sully remarking that “the obvious choice is Bruce Campbell.”

Actually, Campbell fans have been letting the actor know as far back as 2012 that this is the role he was destined to play. Check out what they are saying here and here. Let’s face it. When you see the character you automatically think of Sam Axe from Burn Notice.

Plus, Sully is like Sam to Nathan’s Michael Westen.

Bruce Campbell – Sully- Uncharted – Courtesy of Naughty Dog

Burn Notice — Season 1 — Pictured: Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe (Photo by Glenn Watson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

There have been polls from Gamespot, as well as multiple sites endorsing the actor for the part from Warpzone, SyFy Wire to Reddit.

Five months ago, Nathan Fillion made a short film for the fans with him in the Drake role because he has been wanting to play the part for eons now. Amazing character actor, Stephen Lang stepped into Sully’s shoes. The result was a slick effort that made you want to see this version of Uncharted actually unfold on the silver screen.

It would appear that the Uncharted movie in development with Tom Holland attached is going for the prequel of Nathan Drake. Almost like a Kingsmen: The Secret Service vibe where the younger adventurer will be mentored by an older Sully.

For what it is worth, after viewing Nathan Fillion in the role of Drake it would be something to see him and Bruce Campbell team up for an Uncharted movie. We all know that Campbell is selectively retired but if a well-written, compelling script presented itself could the actor be enticed to get back in the saddle again?

Playing devil’s advocate, on the surface, Sully is right in Bruce’s wheelhouse. But he has already played Sam Axe, so why would he want to play another character like him?

For right now, Uncharted may be confined to development hell. But hey, it is fun to imagine Bruce Campbell as Sully.

Would you like to see Bruce Campbell take on Sully in an Uncharted movie? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. We want to hear from you.