I’m about to piss off a lot of Browncoats.
With the recent news that Marky mark isn’t officially slated to play Nathan Drake in David O. Russell’s upcoming Uncharted film, Firefly/Serenity/video game fans (or nerds) are beginning to hope the role will go to everyone’s favorite space cowboy, Nathan Fillion.
Fans of Joss Whedon’s western space drama have drawn many, many parallels between Drake and Fillion as the show’s gun-toting hero, Malcolm Reynolds. In doing so, news of a movie being made only made those parallels more poignant and more a basis for casting.
And why not? It only seems right. But…
I don’t think Nathan Fillion is the right person to play Drake for the film. I know there is a laundry list of reasons he would be a quintessential choice. I mean the two look like the same person. But I don’t want it to happen because, unlike most other Firefly and Uncharted fans, I don’t think Drake and Mal are interchangeable.
Let me say this first: I have an inescapable amount of love for the Firefly and Serenity mythology. Nathan Fillion as Malcom Reynolds is, to me, an endearing and iconic character. He plays the roll with such a stark dichotomy, switching back and forth between a grin-inducing levity to brooding remorse. It seems natural. It seems earned. And it works for the series.
Fillion is able to balance all the light parts of Mal’s personality (Kaylee’s big brother, Wash’s manly competition, Inara’s flirt) with the dark (Book’s religious antithesis, Jayne’s manly competition, Simon’s power struggle).
These are the reasons why I don’t think Mal and Drake similar. Confused? Well, let’s go over the characteristics of Drake:
- He has this clumsy, rugged charm that allows him to seem both out of place and yet capable at the same time.
- He has ironic luck that, in the end, lets him come out the victor.
- He’s young, mid-20’s, early 30’s. And he gets chicks.
- He’s, most importantly, altruistic.
I have no doubt in my mind that Fillion could play the part of Drake. But for all those people arguing Fillion’s depiction of Mal would be perfect for Drake, read over that list and ask yourself: Is that REALLY Malcolm Reynolds?
Mal, by all accounts, is an intimidating guy. He’s powerful, aggressive, and able. While there are some moments of goofiness in both Firefly and Serenity, his character is wholly authoritative. So while Drake’s moments of daring and chivalrous action are there, they don’t have the heavy gruff Mal always carries with him.
If there was one thing these two character’s could shoot the shit about for hours on end, it would be their crap luck. Between Drake’s constant punching-bag persona and Mal’s constant trend of getting shot, they share a lot of similarities here. However, whereas Drake’s misfortune is comical and often laughable, Mal’s can be pretty damn harsh. Tone is the difference here. And sometimes tone means everything.
The most obvious difference between the two characters is their age, which subsequently affects their abilities with the ladies. Drake is a young bachelor type of guy. He has a Ryan Reynolds charisma that easily makes the ladies swoon. Mal, while an absolute panty-dropper, doesn’t really emanate the same type of boyish charm. He’s more Indiana Jones with his style. More old-school. More Bogart.
But all previous reasons for why I don’t think Mal and Drake are alike pale in comparison to this one: Drake, as a character, is a pawn. He’s never really progressing through the games by his own choice. He is either being bullied into a job by a friend, a faux-friend, or a faux-friend’s evil boss.
Mal, on the other hand, is completely self-indulging. He takes for his and his own. Remember in Serenity when he (spoiler) shoots a dude that is trying to runaway with them (fun fact: the dude is Glenn Howerton a.k.a. Dennis Reynolds from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)? Mal pops Dennis after kicking him off the hovercraft, denying him safe passage from the Reaverfest happening around them. Dennis falls, gets grabbed by Reavers and Mal shoots.
Now, would Drake do this? Probably not. He would have made room on the hovercraft or gotten rid of the cargo.
And I know I’m comparing two fictional characters. And I know in the off chance that Fillion is cast as Drake, he could do the role playfully. That doesn’t change the fact that the iconic character I believe MADE Fillion’s career does not echo loudly in Drake’s own. Maybe there are a few whispers from Mal, but Uncharted’s hero definitely has his own voice.