Senator Stern Is Named After Howard Stern
Garry Shandling's blustering Senator Stern character got his surname as a tip of the hat to radio host Howard Stern, according to Jon Favreau himself.
All Knowledge
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Born as DLC
This one almost never existed as its own game. Naughty Dog originally pitched it as a piece of paid DLC for Uncharted 4, something in the vein of a smaller side story, before the team realised they had way more to say than a DLC pack could hold and turned it into a full standalone release instead.
Nineteen Oscar Winners Or Nominees Are In This Cast
For a superhero blockbuster, the acting pedigree on display is honestly kind of absurd - reports from the production put the number of Academy Award winning or nominated actors appearing in the film at nineteen.
The 'Well, Well, Well' Running Gag
Whenever the crew stumbles across an actual well in Drake's Deception, Sully can't resist cracking the same dad joke, 'well, well, well.' It became such a fan favourite bit that the 2022 movie brought it back almost word for word, just handing the line to Nate instead of Sully this time round.
Sam Drake Wasn't Always Troy Baker
Before Troy Baker took over the role, Todd Stashwick was cast as Sam Drake and even appears as the character's voice in the very first teaser trailer. When the game changed direction, Stashwick was quietly replaced.
Houdini Software Built the Flood Effects
Naughty Dog's engine could only handle 580 joints per mesh, which was a problem when they needed a big, realistic-looking flood surface for one of the game's set pieces. The VFX team turned to Houdini to fracture the water simulation into smaller pieces that could actually run in-game, then stitched it all back together so it still looked like one continuous surface.
Nate Plays the Original Crash Bandicoot
Early in Chapter 4, you can find Nate and Elena's home console set up with a fully playable, emulated version of the original PS1 Crash Bandicoot. You can actually take control of Crash yourself, and it's mapped to the D-pad rather than a thumbstick, matching how the game was originally controlled back in 1996.
The Direwolf Litter Was Insured for a Million Pounds Each
Odin and Thor, the two Northern Inuit dogs who played the direwolf pups Summer and Grey Wind, weren't treated like ordinary animal actors. Their owner had them insured for a million pounds apiece, and over the years following the show they went on to meet roughly 400,000 fans through appearances and tours.
The Istanbul Museum Is a Real Ottoman Palace
The museum Drake and Flynn sneak into during the Istanbul chapters is modelled on the Topkapi Palace Museum, once the actual seat of the Ottoman sultans and still one of the most visited landmarks in Turkey today.