10 Biggest Missed Opportunities In Recent Movies

We've all been there, sat in the cinema with anticipation and excitement only to feel when the credits have rolled that there was something missing. Not necessarily the small stuff, as no movie is ever truly perfect, but something big. Something obvious.

The direction of a film's story can seemingly be heading in a very specific direction, only for no pay off to come. Subverting expectations and avoiding any kind of predictability is one thing, but it can be truly mystifying when such absolute no-brainers are ignored.

These kinds of decisions have happened throughout cinematic history, and of course the last few years have been no different. Smaller pieces of a larger shared universe, actors returning to their legendary roles from years prior, and sequels leading on from what has come before tend to present certain opportunities - many of which were never exploited to the fullest extent.

This can either be a purposeful decision or a case of obstacles being in the way, but whether it's ignoring an important character, not doing justice to what could have been an amazing crossover, or even the release date of a spooky film, these 10 movies all missed out huge opportunities that could have made them better.

After spending so long in development hell that Mark Wahlberg literally grew too old to play his original role, Sony was finally able to release Uncharted in 2022, with Tom Holland stepping in to play the part of Nathan Drake.

As far as video game adaptations go it was a fun but flawed outing, and there was one fundamental aspect that needed to be different. Namely, the inclusion of Elena Fischer.

In the game series, Elena is as important to the story and the franchise itself as either Drake or Sully, and her omission from the big screen is a real head-scratcher.

While Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) was seemingly utilised instead of Elena, there is no reason that both characters couldn't have played meaningful roles, as was the case through both Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.

The likelihood is that Elena will be in Sony's Uncharted plans eventually should a sequel be developed, and there are certain things that point to said sequel working as a loose adaptation of the first game, Drake's Fortune, in which Elena and Nate first meet. However, while Uncharted did surprisingly well at the box office, mixed reviews mean a second outing is far from guaranteed. Elena simply should have been there from the very beginning.