Grab your pipe and deerstalker, because the game is most definitely afoot. After over a decade of waiting, Sherlock Holmes 3, the third installment in the trilogy of Sherlock Holmes films is finally being released. Robert Downey Jr. will return as the World’s Greatest Detective, and along with him on another whirlwind caper will be Jude Law as Doctor John Watson. When last we met the dynamic duo, they had just defeated Holmes’ arch nemesis Professor Moriarty after a globe-trotting adventure across Europe.
Given that Robert Downey Jr. has been spending a lot of time in the Iron Man suit these past ten years, and Jude Law has been recruited as a young Dumbledore, it’s not surprising the third Holmes film has seen such a hiatus. But the Guy Ritchie films, which transformed Holmes into a steampunk action hero amassed a cult following that will anxiously be waiting for December 22nd, 2021. Here are 10 fan theories about Sherlock Holmes 3 that make too much sense.
THE LONG ABSENCE WILL AFFECT HOLMES’ RELATIONSHIP WITH WATSON
The co-dependent relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson has been at the forefront of their adventures since the beginning. Friends, brothers, and partners, their bond transcends their relationships with any significant others, and despite the friction of their opposing personalities, they always reconcile their differences.
Sherlock Holmes 3 is set to be released in 2021, a full ten years after Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. According to Jude Law, the absence of audiences from the world of Sherlock Holmes will be mimicked in absence of two old friends, so their relationship will reflect the fact that it’s been a decade since they’ve taken a case together.
THE NEW CASE WILL TAKE THEM TO AMERICA
Several sources have revealed particular plot details about Sherlock Holmes 3, with certain emphasis on the fact that the main villain will be an American Senator named Cornelius Guest who is obsessed with stealing America’s gold.
With that in mind, Holmes and Watson will most likely travel to the United States, perhaps with the objective to uncover a raid on Fort Knox. There has been talk of at least one female protagonist being from San Francisco, so it makes sense that’s where the investigation will begin.
IT WILL FEATURE HISTORICAL FIGURES FROM THE OLD WEST
Given that Sherlock Holmes and Watson are bound for the United States at the time when the Wild West was winding down, it’s not out of the question to imagine they’d run into historical figures from the period now part of performing troops like Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody.
Hickok would have been dead by the time Holmes and Watson arrived in America, but Buffalo Bill didn’t die until 1917. Given that the Sherlock Holmes films play fast and loose with the Holmes stories, and have a lot of canon to work with (there are dozens), it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they ran into famous figures of the Old West.
IT WILL HAVE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FEEL
Guy Ritchie, known for his frenetic style of editing in such films as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, provided a sense of urgency to the Sherlock Holmes films. It’s been confirmed however that Ritchie is stepping away from directing the third film, which indicates the third film will have a different pace and tone.
This might be a blessing in disguise, as Ritchie’s latest undertakings Aladdin and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword performed poorly at the box office, indicating audiences may be experiencing fatigue from his style of film making. Dexter Fletcher has taken the helm of directing Sherlock Holmes 3, having recently directed the Elton John biopic Rocketman.
IT WILL STRAY FROM THE BOOKS
When making the previous two Sherlock Holmes films, Guy Ritchie didn’t directly adapt Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories word for word. He took elements of what were written on the page and combined several different cases, before grafting them onto sensational historical events of the time.
For instance, Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) from the first film bears a striking resemblance to Jack the Ripper, whom Holmes never investigated but was on a murderous rampage at the time his adventures were written. The films can be thought of as “inspired by” the characters in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s work, which makes sense for the third installment as well.
PROFESSOR MORIARTY WILL HAVE REVENGE
The second film featured a prominent event in the Sherlock Holmes canon, namely the Reichenbach Falls incident where he fought his nemesis Professor Moriarty. In an effort to rid the world of the “Napoleon of Crime”, he threw himself (and Moriarty) over the edge, where both were presumed dead.
Holmes was in fact not dead, but spent some time after his alleged demise traveling the world before showing up to terrify his old friend Watson. While Moriarty stayed deceased, there’s no reason that the film (with some creative license) couldn’t bring him back, especially since Jared Harris has received such praise for his work on Chernobyl, The Terror, and Carnival Row in recent years.
HOLMES WILL HAVE A NEW LOVE INTEREST
Rachel McAdams is expected to make an appearance as The Woman, aka Irene Adler, the only woman for whom Holmes reserves a modicum of respect, but there are reports of another female protagonist being added to the cast of Sherlock Holmes 3.
Sidney Bloom will join Holmes and Watson on their adventures as a U.S. Marshall, posing as a reporter from San Francisco (no doubt Holmes will deduce her disguise fairly quickly). It’s possible she may present a love interest for Holmes, even as part of a love triangle between him and Irene Adler.
HOLMES WILL TRAIN A PROTEGE
Hot on the heels of news about Enola Holmes, the film set for 2020 in which Henry Cavill dons the deerstalker as the World’s Greatest Consulting Detective, Sherlock Holmes 3 could decide to follow it’s storyline about Holmes advising his much younger sister (played by Millie Bobby Brown).
Given the appearance of the Sidney Bloom character, she may not be a romantic interest at all, but a protege. Given that she’s going to be under 30, she’ll be half of Holmes’ age (Robert Downey Jr. is 54), and might make a suitable replacement for the sleuth should he show her the ropes.
HOLMES WILL FACE TWO VILLAINS
While it’s already been confirmed that Holmes is going to face off against the American Senator Cornelius Guest, there is a second antagonist that’s been rumored to appear; Colonel Sebastian Moran, played by Paul Anderson who will be returning to his role from the previous film.
It’s unclear yet if the pair will be working together, or if Moran will simply be taking revenge on Holmes and Watson for the death of his former employer (Professor Moriarty). A crack marksman and former soldier, it will be interesting to see how Moran performs in a Wild West setting.
SOMEONE WILL DIE
Since the film is the third in a trilogy that has taken more than a decade to make, there’s a great chance that one or more prominent characters will die during its run time. Both Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law could have any number of reasons for wanting to move on from their roles, and their deaths would be the most obvious way to do it.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle decided that Holmes would retire and keep bees, and perhaps Holmes will retire after this, and what pushes him over the edge could be Watson’s death. That, or he dies himself, but not before passing off his deerstalker and pipe to a worthy replacement.
