Robert Downey Jr. will soon return as the Great Detective for Sherlock Holmes 3, which will mark the first time he’s played the iconic role since 2011’s A Game of Shadows. Fans will remember that the sequel to the 2009 original tackled the famed face-off between Holmes and his nemesis Professor Moriarty. As they always do, the foes ended up toppling over the Reichenbach Falls to their apparent doom…before the super-sleuth was revealed to have survived.
It’s possible, though, that SH3 will add an extra sting into the tale. According to sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us Marvel was developing a Ms. Marvel TV show, and that Robert Pattinson had beat out Nicholas Hoult for the Batman role – Moriarty is due to return in the movie. We’ve heard that Jared Harris will be coming back as the villain, with Moriarty also having survived the fall just like his enemy and secretly plotting his revenge.
Though a change from the original stories, in which the character only shows up once, Moriarty has been known to make a comeback in many screen versions of Sherlock Holmes in order to better utilize the compelling felon. If you’ll recall, BBC’s Sherlock memorably had Andrew Scott’s version fool everyone into thinking he had somehow survived shooting himself in the head with a series of pre-filmed videos released posthumously.
Alongside this news about Harris’ return, we’ve also discovered the identity of the central antagonist of SH3. With Holmes and Watson traveling to the US in the film, corrupt American businessman Senator Cornelius Guest will apparently be the detective’s latest foil. What’s more, the studio is said to be looking at Oscar Isaac for the part, though it’s unclear if he’s been formally contacted yet.
Sherlock Holmes 3, directed by Dexter Fletcher, has previously been given a December 2021 release date and is expected to start shooting next year. And while it’s important to remember that plans can always change before it goes in front of cameras, for the moment at least, Moriarty is fully expected to return.
