Guy Ritchie's New Detective Show Has Already Replaced Sherlock Holmes 3

Guy Ritchie’s new detective show has been a hit over at Prime Video, so much so that it has now replaced the long-awaited Sherlock Holmes 3. Guy Ritchie has become one of the most popular filmmakers of his generation, with his projects standing out for fast-paced action scenes, great cinematography, slow-motion moments, and non-linear narratives. Some of Guy Ritchie’s movies now rank among the best of all time, but he has also left his mark on TV.

Ritchie’s most notable TV credits to date are the 2024 TV show The Gentlemen (a spin-off of his 2019 movie of the same name) and MobLand, which he executive produces and in which he directed two episodes. Ritchie’s most recent TV hit is Young Sherlock, inspired by Andrew Lane’s book series, and which takes the audience back to the Victorian era to meet a 19-year-old Sherlock Holmes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin).

As the title says, Young Sherlock follows the younger years of the famous detective, showing a side of him that isn’t seen often. Young Sherlock is produced by Guy Ritchie, who also directed the first two episodes, and the show stayed on the #1 spot of Prime Video’s Top 10 for many days. Young Sherlock has been renewed for a second season, and it has now replaced Ritchie’s long-awaited Sherlock Holmes 3, which, unfortunately, has been in development hell for years.

Young Sherlock Perfectly Fits The World Of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes 3

Young Sherlock follows Holmes before he becomes the famous detective everyone now knows. As such, Young Sherlock follows his first case after Holmes is framed for the murder of a professor at Oxford University, where he works as a scout after being released from prison for pickpocketing. At Oxford, Holmes meets student James Moriarty (Dónal Finn), a brilliant young man as intelligent as Holmes, and together they set out to clear Holmes’ name and find the real murderer.

However, their investigation leads them to a massive and deadly conspiracy, which also brings to light some disturbing secrets from the Holmes family. Despite being separate from Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies, Young Sherlock fits in quite well and could even serve as an unofficial prequel to them. Young Sherlock not only explores Holmes’ first case, but also goes deeper into his family dynamic and that with Moriarty, showing how they met, how well they worked together, and how Moriarty’s villainous turn began.

The ending of Young Sherlock season 1 perfectly set up a second season, which will hopefully cover how the Holmes family recovers and adapts to their new dynamic after learning all of Silas’ (Joseph Fiennes) secrets, and how Moriarty embraces his dark side more and more. Young Sherlock has a much brighter future than Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies, and with the third one stuck in development hell, the show now serves as its official replacement, and the movie might not be necessary anymore.

Do We Still Need Sherlock Holmes 3?

Guy Ritchie’s work in the world of Sherlock Holmes began in 2009 with the movie of the same name and continued two years later in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The sequel ended on a major cliffhanger as Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) had supposedly died after his confrontation with Moriarty (Jared Harris) at the Reichenbach Falls, but the final scene revealed that Holmes survived and had been hiding in plain sight at Watson’s (Jude Law) studio.

This perfectly set up a third movie, which has been in development for too long. Although a draft for the third movie was first announced to be in development in 2011, it wasn’t until 2014 that the movie was officially revealed to be in active development. Five years later, it was announced that Ritchie wouldn’t return as director, with Dexter Fletcher taking over instead. The project has since been delayed multiple times for different reasons (the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduling conflicts, etc.), and at the time of writing, there are no signs of it actually happening.

Fifteen years have passed since A Game of Shadows came out, and as great as it would be to finally get Sherlock Holmes 3, it’s now too late for it. Young Sherlock is now filling that void, with a Victorian setting just like in the movies, and a similar tone and pace. Young Sherlock also has more space to explore the characters and their stories a lot more deeply, further making it the perfect complement to Ritchie’s movies.