Guy Ritchie's Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Replacement Succeeded In An Impossible Task

Published Nov 2, 2026, 6:45 PM EST

Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.

It’s now even more unlikely that Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes 3 with Robert Downey Jr. will happen, but luckily, Ritchie found a perfect replacement that, surprisingly, succeeded at what seemed like an impossible task. Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes has been the inspiration of many artists for decades, and has been adapted to all types of media. On film, some of the most notable adaptations are Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies starred Robert Downey Jr. as the Great Detective and Jude Law as Dr. John Watson, and brought to life some complex and intriguing cases with a good dose of action in Ritchie’s signature style. Ritchie’s movies were a big hit, with Downey Jr.’s performance being praised by critics and fans of the Great Detective, and it’s now regarded as one of the best Sherlock Holmes performances.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows left the audience with a major cliffhanger as Holmes supposedly died, along with Moriarty (Jared Harris), at Reichenbach Falls, only to be revealed right at the end that he’s alive and a lot closer to Watson than the latter could ever imagine. However, a third movie is now more unlikely than ever, but luckily, Ritchie found a perfect replacement in the Prime Video show Young Sherlock, which achieved the impossible: replacing Robert Downey Jr.

Young Sherlock Has The Perfect Victorian-Era Holmes To Replace Robert Downey Jr.

Loosely based on Andrew Lane’s book series of the same name, Young Sherlock takes the audience back to the Victorian Era to meet a 19-year-old Sherlock Holmes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin). Fresh out of prison for pickpocketing, Holmes starts working at Oxford University as a scout, but he’s framed for the murder of a teacher on campus. With the help of his new and brilliant friend, James Moriarty (Dónal Finn), Holmes sets out to find the real murderer and clear his name.

However, what none of them could have predicted was that their journey would also lead them to uncover a global-level conspiracy and the darkest secrets of the Holmes family. Young Sherlock stays true to the Victorian-era setting of Conan Doyle’s stories, but with some interesting additions to Holmes’ backstory, through which it has already answered some of the biggest mysteries about Holmes’ past and family.

Thanks to its time setting and Ritchie’s involvement, it was speculated before its release whether Young Sherlock was a prequel of sorts to Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies, and while it isn't, it's a perfect complement to them. However, its most impressive achievement is that Fiennes successfully replaced Downey Jr. as Ritchie’s Victorian-era Holmes, and his future is a lot brighter than that of Downey Jr.’s version.

Young Sherlock Is The Perfect Replacement To Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes 3

A third Sherlock Holmes movie by Ritchie has been in limbo for years, with various updates through the years that either gave hope for its development or crushed it. At the time of writing, it doesn’t seem likely anymore that Sherlock Holmes 3 will happen, but Young Sherlock has successfully filled that void despite not being a movie or being in the same continuity.

Young Sherlock has opened up a bunch of new opportunities for the world of Sherlock Holmes by exploring the younger years of the detective, how he became the famous detective everyone now knows, how he and Moriarty met, how they became enemies, and the dynamic with his family. This also allows Young Sherlock to go on for a long time, exploring other parts of his past that Conan Doyle didn’t go into in his stories and that most adaptations have left aside.

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At the time of writing, Young Sherlock is preparing for its second season, which is expected to continue covering Moriarty’s villainous turn and his friendship with Holmes, along with the latter’s discovery of more of his father’s secrets. There’s no projected release date for Young Sherlock season 2 yet, but it’s already one of Prime Video’s most anticipated upcoming projects.

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  Hero Fiennes Tiffin

  Sherlock Holmes

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  Dónal Finn

  James Moriarty