Another iconic Sherlock Holmes character could be appearing in Enola Holmes 2. Last week finally brought the news that Netflix was officially moving forward with a sequel to the smash hit 2020 movie, with Millie Bobby Brown back in the title role alongside Henry Cavill as her on-screen brother Sherlock. And though this wasn’t confirmed in the announcement, it’s widely believed that Cavill will get a bigger chunk of the screen time in the next film, which means he could be surrounded with familiar faces from the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
We’ve previously heard that Holmes’ best pal Dr. Watson will turn up in Enola 2, with it believed that his nemesis Professor Moriarty could also make himself known. The latest intel now points to Irene Adler featuring in the sequel, too, with tipster Daniel Richtman claiming that she’ll be involved.
Much like Moriarty, Adler only appears in a single tale in Doyle’s Holmes stories, but she’s taken on a whole other life thanks to screen adaptations. Known to Sherlock as The Woman, one of the few people to ever beat him, she’s often used as Holmes’ love interest, the Catwoman to his Batman. That’s how she was portrayed in the versions played by Rachel McAdams (the Robert Downey Jr. films), Lara Pulver (Sherlock) and Natalie Dormer (Elementary).
It remains to be seen how she’ll be utilized in Enola 2, but it’s worth pointing out that Richtman has previously shared that Holmes may be depicted as bisexual in the sequel. It’s unclear how that might affect Irene’s portrayal, however. Could she still be his primary love interest and it’s just hinted that he’s also attracted to men? Or will their relationship be toned down in favor of, say, a romance between Holmes and Watson? Time will tell.
Going by comments made by Brown, Enola Holmes 2 will likely also bring back Helena Bonham Carter as mother Eudora and Sam Claflin as eldest sibling Mycroft, and it’s expected to start shooting before the end of this year.