Young Sherlock: Is the Prime Video prequel series connected to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies? Exploring possibilities

Guy Ritchie returns to the world of Sherlock Holmes with Young Sherlock. The Prime Video series is set to impress fans of the detective in March 2026. The show is set to follow a less explored part of the detective's life, his younger days. Despite the countless adaptations, very few projects have focused on Sherlock Holmes before he became a famous detective/private investigator.

However, Guy Ritchie's involvement has many wondering if the upcoming series is a prequel to the movies he directed. The answer to that question is no; Young Sherlock is NOT a prequel to the Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr. Despite Ritchie's involvement, the Prime Video series is set in a separate continuity from the Robert Downey Jr. movies.

The Young Sherlock trailer's tone may have confused fans:

If you watched the trailer, you will notice that it is aesthetically similar to the movies. The teaser features the same type of humor and quick action that fans associate with the two movies. The scene of young Sherlock Holmes sassying the police officer is right out of the Guy Ritchie movies' playbook. Moreover, the official synopsis also gives the impression that the plot of the show is similar to the first movie.

The official synopsis teases Oxford student Sherlock being embroiled in a murder case. Described as this version of Holmes' first case, the synopsis also reveals that the young detective uncovers a globe-trotting conspiracy, which is very similar to what happens in 2009's Sherlock Holmes. In that movie, Holmes thwarts serial killer Henry Blackwood's nefarious schemes to recolonize the United States.

While we don't know who the villain of the series is, the trailer does feature Sherlock's arch nemesis: James Moriarty (Dónal Finn). Either he is a background character, the master puppeteer behind the scenes, or he is just a setup for a possible second season. For those who don't know, Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes fight to their respective deaths in The Final Problem (1893).

Who are the actors in the Prime Video series?

Here are all the actors appearing in the series:

1. Hero Fiennes Tiffin: Sherlock Holmes
2. Natascha McElhone: Cordelia Holmes, Mycroft and Sherlock's mother
3. Joseph Fiennes: Silas Holmes, the father
4. Max Irons: Mycroft Holmes
5. Zine Tseng: Princess Gulun Shou'an
6. Colin Firth: Sir Bucephalus Hodge
7. Dónal Finn: James Moriarty

"With all the wit and charm of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes feature films, Young Sherlock follows the origin story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved detective in an explosive re-imagining of this iconic character’s early days. Sherlock Holmes is a disgraced young man – raw and unfiltered – when he finds himself wrapped up in a murder case that threatens his liberty. His first ever case unravels a globe-trotting conspiracy that changes his life forever. Unfolding in 1870s Oxford and adventuring abroad, the series will expose the early antics of the anarchic adolescent who is yet to evolve into Baker Street’s most renowned resident."

Consisting of eight episodes, the Prime Video series will stream on the OTT platform on March 4, 2026.

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