The Sherlock season 4 finale ‘The Final Problem’ aired last night to a pretty mixed reception (check out our own thoughts on it here).

There may be another series, but it’s unlikely. And even if it does happen, this may be years away (consider how there was a three year gap between series three and four, aside from the special in between).

We’re big fans of Sherlock but it looks like this could be the end of the modern-day detective series. More importantly though, it is far from the end of lead actor Benedict Cumberbatch, whose stellar film career in recent years included being cast in major franchises The Hobbit (starring Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman) and Star Trek, plus earning an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.

Here are some of the projects the English thespian has on the way:

 

Thor: Ragnarok/ Avengers: Infinity War

As any Marvel fan knows, Cumberbatch played the titular character Doctor Strange in last year’s blockbuster of the same name. He’s due to play the character again in the third Thor movie, in which he helps Thor (Chris Hemsworth) locate Loki (Benedict’s bestie Tom Hiddleston) so the brothers can return to Asgard. The sorcerer superhero is also scheduled to appear in Avengers: Infinity War, which is jam-packed with Marvel universe appearances. The latter is due for release in 2018 and the former will be out this year.

 

The Current War

Cumberbatch is no stranger to biographical historical films, and in this flick, he meets his match in Michael Shannon. The actors play electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, respectively, who are competing to create a sustainable system and market it to the American people. Mad Max’s Nicholas Hoult also stars in the role of Nikola Tesla. The movie began filming last month in London and surrounding areas.

 

Rogue Male

Announced last August, Benedict is also due to star in and produce Rogue Male, an adaptation of Geoffrey Household’s 1939 novel which is widely credited with being the forerunner to the modern action thriller. It follows the story of an Englishman who is brutally tortured after being caught trying to assassinate an unnamed European dictator, before fleeing to England and going to ground in rural Dorset. BBC previously adapted the book in 1976 in a production starring Peter O’ Toole.

 

Magik

Benedict Cumberbatch has a couple of animated features in the pipeline (because his voice is amazing, obvs), and the lesser-known of these is Magik. In the flick, he plays Lewis Clark, a brilliant author who stumbles upon a world of magic (again, all sounding pretty familiar) after the disappearance of his two young children. Clark has to defeat the evil that is threatening both his world and the world of magic. Samantha Morton, Matthew Goode, Jim Broadbent and Jimmy Carr also star. No word on a release date yet, though it was meant to be out last December so there’s a bit of confusion here.

 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The beloved Dr Seuss Christmas story is getting another adaptation, having been previously made into a TV movie in 1966 and adapted for the big screen in 2000 in a blockbuster starring Jim Carrey. Cumberbatch is, having played Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness and Smaug in The Hobbit series, no stranger to playing the bad guy and we’re sure he’ll play the titular character here with an infectious sense of deceit and glee. The Secret Life of Pets’ co-director Yarrow Cheney helms the animated feature with Peter Candeland. No new developments on this one lately, except that it’s been pushed back another year to November 2018.

 

Jungle Book

Andy Serkis has reportedly opted for a darker version of Rudyard Kipling’s classic, which only last year provided a major blockbuster for Disney. As with that film, Serkis (best-known for portraying Gollum in the LOTR series and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot movies, this being his first major feat at directing) also has a stellar cast lined up which, aside from Cumberbatch, includes Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett. Cumberbatch plays the evil tiger Shere Khan. The film is produced by Warner Bros and its current release date is October 19, 2018.