Though Benedict Cumberbatch decided to forego the smoke and hologram-filled entrance he used during yesterday’s Doctor Strange panel, his appearance on stage for the Sherlock panel was still met with a predictable level of joy from his many fans. Cumberbatch brought along Sherlock creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, as well as producer Sue Vertue and Amanda Abbington (who plays Mary Watson). They started off by showing a fun video of the cast competing to see who would get to attend Comic-Con, and it’s fairly charming:
After that, they talked about how filming is going on the show’s fourth season, which is almost finished. Cumberbatch said that it’s “a real thrill” reading the new scripts, and that all of the characters have gone through “a real evolution.” Moffat added that, although “Sherlock is a genius, he does learn and he does change.” However, he notes that “Sherlock’s coat will never change,” which is especially good news given how fantastic Sherlock’s coat is.
They then showed off a trailer (which you can see above) that further pushes the mystery introduced at the end of last season about whether or not Moriarty is truly dead and what kind of crazy scheme he has enacted to further torment Sherlock. The whole thing is rather dramatic, and though there isn’t a ton of new footage, what is there makes it clear that Sherlock isn’t handling the pressures of this latest crazy scheme especially well.
As intense as all of that is, though, Gatiss explains that the fourth season isn’t all drama. He says they “would never cut the humor” out of the show, and on a similar thread, he referenced the end of the Abominable Bride special and joked that the end of the series could reveal that it was all the fever dream of a man in Victorian London.
Sherlock will return at some point in 2017, and its official Twitter page shared some other highlights from the panel.