Henry Cavill Has Nothing To Say About Enola Holmes’ Sherlock Lawsuit

Henry Cavill has no comments to make about the lawsuit against Enola Holmes‘ depiction of Sherlock. Cavill is the latest actor to play Sherlock Holmes, the literary character who has been portrayed the most across film and television. However, this Sherlock comes with a bit of a twist: He isn’t the center of the story. Enola Holmes focuses instead on Sherlock’s younger sister (Millie Bobby Brown) as she sets off to solve her own mystery regarding the disappearance of her mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter). The film is based on Nancy Springer’s young adult novels and debuted on Netflix just last week.

Well before Enola Holmes arrived on Netflix, however, it faced a rather strange controversy. In June, both Netflix and Springer (as well as Legendary Pictures) were sued by the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle over Enola Holmes’ portrayal of Sherlock. The lawsuit claims that the kinder, more empathetic version of the character found within Enola Holmes is taken from the select Holmes stories that still remain under copyright. A majority of Sherlock Holmes stories exist within the public domain, but some do not. As of today, the lawsuit is ongoing.

Despite being the one to play this emotional Sherlock, Cavill has nothing to say about the Enola Holmes lawsuit. While speaking to GQ, Cavill was asked about his thoughts on the brewing legal battle. “I mean, honestly, I don’t have a take on it,” Cavill said. “It’s a character from a page which we worked out from the screenplay. The legal stuff is above my pay grade.” Cavill also responded to the entire thing by saying with a laugh, “honestly, nothing surprises me any more.”

Many have pointed out that the lawsuit against Netflix, Springer, and Legendary is rather ridiculous, since Enola Holmes is hardly the only time Sherlock has been shown to have emotions. While recent versions of the character played by the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch have indeed veered more towards the detective’s callous side, they’ve featured moments of true emotion. Additionally, some of the Holmes stories within the public domain feature a more sympathetic character, so it makes no sense for the Doyle estate to pursue this suit.

Nevertheless, it isn’t surprising that Cavill didn’t have a stance on it. As the lead actor, he likely has to remain neutral on these matters, and as he points out, he doesn’t have much of a say in Enola Holmes‘ script. Cavill initially seemed like a surprising choice to take on Sherlock, but fans seem to have largely enjoyed seeing his iteration. The resolution of the lawsuit remains to be seen, but Netflix is already considering sequel options for Enola Holmes. The only thing that could stop them is the suit, though in this case, it appears the odds are in the streamer’s favor.

Source: GQ

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Rachel Labonte
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Rachel LaBonte is a news, feature, and movie review writer for Screen Rant with a deep passion for film and television. A graduate of Emerson College, she majored in Media Arts Production while specializing in screenwriting. She’s been a writer ever since high school when she realized she was rather good at it and joined as many entertainment news clubs as she could while in school. Most notably, she wrote for Emerson’s website Emertainment Monthly, and one of her film reviews won an Evvy (Emerson’s student awards) for Best Review. Her deep love of movies led to her working at a movie theater for five years, which she loved despite the angry customers. An avid reader who constantly buys books before reading the ones she already owns, Rachel is a huge fan of superheroes (especially of the Marvel variety) and wizards and will likely never be able to catch up on all the movies/TV shows she longs to watch.

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