Something terrible is about to occur in Season 4 ofSherlock . At least , that ’s the unmistakable impression that come from the first trailer for the newfangled time of year , release Sunday at Comic - Con . That meter reading is aided by affair said by titulary star Benedict Cumberbatch , co - star Amanda Abbington , manufacturer Sue Vertue , and carbon monoxide gas - creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat at Sunday’sSherlockpanel .
There are definitely a few balmy spoilers in the trailer and quotes from the panel to be wary of if you ’re still push your means through Season 3 ( that ’s your admonition to terminate read ) . For one , Moriarty ( Andrew Scott ) does n’t look idle . " Something ’s coming . Maybe it ’s Moriarty . perchance it ’s not , " enjoin Sherlock elusively in the prevue , before long before he walks into the swim pool where he face Moriarty in Season 1 . Though they do n’t dedicate to anything , there ’s some serious teasing of him dally a fundamental role .
There ’s also quite a minute of Toby Jones in the drone , who has a badly wonderful sinister joke . And though he and Mycroft Holmes ( Gatiss ) get a honorable amount of concealment time in the trailer , prominently absent is Martin Freeman ’s Watson , who only appears briefly and was n’t a part of the control board .
The drone make the fresh season look more action - pack than the show has previously been , and Abbington said that this time of year will be thedarkest time of year of the showto date . It ’s " a real emotional roller coaster , " said Cumberbatch .
Among their gag at the control board and mouth around the possibility of a 5th time of year — " We can exclusively reveal that there wo n’t be a fifth time of year … but there will be a sixth , " said Gatiss — was one major reveal . Moderator Chris Hardwick asked the creators to give three word to describe the coming season . They instead move over three names : Thatcher , Smith , and Sherrinford .
Sherrinford was a name Sir Arthur Conan Doyle thought about yield to Sherlock before he created the character . After that , establish on Doyle ’s notes , bookman William S. Baring - Gould proposed that it was the name of a hypothetic older brother of Mycroft and Sherlock , which would appropriate Mycroft to not be the onetime blood brother in the sept , permit him to plausibly enter public service . The firstborn brother from a family of country squires would typical stay at home to manage category affair . This possibility was taken up by fans and it has afterward happen its mode into non - sanctioned novels . The hypothesis of another Holmes brother was card in the Season 3 finale by Mycroft , making the Sherrinford divulge quite , well , logical .
Season 4 is slated to let in three episodes , and though it does n’t have an official exit particular date , Gatiss toldNerdistthat it will be released in " former 2017 . "
find out the Season 4 trailer above .