“took his children over to America” [COPP]
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| Still from The Irregulars (credit: IMDb) |
The news of Sherlock & Daughter, a TV show picked up by the CW in which Holmes (David Thewlis) meets Amelia (Blu Hunt), an American who thinks he may be her father, got me thinking about other Sherlockian offspring.
While there is no indication that Sherlock Holmes had offspring (or even a true romantic interest) in the Canon, that hasn't stopped scores of authors, screenwriters, and other creators from imaginatively giving him some in latter-day works in all forms of media.
Some spoilers for various media versions follow.
The Irregulars, the 2021 Netflix series with a supernatural twist, also gave Holmes (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) a daughter.
The 1976 TV movie Sherlock Holmes in New York, in which Holmes is played by Roger Moore, has the detective finding Irene Adler's missing son, kidnapped by Moriarty. The implication at the end of the story is that Holmes is the boy's father.
But the version I find most intriguing comes from comic books.
Immortal X-Men #8, out November 2022, was written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Michele Bandini, with cover (above) by Mark Brooks. In it, readers find out that the great detective was really the shape-changing Mystique. Destiny, another shape-shifter and her lover, was Irene Adler.
So what does this have to do with Holmesian heirs? Well, Chris Claremont, noted X-Men writer for many years, had originally planned to reveal in the 1980s that Destiny and Mystique were Nightcrawler's parents. They're both shapeshifters, but both usually present as women, so Marvel said no to what could be seen as a same-sex relationship.
However, in X-Men Origins: Blue #1 (written by Si Spurrier, penciled by Wilton Santos and Marcus To, cover by Francis Manapul, out November 2023), that origin for Nightcrawler was restored. Which makes Nightcrawler, the furry blue teleporting mutant, Sherlock Holmes' son.
There's a family reunion I'd love to see. Maybe some of it will come out in the upcoming X-Men: The Wedding Special. Due out May 29, this Marvel's Voices: Pride one-shot anthology includes the ceremony where Mystique and Destiny renew their vows.
Editor's Note:
And if you can't get enough of Sherlock Holmes and children, check out Episode 97 of Trifles:
1 comments:
Seems to me a companion piece could look at Holmes' parents (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).
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