Toby Jones Joins the Cast of ‘Sherlock’ Season 4

Looks like Sherlock has found itself a new bad guy.

Toby Jones – you may know him from recent roles in Wayward Pines, The Girl or Marvel’s first two Captain America movies – has officially joined the cast as an as-yet-to-be-named character who will feature as Series 4’s villain. 

The announcement was made as filming begins on new season's (still untitled) second episode, and also included the news that Nick Hurran, who directed Season 3’s His Last Vow, will be returning to helm this installment.

Stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are both returning as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, and we already know that familiar faces Amanda Abbington, Louise Brealey, Una Stubbs and Rupert Graves will be back as well. Other than that, little is known about the plot of Season 4, as the powers that be seem to be keeping things tightly under wraps.

Here’s the official word of Jones’ casting, straight from the series’ official Twitter account:

The 2nd episode of series 4 starts filming today with Toby Jones joining the cast! https://t.co/AfF0upBYFo #Sherlock pic.twitter.com/WZO2FkpnDg

— Sherlock (@Sherlock221B) May 16, 2016

Jones is a fabulous actor and will undoubtedly be an asset to a show that already has a stable of strong performers involved. But, obviously, the real question is: who is he playing?

Executive producer and head writer Steven Moffat was predictably vague on the subject. "Delighted to have Toby Jones on board, bringing to life one of (Sir Arthur Conan) Doyle’s finest villains,” he said in a statement.

Sherlock has already featured three of Doyle’s most recognizable bad guys in Moriarty, Irene Adler and Charles Milverton (though we called him Magnussen when he appeared in Season 3), so it’s going to be interesting to consider who else could possibly live up to that particular description. (Thoughts? Anybody?)

Season 4 of Sherlock is expected to arrive in early 2017.

 Who has theories about who Jones is playing? Or thoughts on what you’d like to see in Season 4 generally? Let us know!