Enola Holmes 2 Post-Credits Scene Fixes Canon from the Books

This article contains Enola Holmes 2 spoilers.

In both the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Enola Holmes novels by Nancy Springer, Sherlock Holmes has a best friend. And, in most adaptations of Sherlock Holmes—whether it’s Lucy Lui, Martin Freeman, or Jude Law—Dr. Watson is usually close at hand. However in both Millie Bobby Brown Netlix adventures,  Enola Holmes (2020) and Enola Holmes 2 (2022),  the most famous detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill) lacks his famous partner-in-crime-fighting. 

Until now.

Enola Holmes 2 Post-Credits Scene Explained 

Although Dr. John Watson plays a role in Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes books, Watson has been conspicuously absent from both film versions… at least until the credits start rolling on Enola Holmes 2. After declining to start a joint detective agency called “Holmes and Holmes,” Enola promises her brother she’ll meet him at Baker Street at a later date. The mid-credits sequence picks up on what we think will be that meeting. There’s a knock at Sherlock’s door, and he answers it expecting Enola.

Instead he’s greeted by a prospective new flatmate who introduces himself as Dr. John Watson. This Watson is played by Himesh Patel, whom you might recognize from Station Eleven or the Beatles alternate universe movie, Yesterday. Anyway, it appears that if there ever is a third Enola Holmes movie, Sherlock will be joined by the Patel version of Watson, which anyway you slice it, is brilliant casting.

The New Dr. Watson Realigns Enola Holmes with Both Doyle and Springer

One curious thing about both Enola Holmes movies is the question of how Enola reads about the exploits of her famous brother. In the original Conan Doyle Holmes universe, the fame of Sherlock is connected to Dr. Watson publishing non-fiction stories of their adventures in The Strand Magazine, which mirrored the real-life publications of Holmes stories in the UK. But, in both Enola films, the youngest Holmes sibling is reading about Sherlock’s exploits in the newspaper.

This is all well and good, but we have to imagine that short news articles about Sherlock solving cases don’t have quite the same impact as Watson’s fanciful short memoirs. 

But, now that Watson does exist in the Enola Holmes movie canon, some of Sherlock’s future legacy can start to make more sense. On top of that, it also retroactively makes both Enola Holmes movies sideways prequels to most of the canonical Holmes stories, other than the ones which Sherlock narrates to Watson (like “The Gloria Scott.”) Because Enola Holmes 2 seems to take place in 1885, the timeline is a little wonky here. Although A Study in Scarlet was published in 1887, it takes place in 1881. Still, if the Enola–verse puts A Study in Scarlet (the first big Watson adventure) in 1887 instead of 1881, this works perfectly. 

Also while there’s not yet been an announcement that Henry Cavill and Himesh Patel will get a spinoff Netflix movie, it’s easy for the audience to imagine this version of Holmes and Watson teaming up and now going on adventures similar to the ones chronicled in Doyle’s 56 short stories and four novels. But, the introduction of Watson also sets up the possibility of a hypothetical Enola Holmes 3 in a big way.

The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets is Very Watson-Centric

Enola Holmes 2 is a very, very loose adaptation of the second Springer book, The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, although it differs quite a bit with its intersections into real history. That said, the next book up in the series, The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets has basically been perfectly set up by this post-credits scene in Enola Holmes 2. That third Enola book begins with Dr. Watson locked up in an insane asylum, desperately seeking help from the outside world, including Enola. 

If Enola Holmes 3 happens, and it does base even part of its story on The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets, then that hypothetical movie is one step closer to making sense. You can’t adapt the third Enola book without Watson, and now that he’s found his way into the movie canon, it’s possible that the game for this Holmes movie series is still very much afoot.

Enola Holmes 2 is streaming now on Netflix.