Benedict Cumberbatch Hints Sherlock Could End After Season 4

It doesn't take a master sleuth to deduce what Benedict Cumberbatch is saying.

The star of Marvel's Doctor Strange recently spoke to GQ UK (via Deadline) about Sherlock, the British TV series that helped turn him into a bankable Hollywood commodity, and it sure sounds like he's ready to walk away.

"It feels like the end of an era," Cumberbatch said. "[Season 4] goes to a place where it will be pretty hard to follow on immediately. We never say never on the show. I'd love to revisit it. I'd love to keep revisiting it. I stand by that. But in the immediate future, we all have things that we want to crack on with and we've made something very complete as it is, so I think we'll just wait and see. The idea of never playing him again is really galling."

That might be news to co-creator Steven Moffat, however. He previously said (via Deadline) that he would be "mildly surprised" if Season 4 is the last. While he couldn't promise anything beyond that, he did say that Season 4 will contain some of the darkest material they've ever written for the show.

But it's clear that Cumberbatch has other opportunities to pursue. In fact, he's so busy that he very nearly lost his part in Doctor Strange because of it.

Watch the teaser trailer for the upcoming season of Sherlock above, and check out one amazing moment from Season 3 that was completely improvised.