17 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Sherlock
By Lacy Baugher
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins faces off with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Smaug in “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”. (Photo: New Line/Warner Brothers)
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman Have Starred in Two Other Franchises Together (Sort of)
Everyone loves Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman together. Everyone. This makes sense, as the two are both wonderful actors who have great chemistry with one another. Of course, we want to fancast them in virtually everything, right?
Besides, Sherlock the two have already appeared in two major franchises together. Sort of. Technically speaking, they’re both part of two franchises, but have yet to actually act together in either of them. Can someone please fix this? It seems very wrong.
In Peter Jackson’s trio of The Hobbit films, Freeman played titular hero Bilbo Baggins, who must retrieve a jewel from the monstrous dragon Smaug. Cumberbatch played that dragon. However, given that the creature was entirely created via CGI, he and Freeman didn’t actually film their climatic second film face-off together. Though, per Freeman’s account, he did hear Cumberbatch’s line reading beforehand. But that’s not even close to the same thing.
Much like every other good actor working today, both Freeman and Cumberbatch have also scored roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Just not in the same movie. Or at least, not yet. Cumberbatch played the title role in Doctor Strange, while Freeman had a smaller part in Captain America: Civil War. (He played government official Everett Ross.) Cumberbatch will return for a Strange sequel as well as appear in the next Avengers film, while Freeman will likely pop up again in Black Panther. (That isn’t officially confirmed, but given who Ross is in the comics, we’re all expecting it.) No idea when – if ever – the two will cross paths within the MCU, but let’s all keep our fingers crossed.
In the meantime, can someone get to work on putting them in an actual film together? Maybe as adversaries? Just asking.