Benedict Cumberbatch will play grieving puppeteer in Netflix series ‘Eric’
(Credit: BBC)

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Benedict Cumberbatch will play grieving puppeteer in Netflix series 'Eric'

Sherlock Holmes star Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as a vengeful puppeteer in Netflix’s upcoming series Eric. The thriller series was created and written by Abi Morgan, known for her work on The Hour, Shame, The Iron Lady and BBC’s The Split

The project was announced in 2021, in addition to other upcoming Netflix titles. No name was attached to the series at the time. However, details about the synopsis have been revealed after the actor was rumoured to be on board.

Netflix shares the official synopsis outline: “When Edgar, a young boy goes missing in 1980s Manhattan, his grief-stricken father Vincent, a puppeteer on America’s leading kids’ TV show, finds solace through his friendship with Eric, the monster that lives under Edgar’s bed”. 

Morgan’s series will carry out against the contextual landscape of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. In addition, a police detective working on the NYPD’s internal corruption will become immersed in the search for Edgar. 

The writer spoke to Deadline about the intense thriller series: “Eric is a dark and crazy journey into the heart of 1980’s New York, and the good bad and ugly world of Vincent. The chance to work with Benedict and the creative team at Sister and Netflix is irresistible.”

Additional cast members alongside Cumberbatch, who recently appeared in the MCU as Doctor Strange, will be Girls star Gaby Hoffman, Ozark’s McKinley Belcher III, Dan Fogler from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Brideshead Revisited’s Phoebe Nicholls.

The cast lineup also features Clarke Peters, Ivan Morris Howe, David Denman, Bamar Kane, Adepero Odyue, Alexis Molnar, Donald Sage Mackay and Roberta Colindrez.

Despite an initial plan to begin production at the end of 2022, recent reportings of the cast lineup may mean the creative process has been delayed. Following this, the intense Eric series may not be coming to the streaming site until early 2024.