Explainer: As Netflix's Lupin Part Two hits the screen, a look at the gentleman burglar's origins, and his connection to Sherlock Holmes

The much anticipated second part of Netflix’s popular French show, Lupin is set to release on 11 June, bringing back the contemporary gentleman thief, Assane Diop, based on the 20th century conman and master of disguise, Arsène Lupin. The show, created by George Kay and François Uzan, unlike a contemporary interpretation of Sherlock Holmes in the popular BBC drama, is inspired from the character created by Maurice Leblanc. What this means is that the gentleman burglar in Lupin is not an adaptation of Leblanc’s burglar, but a Senegalese immigrant in Paris who is fascinated by the tricks and wits of Arsène Lupin and uses them to seek justice for his father. Who is Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar? In 1905, author Leblanc created the character of this suave conman on the insistence of  Pierre Lafitte , a publisher who had launched a magazine called Je Sais Tout. The charming thief shares a number of similarities with EW Hornung’s gentleman burglar AJ Raffles, who often describes himself as a professional criminal. Lupin first appeared in serialised short stories in the French magazine, quickly earning it a popularity quite similar to that of The Strand which featured Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s brilliant sleuth, Holmes and his sidekick Dr Watson. But instead of creating a slightly morally compromised detective on the right side, Leblanc created a flamboyant trickster operating on the wrong side of the tracks: with a conscience and a penchant for righting wrongs. The people he outwits are often worse villains than he is, and he does so with remarkable twists and turns that leave readers wondering what will happen next. Leblanc’s books, to a great extent, are rooted in colonial ideologies which further amplify the significance of Lupin’s Robin Hood-esque pursuits of redistributing wealth among the less fortunate. Leblanc has authored as many as 20 volumes of Lupin coupled with a few novellas which have through time been adapted into several TV shows, films and even a Japanese Manga franchise. [caption id=“attachment_9707061” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Covers of Maurice Leblanc’s works featuring the gentleman burglar. Images via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] The appeal of Arsène Lupin One of the most attractive qualities of Leblanc’s stories is their innate French-ness which creates a portrait of the quintessential Frenchman who is, in fact, a suave, debonair and gallant trickster exuding a perpetual charm even as he robs his marks blind. These ideals of the French coupled with a certain subtle sophistication make Lupin a burglar who is at once appealing and quite dangerous. To foster this image of gentility, Lupin is often described as using an opera cape effectively blending him with the respectable Parisian crowd clearing him of all suspicion. This Parisian sentiment, as well as the streets of Paris where most of the action unfolds in Leblanc’s stories, is also central to its narrative. The City of Light becomes a character in these stories just as London sways to its own rhythm in the adventures of Holmes and Dr. Watson. Arsène Lupin and Sherlock Holmes Among some of Leblanc’s most exciting stories are The Crystal Stopper in which Lupin rushes to the rescue of a man wrongly accused of a burglary and sentenced to death along with an accomplice. Only one of the two are innocent, and the gentleman burglar tries to right this wrong while being up against a dangerous blackmailer. Another one of Lupin’s adventures is the story of L’Aiguille Creuse (__The Hollow Needle), which follows a secret that was handed down by the monarchs of France through generations and fell into the hands of this cat burglar. But among some of Leblanc’s best works are the stories which pit Lupin against an ageing Holmes. The detective also makes a passing appearance in L’Aiguille Creuse but enjoys a more prominent role in the works Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late and Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmes. The former, featuring Holmes, appeared first in Je Sais Tout but after much controversy, the detective’s name was changed to Herlock Sholmes in the two stories from Leblanc’s collected volumes that feature him. [caption id=“attachment_9707041” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  A still from Lupin: Part Two.[/caption] Assane Diop and Arsène Lupin Diop (essayed by Omar Sy) makes for a striking 21st century copycat of Lupin, out to find justice for his father who is tricked by the powerful Pellegrini family and jailed for stealing a priceless necklace. He returns 25 years later armed with the tricks and illusions of Lupin but where his storyline departs from Leblanc’s character is his earnest quest to become a family man. This is not an easy journey and during the show, every time he assumes a new identity, he is pulled back into his reality by his family, never really being able to disappear completely. In the upcoming five-episode conclusion, the family that he has tried so hard to protect will find itself caught in the chain of events that Diop has set in motion. Lupin: Part Two will stream on Netflix from 11 June.