Robert Downey Jr. Wants A ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Cinematic Universe
Robert Downey Jr. is interested in creating his own cinematic universe — scratch that, mysteryverse — centered around his Sherlock Holmes franchise. Starting in 2009 with Sherlock Holmes and following up in 2011 with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Downey Jr. established himself as the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character. Now, in advance of Sherlock Holmes 3, the Iron Man actor is planning ahead. According to Fast Company, both Downey Jr. and his wife/producing partner Susan Downey shared their enthusiasm for a Sherlock Holmes cinematic universe at a recent panel-style interview.
“Why do a third movie if you’re not going to be able to spin off into some real gems of diversity and other times and elements?” said Downey Jr. when asked about Sherlock Holmes 3. He continued to specify that the world doesn’t currently have a cinematic universe in the mystery genre, and that Sherlock Holmes could fill that slot. “At this point, we really feel that there is not a mystery-verse built out anywhere, and Conan Doyle is the definitive voice in that arena, I think, to this day,” he said.
Downey added that she thinks Sherlock Holmes has what it takes to expand into the realm of television. “We think there’s an opportunity to build it out more. Spin-off characters from a third movie, to see what’s going on in the television landscape, to see what Warner Media is starting to build out, things with HBO and HBO Max,” she stated.
For the past decade, Downey Jr. has studied the the art of the cinematic universe in the form of Marvel. However, Downey Jr. made it clear that the MCU is merely inspiration, not a template. “We’re not repeaters, we don’t want to just do what’s been done somewhere else,” he said. “But I think the model itself has become much more dimensionalized than it was before.”
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