While it can often be a task worthy of the most robust accounting firms just to remember every important bit of canon info for many franchises these days, it's not difficult to see why so many companies want to keep that trend going. So it should come as little surprise to see that Robert Downey Jr. himself now wants to create a Sherlock Holmes shared TV universe. Why? Because if a thing doesn't already exist, somebody will make it eventually, so it might as well be him.
Downey is set to executive produce 2 TV shows based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's timeless Sherlock Holmes stories, with both exclusively coming to HBO Max. While the famous actor is well-known for his portrayal of the eccentric detective in 2 films (among... other things), it's currently unclear whether he'll reprise his role or even if the new series will tie in to those movies. All that's currently known is that they'll be connected, and that they'll fly the banner of Warner Bros. Television. Unfortunately, it's also highly unlikely it will have anything to do with Netflix's excellent Enola Holmes.
The shows will technically have the production services of Team Downey, which Downey himself runs along with fellow producer Susan Downey, formerly of Silver Pictures. The two have been married since 2005, displaying an arguably pretty enviable example of the ideal work/home relationship. Team Downey's current projects include HBO Max's Perry Mason revival and Netflix's Sweet Tooth.
Currently, next to nothing is known about the upcoming series themselves, with not even the main characters being teased. But that just leaves room for speculation, so the joke's on them. It would be pretty neat to see a show focusing on Dr. Watson, who famously tends to usually act as support for Sherlock rather than as the lead. But with CBS's Elementary, much of the traditional dynamic was tossed on its head with the help of Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson alongside Johnny Lee Miller's Sherlock, earning the series its reputation as a refreshing new (and modern, in more ways than one) take on the formula. Maybe some more of that is in the cards, if audiences could be so lucky.
But whether these new unnamed series follow in the footsteps of Doyle's classic take on Sherlock Holmes or opt for thinking outside the box like Elementary, this will certainly be a franchise worth interest. Who knows? Maybe they'll finally deliver on Holmes & Watson's squandered premise of a comedic Sherlock Holmes story. Or maybe that old mine shaft is best left abandoned.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter