Robert Downey Jr. Wants to Turn Sherlock Holmes Into Next Marvel Cinematic Universe

Now that Robert Downey Jr. is officially done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he and Susan Downey have their eyes set on building Hollywood's next franchise. During a keynote chat at Fast Company's Innovation Festival on Monday, the couple spoke to the future of the Sherlock Holmes franchise, something they both suggest they'd love to build out further at Warner Brothers. Downey Jr. himself mentioned he thinks he and Team Downey have a better shot at crafting an interconnected story after having worked with Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige for over a decade.

"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 about the future of the franchise past Sherlock Holmes 3. "So to me, 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?"

That's when Susan added they both think there's certainly the opportunity for spin-offs and for building out the cinematic universe further, way past a third installment.

"We think there's an opportunity to build it out more," Susan added. "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."

In a world where every franchise aims to replicate the success of Marvel Studios, what makes Team Downey think Sherlock can be different? After all, franchises like Transformers or Universal's Dark Universe have floundered.

"I do think that the decade of tutelage and observation, what we were both able to have with Marvel, watching them build out and see all the opportunities, was invaluable. It was like a master class," she concluded. "And they really did know what they were doing and they had this tight-knit group of people from [the] jump locked into a vision that enables them to broaden" the comics into 23 hit movies (so far).

A third Sherlock film is currently scheduled for next December, although it's yet to begin production in earnest.

Both Sherlock Holmes films are now streaming on HBO Max while Downey's Iron Man can be seen in a whole host of movies on Disney+.

What Holmes spinoffs would you like to see? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.