Robert Downey Jr. might be coming off a massive box office bomb thanks to Dolittle‘s disastrous performance, but he’s still one of the biggest movie stars in the world. The goodwill built up during a decade as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Tony Stark isn’t going to disappear overnight, but the next few steps he takes could be pivotal to maintaining that level of success.
Next up for the 55 year-old is Sherlock Holmes 3, which is still scheduled to arrive in December next year, although that seems increasingly unlikely now given recent global events. Beyond that, Downey Jr. hasn’t got any roles in front of the camera lined up, but a new report from insider Daniel Richtman claims that his Team Downey production company are in talks with Netflix to develop multiple projects, and unsurprisingly, the streaming giant want him to star in at least one of them.
“I am hearing Netflix talks with RDJ to have his Prodction Company Team Downey to produce more shows and films for them and are also interested in RDJ himself to star in not only films but a possible show (likely a limited series) as well,” says Richtman.
Team Downey are already working on comic book adaptation Sweet Tooth for Netflix, and they’re also heavily involved in HBO’s new version of Sphere and the acclaimed Perry Mason reboot. Robert Downey Jr. isn’t expected to show up onscreen in any of these shows, and with the exception of a single Family Guy episode in 2005, he hasn’t appeared on television at all since his award-winning stint on Ally McBeal ended almost two decades ago.
It seems hard to imagine him becoming a regular on a multi-season Netflix show, then, but the idea of him developing an exclusive limited series or movie through his own production company is a much more realistic proposition, one that could give him a role to really sink his teeth into and remind people that he doesn’t need Iron Man to be called one of the best actors of his generation.
