If playing Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man wasn’t enough, it looks as if Robert Downey Jr. will soon be tackling no-good sorts under another famous guise as he’s developing a new take on famed criminal defense lawyer Perry Mason.

Variety is reporting that RDJ is working on a new take on this old favourite for HBO, with him teaming with True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto to develop a series based around Erle Stanley Gardner’s books. Downey Jr. had previously planned to take a Perry Mason movie to the big screen years ago, but now the project will instead be heading to TV.

To many, the character of Perry Mason is best remembered for his TV shows, with Raymond Burr famously headlining Perry Mason for nine seasons from 1957 and then Monte Markham starring in the brief 15-episode The New Perry Mason in 1973. Following that, Burr would actually return to star in 26 Perry Mason TV movies, with Hal Holbrook and Paul Sorvino both playing the character in further TV movies after the death of Raymond Burr in 1993. Before all of that, however, the character first appeared in Gardner’s 1933 The Case of the Velvet Claws novel, with many a written work put out over the following decades, not to mention 1930s movie features and radio adaptations.

As well as starring in this new Perry Mason, Robert Downey Jr. will also serve as executive producer alongside Susan Downey and Nic Pizzolato.

Expect more on this as it develops.