Marvel Cinematic Universe legend Robert Downey Jr. is teaming up with the co-creator of the Arrowverse packed with DC Comics superheroes, but Downey and Greg Berlanti are leaving superhero action behind for their new streaming project. The two producers have optioned a novel to adapt into a series that would release on HBO Max.
Robert Downey Jr. and Greg Berlanti are joining their producing forces for a HBO Max adaptation of For Your Own Good, written by author Samantha Downing, according to THR. Interestingly, For Your Own Good hasn't even been published yet, and won't hit shelves until its release in July. Still, the description of the upcoming novel already indicates that a TV show could be more than a little intense.
For Your Own Good is set at Belmont Academy, a prestigious university in New England where daily life will take a deadly turn. With stiff competition for the Teacher of the Year Award, Ivy League admissions, and plans for a statue memorializing the headmaster who recently died, dead bodies begin to build up with a series of poisonings.
So there will be no Iron Man or Green Arrow turning up in Robert Downey Jr. and Greg Berlanti's new show if it scores a series order for HBO Max, but there will be plenty of intrigue of the non-superhero variety. No writer is attached to develop the novel into a series at the time of writing, but both producers have big names and successes that may mean the odds are pretty good for For Your Own Good.
Greg Berlanti has a long list of hits on television, including the Arrowverse that has arguably become the backbone of The CW by this point, nearly ten years after Arrow's initial premiere. In addition to the Arrowverse's Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Superman & Lois, Berlanti is credited as a creator of Titans, You, and more.
Robert Downey Jr. is best known for his work in front of the camera thanks to his roles like Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes, but he is also a producer who has brought hit shows to television, including HBO's Perry Mason and Netflix's Sweet Tooth. Interestingly, Downey collaborated with another Arrow alum in bringing Sweet Tooth to the streaming service, with former Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz serving as Sweet Tooth co-showrunner and executive producer.
Between Robert Downey Jr. and Greg Berlanti, the two producers are success stories with adaptations of books, although For Your Own Good will be a novel rather than a comic like Sweet Tooth and the DC Comics that inspired Titans and the Arrowverse. Still, if big-name producers jumped on For Your Own Good before it was even published, the odds seem good that the story will be stellar for the small screen.
At this point, however, the For Your Own Good adaptation is only in the development stage, and any who are interested in the plot will have to wait until July to get their hands on the book that has inspired the potential series. For some ways to pass the time during the wait for more news about the project potentially becoming an HBO Max series, be sure to check out our 2021 summer TV premiere schedule.
