Dropping out of Oz: The Great and Powerful has left a nice hole in Robert Downey Jr.'s upcoming production schedule. He may soon fill that lingering spot by appearing as the lead in writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's upcoming adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice.

Inherent Vice tells the story of a stoner P.I. in 1969 Los Anegles who gets mixed up in a series of mysteries while the Manson Family murder trail plays out in the background.

Robert Downey Jr. hopes to film Inherent Vice immediately following his stint in the Marvel Comics ensemble The Avengers. That would see Paul Thomas Anderson starting production on the thriller sometime this fall.