By Order Of The Peaky Fookin’ Blinders. The Cillian Murphy-led, Steven Knight-created gangster series will make “six seasons and a movie” happen, beating this show to the punch (and we can blame this dude’s busy schedule).
Speaking of packed careers, Cillian Murphy’s post-Oppenheimer glow hasn’t slowed him down. He has still made time to return as Tommy Shelby OBE after packing in 28 Years Later (the first in a trilogy of new rage-virus films), Blood Runs Coal (a true-crime drama), and Small Things Like These (about the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland). And as viewers will recall, Tommy still lives after realizing that he had been tricked into believing that he had a brain tumor. His gypsy wagon went up in flames along with his mementos from the past, freeing him to return to Birmingham, with or without a razor in his cap.
In 2023, Murphy raved about his Peaky love by declaring, “I’ve always thought that if there’s more story to tell” that he would return, and he recently told Netflix, “It seems like Tommy Shelby wasn’t finished with me,” and “[t]his is one for the fans.” Let’s talk about what might and will happen next.
Plot
Creator Steven Knight and director Tom Harper are on the scene with filming beginning in September. Let’s also get this out of the way first: after the show’s sixth-season finale practically went out of its way to put Alfie Solomons-Tommy Shelby ^^^ face-to-face for a final TV conversation, there’s little chance of this film being “for the fans” without a repeat performance happening. Tom Hardy recently proclaimed his intent to surface by declaring, “100% Alfie will definitely make an appearance, but I don’t know when” before admitting, “I don’t even know if he will, that’s just me punting.” C’mon, Alfie is necessary, but now, let’s move onto story.
Does it matter that the Peaky Blinders movie will be ragingly inaccurate for historical purposes? Hell no. The real-life Blinders were already wiped out years before the show’s timeline ended in 1933, and nobody cares about this slip of the pen. Instead, we simply want to see more of the gang with Tommy finding them in terrible danger, only to solve the problem and reveal that he’s secretly had the entire situation under control. That’s the Peaky way.
Now, the Shelby family will move onto WWII-era events. That was the promise from Knight back when Peaky Blinders announced the sixth and final season, and he recently confirmed at the RTS London Convention (via Deadline) that the movie is “set in the Second World War and it’s really good.”
We shouldn’t expect Tommy or Arthur to be fighting in this war (as opposed to WWI) after several time jumps in the show, but Tommy will of course be maneuvering as much as possible at home. That means that we will almost certainly be seeing reprehensible British fascist Oswald Mosely, who had already tried to push Tommy out of the picture through a fake medical diagnosis, siding with his Nazi brethren. And sure, Mosely historically survived WWII, but admit it, Tommy should still kill him on the show.
On the business/family side of Tommy’s life, Ada will likely be retaining her position as matriarch after the death of Polly (and Helen McCrory in real life), and then there’s the issue of succession. Tommy had set up plans for Charles (his son with Grace) to run the legit side of Shelby Company Limited and Duke (his illegitimate son) to take hold of the criminal dealings, so we might see how these two are coexisting as business partners, although it doesn’t seem likely that Tommy will retire before his death. After all, we already saw him disastrously fail to take a break during the show.
Cast
On family matters: Cillian Murphy will definitely be back as Tommy Shelby. We can assume that we will see Sophie Rundle as Ada Thorne and Paul Anderson as Arthur Shelby, and perhaps brief appearances will come from Kate Phillips as Arthur’s reluctant wife, Linda, and Natasha O’Keeffe as Tommy’s estranged wife, Lizzie. Presumably, Harry Kirton will not return as the ousted Finn Shelby, but perhaps Tommy seeks more gypsy knowledge, and we could see Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Esme Shelby-Lee. As for Tommy’s sons, Conrad Khan could conceivably still portray Duke Shelby in the WWII era, although Billy Jenkins could be replaced by an older actor as Charles Shelby.
Hopefully, the show will nod towards the late Helen McCrory with a reminder of Polly Gray. Finn Cole’s Michael Gray obviously will not be back, but there’s a chance that Anya Taylor-Joy could still be making trouble as Gina Gray.
Since WWII is afoot, it would make sense for Sam Claflin to return as Sir Oswald Mosley with Amber Anderson back as Lady Diana Mosley.
And you know what? Tom Hardy must return as Alfie Solomons. I don’t want to hear anything to the contrary.
Knight has forecast new faces for the movie and even revealed two names. Those include the consistently incredible Rebecca Ferguson in an undisclosed role, and let’s face it, Tommy will make a pass at her (hopefully immensely powerful) character. Additionally, Barry Keoghan will be “shaking off all the cobwebs” from “chilling” lately. He will probably do dastardly things and maybe get naked while doing them.
Release Date
Realistically? This won’t come together until 2026, but the bright side there is that those involved, especially Steven Knight and Murphy, will not half-ass this conclusion.
Trailer
Since cameras only recently began to roll, this is an ideal time to revisit the comic relief that is Tom Hardy’s Alfie Solomons:
Alfie: How soon did you know that I was not dead?
Tommy: You wrote me a letter, Alfie.
Please enjoy this glorious montage:
