Earlier this year, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight was revealed to be working on a movie about the Shelby fam and the gang in WWII. That project has already finished filming and should surface in 2025, and BBC/Netflix haven’t revealed whether the project will go theatrical or head straight to streaming, but the expansive cast does include several original members led by (of course) Tommy Shelby himself, Cillian Murphy.
Netflix, BBC, and friends have kept the plot’s details fairly secretive, although Knight did specify, “The country is at war, and so, of course, are our Peaky Blinders.” And what of the title and its revelations?
As rumored and then presumably confirmed by a crew member’s Instagram post, the film’s title is The Immortal Man. At this point, we can only guess that this refers to how Tommy has cheated death several times, including his WWI tour, an open-grave “gotcha” message from Winston Churchill, a crushed skull at the behest of Father Hughes, and a fake brain tumor diagnosis at the direction of Oswald Mosley. That doesn’t even account for how Tommy’s gypsy wagon was set aflame, along with his keepsake memories, or how long it took for remaining Shelby family members to learn that he remained alive.
Evading death in that many ways certainly qualifies for figurative “immortal” status, and if Tommy uses this leg of the Peaky Blinders story to pass his empire onto his sons, then his legacy should live forever.
To add a further wrinkle: It’s been heavily speculated (with apparent evidence to support that theory) that Barry Keoghan’s role is that of Duke Shelby, Tommy’s illegitimate son who was set to take over Shelby Company Limited’s illicit dealings. Knight has further suggested to Screenrant that the future holds a spin off about “the new generation in a series that will take place after the Second World War.” Will Tommy still be “immortal” when he finally passes the torch? Nobody is talking yet, but we should find out sometime next year.
