Spoilers for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man ahead.
I’ve spent my morning doing something that I’d absolutely never recommend: reading the comments on my review of the new Netflix movie Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
But before I break down why, let’s indulge in a quick recap. In the BBC series, Tommy was tricked into believing that he was about to die from syphilis, making himself a recluse in the process.
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However, this was all a lie, with Tommy tracking down the doctor responsible but failing to kill him. In this moment, Tommy learned the ultimate lesson of grace, and his legacy was forever changed (and more importantly, left on a high).
Tommy’s fight or flight relationship with dying is tested in new ways in The Immortal Man, and I think it completely undermines the lessons learned above. As the movie arrives on Netflix on March 20, my comments have split fans completely down the middle.
Some have been quick to tell me that I’ve completely missed the point of the storytelling, framing Shelby’s demise (more on that below) as meaningful and artistic. Others wholeheartedly agree with my disappointment, even coining the brilliant “another Game of Thrones situation” quote I’ve used in the headline.
We can argue the semantics until the cows come home — but we should be thinking about how it affects the sequel spinoff series that’s supposed to be heading our way.
With the OG Peaky Blinders gone, do we really care about a sequel spinoff series?
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Steel yourselves… here’s what happened. By the end of the movie, Tommy is bailing out son Duke (Barry Keoghan), who has simultaneously run the Peaky Blinders into the ground and got involved with a Nazi mission to bring down England using millions of counterfeit pound notes.
Beckett (Tim Roth) is the man behind the operation, running a gang of undercover German spies from a riverside warehouse. Long story short, Tommy devises a plan along with Hayden Stagg (Stephen Graham) to blow up the warehouse and its contents. They’re successful, killing Beckett in the process — but Tommy sustains a fatal gunshot wound.
Duke finishes him off, after his long-lost auntie Kaulo (Rebecca Ferguson) tells him that really, this is what Tommy wants. The Immortal Man ends with Tommy’s funeral, acting as an homage to the entire original cast… who have now all been killed off.
Let’s cut to our sequel season. In 2025, announced (in partnership with BBC) a sequel series, which has already been greenlit for two seasons.
As the BBC’s synopsis explains: “Britain, 1953. After being heavily bombed in WWII, Birmingham is building a better future out of concrete and steel. In a new era of Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders, the race to own Birmingham’s massive reconstruction project becomes a brutal contest of mythical dimensions.
“This is a city of unprecedented opportunity and danger: with the Shelby family right at its blood-soaked heart.”
By this logic, it’s picking up almost 15 years after the events of The Immortal Man — so despite the fact we only had new and B-characters left at the end of it, they might all be gone do.
This then begs a question: do we really care about bringing Peaky Blinders back if none of the original Shelby family are involved? They are who made the 2010 show a success, and picking the remaining members off one by one in The Immortal Man definitely contributes to its negatives.
In my opinion, a standalone drama with a similar vibe would be a better. Just look at how well A Thousand Blows was received on Hulu and Disney+. The Immortal Man was already disappointing end to the dynasty… let’s not add more fuel to the fire.
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