Peaky Blinders fans convinced Tommy Shelby 'has to die' after film announcement (2024)

Fans are convinced Tommy Shelby needs to finally die, after Cillian Murphy confirmed a Peaky Blinders movie is on its way.

The Irish star, 48, starred in the BBC series from 2013 until 2022, with rumours swirling over a feature film in the years since.

And after all the speculation, an ‘explosive’ film is finally coming to Netflix.

Oppenheimer star Cillian shared: ‘It seems like Tommy Shelby wasn’t finished with me.

‘It is very gratifying to be recollaborating with Steven Knight and Tom Harper on the film version ofPeaky Blinders. This is one for the fans.’

Director Tom Harper continued to Deadline: ‘When I first directedPeaky Blindersover 10 years ago, we didn’t know what the series would become, but we did know that there was something in the alchemy of the cast and the writing that felt explosive.

‘Peakyhas always been a story about family — and so it’s incredibly exciting to be reuniting with Steve and Cillian to bring the movie to audiences across the world on Netflix.’

Creator Steven Knight added: ‘I’m genuinely thrilled that this movie is about to happen. It will be an explosive chapter in thePeaky Blindersstory. No holds barred. Full-onPeaky Blindersat war.’

Production is reported to begin later this year, and will be set during the Second World War.

However, fans have praised the final seasons of Peaky Blinders, but think the last five minutes were ‘some of the worst TV I’ve ever seen’, and have shared a theory on why he has to die.

The final episode of the BBC series left fans wondering what would happen next, as after discovering thathe wasn’t sick with terminal tuberculosisthanks to a supernatural intervention, the final moments saw Tommy riding off on his horse, awaiting what the future holds in store.

Reddit user @NailiciS explained: ‘A rule of thumb is a character like Tommy has to die at the end—his typical archetype being a super grey/dark figure, the cause of absolute mayhem, widespread violence and killing, countless immoral choices.

‘A theme throughout the entire series is that he is “the devil” and he (and all the Peaky Blinders) are constantly talking about how they’re all going to hell and have all committed atrocities. Characters like this HAVE to die.’

They went on to argue that after ‘almost everything in the final plot arc was caused by the knowledge that Tommy was going to die of an illness in a matter of months’, the actual ending resulted in the show ‘totally undermining all of the seriousness and finality of everything at the end, just because they didn’t have the guts to kill off their guy.’

A third reason added: ‘The MAJOR running theme that they have all died already on the battlefield in France, and that they are ready to die because they are living on borrowed time. We also see Tommy being suicidal throughout most of the show, literally pulling the trigger on himself in a genuine suicide attempt.‘

The explanation has left fans divided, with @martian759 writing: ‘I agree. Hopefully the film comes out and makes a better ending because I was very disappointed with how the show ended. Thomas saying goodbye to his loved ones and preparing to go out on his own terms was one of the best set ups to an ending I’ve seen in a show.

‘Then, they went and made all of that emotional buildup for nothing by having him realize that he was never sick in the first place. I thought that the final shot with him riding away on a white horse was cool af, but I can’t help thinking that they spoiled a potentially perfect ending to this character.’

‘The ending was so disappointing to me,’ @sandgrease added.

Others were not so convinced though, with @Different_Gold_6388 saying: ‘Usually I would call that kind of ending a cop-out, but the fact that the whole six series, and the entire story arc was more or less about tommy be willing and waiting to die, and then to finally have got there, with his daughter in his arms, only to have peace snatched away from him. I thought it was comical and genuinely suprising twist, and now the poor bastard has to live through whatever the film brings.’

@singin_in_the_train also wrote: ‘Nice argumentation but there is one single argument against it: There’s to be a film, it isn’t the end, so they couldn’t kill him. Oh, and point three is just your interpretation.’

Speaking toMetro.co.ukin 2022, Knight said of the film: ‘I know what the story is and I’m writing at the moment.

‘It’s a very specific story, that’s based on a true story from the Second World War and will be told in the “Peaky” way.’

He confirmed last year that he was finishing the script for the spin-off, telling Radio Times: ‘I’m just working on the final bits of it at the moment. I just sit down at the keyboard and start.

‘It’s a bit like having a dream, for me. You sit there and all this stuff comes, and then you read it back and think, “That’s pretty good – but where did it come from?”.’

Peaky Blinders is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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