The Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man ending is ‘another Game of Thrones situation’ — and leaves me hugely worried for the sequel spinoff series
Spoilers for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man in front.
I spent my morning doing something I would absolutely never recommend: reading the comments on my review of the new Netflix movie Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
But before we explain why, let us give a quick recap. In the BBC series, Tommy was tricked into believing he was about to die of syphilis, thus making himself a recluse.
Article continues below
However, this was all a lie, with Tommy tracking down the doctor responsible but failing to kill him. In that moment, Tommy learned the ultimate lesson of grace, and his legacy was forever changed (and, more importantly, left on high).
Tommy’s fight-or-flight relationship with death is tested in new ways in The immortal manand I think this completely undermines the lessons learned above. As the film arrives on Netflix on March 20, my comments have completely divided fans.
Some were quick to tell me that I had completely missed the point of the narrative, describing Shelby’s disappearance (more on that below) as meaningful and artistic. Others completely agree with my disappointment, even coining the brilliant “another Game of Thrones situation”, quote I used in the title.
We can argue about semantics until the cows come home — but we should think about how that affects the spinoff series that’s supposed to follow us.
With the OG Peaky Blinders gone, do we really care about a sequel spinoff series?
Look on it
Arm yourself… here’s what happened. At the end of the film, Tommy bails out his son Duke (Barry Keoghan), who simultaneously brought down the Peaky Blinders and became involved in a Nazi mission to bring down England using millions of counterfeit notes.
Beckett (Tim Roth) is the man behind the operation, leading a band of undercover German spies from a riverside warehouse. Long story short, Tommy hatches a plan with Hayden Stagg (Stephen Graham) to blow up the warehouse and its contents. They succeed, killing Beckett in the process – but Tommy suffers a fatal gunshot wound.
Duke finishes him off, after his long-lost Aunt Kaulo (Rebecca Ferguson) tells him that this is really what Tommy wants. The Immortal Man ends with Tommy’s funeral, acting as a tribute to the entire original cast… who have now all been killed off.
Let’s move on to our next season. In 2025, announced (in partnership with the BBC) a sequel series, which has already received the green light for two seasons.
As the BBC synopsis explains: “Britain, 1953. After being heavily bombed during World War II, Birmingham is building a better future from concrete and steel. In a new era by Steven Knight Peaky Blindersthe race to own the massive Birmingham rebuilding project becomes a brutal competition of mythical dimensions.
“It is a city of unprecedented opportunity and danger: with the Shelby family at its blood-soaked heart.”
By this logic, it picks up almost 15 years after the events of The immortal man – so despite the fact that we were only left with new characters and B characters at the end, they might all disappear.
This then raises a question: do we really care about bringing Peaky Blinders back if no members of the original Shelby family are involved? They were the ones who made the 2010 show a success, and by selecting the remaining members one by one The immortal man certainly contributes to its negative points.
In my opinion, a standalone drama with a similar vibe would be better. Just look at how A thousand blows was received on Hulu and Disney+. The Immortal Man was already a disappointing end to the dynasty…let’s not add fuel to the fire.
Follow TechRadar on Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our news, reviews and expert opinions in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp Also.
