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Tommy Shelby is back for one last round with the Peaky Blinders film, The Immortal Man — and it's finally arrived on Netflix.
The film picks up several years after the final season. Set during Second World War, the film sees Tommy Shelby being drawn back into the criminal underbelly of Birmingham after disappearing to live the life of a recluse in the countryside.
The film gives fans a chance to catch up with a few of their favourite characters from the show. Tommy, of course, is back. So, too, is Sophie Rundle's Ada, Stephen Graham's Hayden and Ned Dennehy's Charlie Strong, amongst others. Plus, we get to meet a few new characters. There's Barry Keoghan as an older version of Tommy's illegitimate son Duke Shelby, and Rebecca Ferguson as Kaulo Chirklo.
But one very important character from the original series is notably absent from the ensemble — and, it seems, from the future of the Blinders. Where is Tom Hardy's Alfie Solomons? And why isn't he part of the film?
Why isn’t Tom Hardy in The Immortal Man?
A fan-favourite of the Peaky Blinders world, Hardy's Alfie Solomons was a Jewish gang leader from Camden who first appeared in season 2 of the show and soon became Tommy's nemesis.
Hardy made a dramatic (and, ultimately, temporary) exit from the show in season 4 when, spoiler, Tommy shoots Alfie in the face. However, it is later revealed that, somehow, Alfie survived the encounter. He made one surprise appearance in season 5 and two appearances in season 6. In the series finale, Alfie was shown to be alive and living in London with his new wife named Edna.
Naturally, many fans were hoping that this final glimpse of Alfie meant that he would play a role in The Immortal Man. However, it turns out, Alfie was completely absent from the film.
A handy cheatsheet for pre-cinema revision.
The cast and creators of the series and film haven't said much about the decision to keep Alfie out of the film's narrative, but last April, Hardy did dodge a question about whether he'd be in the film, saying simply, “I can’t possibly say.”
The characters returning in the new Peaky Blinders movie
Although we won't be getting a reprise of Hardy's Alfie, there are plenty of other fan-favourite characters making a return.
Cillian Murphy is back as Tommy Shelby, along with returning cast members Sophie Rundle, Ned Dennehy, Packy Lee, Ian Peck and Stephen Graham.
As creator Stephen Knight told The Playlist, these are the characters he needed to end Tommy's story. “The Tommy Shelby story has got to end with a big bang. And that’s what it does now. And that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to find Tommy Shelby in a different place, where he’s done lots of bad things in his life, but he’s always been a good man doing bad things for a good reason. And the good reason was always his family. But now we find him in a place where he’s done something for which he cannot forgive himself. And I wanted the film to be his journey to redemption and absolution for what he’s done to a member of his family.”
And sadly, it seems Alfie didn't fit into this story.
