Major, major spoilers for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man are ahead! Read with caution, and stream both this movie and the original series with a Netflix subscription.
The Peaky Blinders movie, The Immortal Man, serves as a tragic yet stunning end to the tale of Tommy Shelby. When I write the end, I mean it too. That’s because Cillian Murphy’s iconic character is not immortal, oh no, he’s very mortal, and he dies in the final scenes of the film. So, considering the death of the iconic gangster, I had to ask Peaky Blinders’ creator why now was the time for Tommy Shelby to die.
To recap, in the climactic final battle of The Immortal Man, which is a streaming movie that just premiered on Netflix’s 2026 schedule, Tommy takes out Tim Roth’s antagonist Beckett. However, Cillian Murphy’s character takes a few shots as well. Barry Keoghan’s Duke tries to save his dad, though, by tackling him out of the way of a car that was coming right at him. Despite the rescue attempt, Tommy cannot be saved, and in the end, he asks Duke to shoot him with the bullet that has his name etched on it. It’s a tragic moment, and it’s hard to see such a powerful character go down for good. However, as Tommy says, he’s now “free.”
Article continues belowSo, why was now the right time to do this to the man who led the Peaky Blinders for so long? Well, I asked Steven Knight, who created the series and wrote the movie, that question, and he said:
I always knew that this was going to be the way it ends. Because Tommy Shelby doesn't retire and play golf, he’s got to go in that spectacular way. And I always wanted it to be a film, and wanted it to be in the Second World War.
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While there is a Peaky Blinders sequel series on the way, I love how this project on the 2026 movie schedule serves as a profound conclusion for this generation of Shelbys. After six seasons of Tommy’s miraculous survival, struggle and immense loss, he finally dies, and it’s very full-circle considering the timing of it all.
Tommy is very traumatized from his experience during World War I, and that impacts him during the entire series. So, to place his conclusion during World War II and after most of his family dies, feels quite profound.
Along with that, to have Tommy’s death happen in the hands of his son after everything they’ve been through is very moving, as Knight explained:
And then, as the story developed, because it's about father and son, there's a line in the series where Tommy Shelby says, ‘The only person who can kill Tommy Shelby is Tommy Shelby.’ And I didn't want that, actually. So the next thing that came along is that this is about succession, handing over the crown. And people very kindly say there's something Shakespearean about it, which is great, you know, in other words, it's something that feels quite fundamental about father-son relationship.
As I noted in CinemaBlend’s review of The Immortal Man, Tommy and Duke’s relationship is at the heart of this movie, and it’s propelled forward by magnetic performances from Murphy and Keoghan. So, to have Tommy’s story end with his son is incredibly emotional, considering everything they’ve been through.
All around, this did feel like the time to set Tommy free, as he says in the movie’s final voice-over. He’d been to hell and back on Earth, and if he kept living, he wouldn’t have done so in a relaxed way. As Knight said, Tommy doesn’t retire. He had to go out with a bang.
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