You should have probably heard of Peaky Blinders and if you haven’t, go to the Whatsapp status of that particular male friend that lives for motivational videos, you will likely find a clip from the series. You didn’t find anything? I still got you.

Now, I want you to paint a vivid picture in your mind: Birmingham 1920s, a razor-blade-wearing gangster in a three-piece suit and wool overcoat, a flat cap and a pipe held lightly by his slightly cracked lips, followed by a crew dressed the same as him. Getting familiar? It should because it was an immense success from its first season to its sixth season that finished airing on April 2, 2022.

The Wait That Felt Like Eternity

Four years. That is how long it has been since we watched Tommy Shelby ride off into that countryside, surrounded by flames, with his fate hanging in the balance. Since then, fans have been in a strange kind of limbo, caught between mourning the end of the series and holding onto Steven Knight's promise that this wasn't truly goodbye.

The film is set to be distributed by Netflix and hits selected theaters on March 6, 2026, before streaming globally on March 20.

The series finale left us with questions that have been burning for years: What really happened to Tommy after he discovered his terminal diagnosis was a hoax? Would he ever find the redemption he was chasing? And most importantly, could the man who had been "dead inside" since the war finally learn to live again?

From Small Screen to Big Screen: What We Know

Birmingham, 1940. Amidst the chaos of WWII, Tommy Shelby is driven back from a self-imposed exile to face his most destructive reckoning yet. That is the official premise, and already, it is giving us everything we need to know about where this story is headed. Tommy never could stay away for long.

The movie picks up the Shelby saga during World War II, a period that promises to be even more explosive than the gang wars and political machinations we have witnessed before. Creator Steven Knight told Netflix: "The country is at war, and so, of course, are our Peaky Blinders. It will be an explosive chapter in the Peaky Blinders story. No holds barred. Full-on Peaky Blinders at war."

And let's talk about that cast for a second. Cillian Murphyreturns, fresh off his Oscar win for Oppenheimer, bringing all that intensity back to Tommy Shelby. But he is not alone.

The film features a mix of returning favorites and exciting new faces. Sophie Rundle reprises her role as Ada Thorne, Stephen Graham returns as Hayden Stagg, and the original crew is back.

But the real intrigue lies with the newcomers: Rebecca Ferguson, Barry Keoghan, and Tim Roth are all joining the Birmingham underworld.

Why This Cultural Phenomenon Never Really Left

The thing about Peaky Blinders is it was never just a show. Between 2013 and 2022, it transformed from a quiet BBC Two drama into a global phenomenon that changed the game for British period dramas.

The names Arthur and Ada jumped into the most popular baby names in the UK for the first time in a century in 2018, proof that the Shelby influence extended far beyond the screen.

The show didn't follow the typical trajectory of Netflix hits. It was not algorithm-driven or pushed by massive marketing campaigns. Instead, it grew organically, spreading through word of mouth and social media clips.

A third-party study of international search volumes in 2021 found Peaky Blinders to be the most popular series globally for Netflix that year.

What made Peaky Blinders different was its refusal to play by period drama rules. While other shows were busy romanticizing the upper crust, the Shelbys kept their working-class roots firmly planted in the dirty streets of Small Heath. The flat caps, the razor blades, the canal boats — they never forgot where they came from, even as Tommy climbed higher and higher.

The Legacy That Won't Die

The show's influence got into everything: fashion, music, even how we think about masculinity and trauma. Birmingham itself saw a tourism boom, with visitors desperate to walk the streets that birthed the Shelby empire.

But there is something deeper. Peaky Blinders tackled themes that still resonate: the psychological cost of war, class struggle, the corrupting nature of power, and the impossibility of escaping your past.

The show's sixth season ended with Tommy discovering that his terminal diagnosis had been a conspiracy orchestrated by fascist leader, Oswald Mosley. After nearly taking his own life, he was visited by a vision of his daughter, Ruby, who convinced him he wasn't sick and that he needed to keep fighting.

He chose to live, but at what cost? His wife Lizzie had left him, his son Charlie chose to go with her, and he had blown up his mansion to make way for affordable housing for Birmingham's working class.

The finale was both an ending and a beginning. Tommy rode off alone, apparently freed from his criminal past but still carrying the weight of everything he had done. It was redemption deferred, a promise that the story wasn't finished.

Why 'The Immortal Man' Matters Now

One reason the movie is worth the wait is that it is not trying to recapture what the series did. It is trying to complete it. With the future of the family and the country at stake, Tommy must face his own demons, and choose whether to confront his legacy, or burn it to the ground.

The title itself The Immortal Man speaks to Tommy's entire arc. He is the man who couldn't die, not because he was invincible, but because he was already dead inside. World War I killed him long before any bullet could. But maybe, just maybe, World War II will finally force him to choose life.

Director Tom Harper, who helmed several episodes of the original series, knows this world inside and out. Steven Knight, who created the show and wrote all 36 hours of television, penned the screenplay. And Cillian Murphy, who inhabited Tommy Shelby for nearly a decade, is not just starring but also producing. These aren't people trying to cash in on nostalgia. They are finishing what they started.

The four-year gap has only made the anticipation better. We have had time to miss the Shelbys, to re-watch the series and catch details we missed, to debate what Tommy whispered to Duke in that final episode.

We have been living with these characters in our heads, and now we finally get to see what became of them.

By Order of the Peaky Blinders

There is something fitting about the Peaky Blinders returning during another world war. The first season showed us men broken by World War I, trying to build something in the ruins. Now, two decades later, history is repeating itself, and Tommy is being dragged back into the chaos.

But this time, he is not the same man who came back from France in 1918. He is older, wearier, and theoretically wiser. Whether that will save him or doom him remains to be seen.

The beauty of Peaky Blinders has always been its refusal to give easy answers. Tommy Shelby is neither hero nor villain, he is just a man trying to survive in a world that chews people up and spits them out.

The show never glamorized his violence or excused his choices, but it made us understand them. That complexity is what made the series compelling, and it is what will make this movie essential viewing.

So yes, the four-year wait has been brutal. But if there is one thing Peaky Blinders taught us, it is that good things come to those who are willing to fight for them. Tommy Shelby is coming back, and Birmingham will never be the same.

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man arrives in select theaters on March 6, 2026, and streams on Netflix on March 20, 2026. Get your flat caps ready! The Shelbys are about to remind everyone why they are the best-dressed gangsters in history.