Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Almost Included A Twist Involving Tom Hardy's Alfie

This article contains spoilers for "Peaky Blinders" and "Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man."

Four years after "Peaky Blinders" came to an end, writer Steven Knight and director Tom Harper returned for "Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man," the long-awaited movie continuation of the show. The film has been on Netflix's Top 10 charts since the day it debuted, proving that audiences never seem to tire of adventures involving the Shelby crime family, as led by Oscar winner Cillian Murphy.

While Murphy was the headliner, the sprawling "Peaky Blinders" ensemble cast was just as crucial to its success. Recognizable faces would frequently pop up in supporting roles as allies or villains, from big names like Sam Neill and Adrien Brody to classic "that guy" actors like Noah Taylor ("Game of Thrones"), Tommy Flanagan ("Sons of Anarchy"), and Alexander Siddig ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"). Perhaps the biggest of them all, though, and certainly the most eccentric, was Tom Hardy, who played Jewish gangster Alfie Solomons and served as an unpredictable frenemy to the Shelbys from season 2 through 6.

Despite surviving the events of "Peaky Blinders," Alfie Solomons does not appear in "The Immortal Man." But in a recent interview, screenwriter Steven Knight explained that he initially toyed with incorporating Alfie into the movie — and in a way that would have recontextualized what we'd seen before.

"I didn't do it in the end, but I had an idea, which I haven't really spoken about. Ever since [Alfie] was shot on the beach at Margate [in season 4], you've only ever seen Tommy and Alfie together alone. There's never been anyone else," Knight told The Hollywood Reporter. "I thought, Maybe he appears, and we realize he's been dead all that time. Now, I nearly did that, and I didn't do it, but that was a thought."

This isn't the first time someone associated with the show has indicated Tom Hardy's Alfie Solomons has been a ghost since Tommy shot him in the face at the end of season 4. Director Anthony Byrne suggested that theory several years ago; we wrote about it in an article about the mystery of Alfie's skin.

But that's an idea that may sound mind-blowing at first, but when you drill down on it, doesn't actually make a lot of sense. Yes, technically no one else was on screen with Tommy and Alfie during Hardy's appearances in seasons 5 and 6. But if Alfie actually died at the end of season 4, that means Tommy traveled all the way to Margate at the end of season 5, was let into a seaside room by a servant woman, and just ... sat there by himself, imagining a conversation with Alfie? Without Alfie's influence in the Jewish community, how did Tommy manage to convince a bunch of Jewish men to show up during Oswald Mosley's fascist rally, where the botched assassination attempt occurs? It doesn't track.

Personally, I'm glad Steven Knight only toyed with this idea and didn't actually go all the way with it. I much prefer the notion of Alfie literally shooting his gun at random passing ships through his open window (as he claims he does in season 5), and then ending up controlling Boston after Tommy takes down Jack Nelson (James Frecheville) in season 6. Hardy's incredible performance deserves more weight than just "he was a ghost for a while." Plus, surviving that gunshot lends the man an almost mythological status that feels wholly appropriate for this all-timer character.