Netflix’s New Peaky Blinders Sequel Is Like A Gregory Peck “Proper Old School WWII Movie,” Teases Villain Actor

The Immortal Man expands the Peaky Blinders franchise after the six-season Cillian Murphy-led British series ended in 2022. When the film is released on Netflix on March 20, Roth will play villain John Beckett.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, the actor admitted that he had never seen Peaky Blinders before landing the role, even though he had worked with some of the actors, like Murphy and Benjamin Zephaniah, before.

After Murphy won the Best Actor Oscar for Oppenheimer, Roth reached out to check on him since he has experience at the Academy Awards, having been nominated for the 1995 film Rob Roy.

Murphy ended up asking Roth if he wanted to be in a movie together. “It happened like that,” Roth explained. “So they sent me the script, and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s this movie?’ And so then we read it, and it’s such fun.”

“So I’d never seen the show. I’d worked with quite a few of the actors that had gone through it, Cillian included, Ralph Brown and Benjamin Zephaniah, and all of these people, but I had never seen it. I knew about it. I thought the clothes were great. What happened was that I texted Cillian to make sure he was all right after the Oscars, because that was insane, and I told him to run away. He said, ‘I am running. Do you want to be in a movie?’ I went, ‘Yep.’ And it happened like that. So they sent me this script, and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s this movie?’ And so then we read it, and it’s such fun.”

Roth described The Immortal Man as a “proper old-school Second World War movie,” like Anthony Quinn and Gregory Peck’s The Guns of Navarone and other similar WWII stories.

When he first read the script, his character, Beckett, was “very posh and rigid and regimental.” So he got on a Zoom call with director Tom Harper and screenwriter Steven Knight to relay some ideas he had, including making Beckett more “working class…like a school teacher…make him very reasonable, nice, gentle.“

Roth wanted the character to come across as very understanding and a good communicator, but then “the mask comes off.”

Beckett, according to Roth, is seen as a good person at the beginning of The Immortal Man, even though he’s actually the villain and a Nazi ally. “He’s got a point. He’s really trying to save the world,” the actor added.

By twisting the character in this way from how he was originally written, it allows Beckett’s true nature to sneak up on everyone, including the viewers.

“It’s a proper old school Second World War movie apart from the Peaky Blinders thing. It’s like a proper old movie. So Anthony Quinn and Gregory Peck and all that. Richard Burton. It’s that thing. When I read it, the character had been written for a different kind of actor, I think. It was very posh and rigid and regimental and all of that. So I went through it and made a couple of notes and then hopped on a Zoom with Tom and Steven and said, ‘Okay, what about if?’ And to flip it.

“So make him working class, make him like a teacher, like a school teacher, geography. Make him very reasonable, nice, gentle. Somebody who’s coming to them, ask their advice and ask their opinion, but reasonable and a good communicator, understanding, and all of the above, and then the mask comes off. So I’m the good guy in the movie. I am totally. As far as my character is concerned, I am the good guy, but there’s an element of that which flows at the beginning of the film a little bit. He’s got a point. He’s really trying to save the world.”

Along with Murphy, Roth’s Immortal Man co-stars include Rebecca Ferguson, Stephen Graham, Barry Keoghan, Ned Dennehy, Sophie Rundle, Packy Lee, Jay Lycurgo and Ian Peck.

The Immortal Man sees Murphy reprising his role as Thomas Shelby from Peaky Blinders, which centered on his character’s crime family and their climb to power following World War I.

The upcoming film, as Roth indicated, jumps forward in time to World War II when Tommy’s adversaries threaten his reputation, leading the man to get back into the action and protect everything he has worked so hard for all these years.

The original series has a 93% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. After receiving a limited theatrical release, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is already Certified Fresh at 93%, as of this writing. Critics are calling the film compelling, enthralling and emotional, with the actors’ performances being praised as well.

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man will be released on Netflix on Friday, March 20, 2026.