How Peaky Blinders Almost Killed Alfie Solomons—For Good
The fate of Alfie Solomons, the sharp-tongued London gangster from Peaky Blinders, has taken a few unexpected turns. Originally shot by Tommy Shelby in season four, the character was later revealed to have survived—but creator Steven Knight once considered a far darker twist for the film spin-off, The Immortal Man. Alfie Solomons, played by Tom Hardy, first appeared in season two as a formidable rival to Tommy Shelby. Their tense alliance and clashes became a highlight of the series. In season four, Tommy shot Alfie at his own request after learning of the gangster's terminal illness. Viewers assumed he had died—until season five revealed Alfie had survived and was living in hiding.
For *Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man*, Knight toyed with a radical idea. In an interview with *The Hollywood Reporter*, he explained that Alfie could have returned as a ghostly hallucination, much like Tommy's past visions of dead characters. The twist would have mirrored *The Sixth Sense*, revealing Alfie had been dead since the season four shooting. However, the concept was ultimately abandoned, and no scenes or dialogue were ever filmed. The film, now streaming on Netflix after a short cinema run, sees Cillian Murphy reprise his role as Tommy Shelby. Only a handful of original cast members returned, with Knight also addressing the absence of Paul Anderson, who played Arthur Shelby.
The Immortal Man keeps Alfie Solomons' fate open-ended. While the scrapped ghost twist would have rewritten key moments, the film instead leaves his survival as the final word. The spin-off is now available for fans to judge the choices made—or the ones left behind.
