Peaky Blinder movie's controversial fate for Arthur Shelby has easy fix that makes film even better

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man finally concludes the story of Tommy Shelby, but he isn’t the only major character whose story comes to a head in the film.

Peaky Blinders may be continuing with two seasons of a follow-up series that has been greenlit, but this TV show will be set ten years on from the end of the movie.

In the film however we see the return of Tommy, Ada, and Duke Shelby (played by Barry Keoghan this time out) but we don’t see Arthur.

Paul Anderson has spoken out about how he hasn’t returned for the film, saying in an exclusive interview with LADbible “Well, what can you do eh? It is how it is. I thought I’d just leave them to it.” Though Anderson isn’t in The Immortal Man – his character’s presence is still keenly felt.

Spoiler warning for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man

Arthur plays a major role in the film’s plot even without Paul Anderson but not everyone is a fan

Tommy sadly is revealed to have killed his brother in a drunken rage (BBC)

It is made clear early in the film that part of Tommy’s self-imposed exile is the death of his brother Arthur.

Whilst most of the film everyone believes Arthur committed suicide it is later revealed that Tommy killed him in a fog of ‘booze and rage’.

Though the plot twist makes for a shocking moment several Peaky Blinders fans were less than impressed. One post on the show’s subreddit said: “I think that whole plot with Arthur was bullsh*t. I knew they were gonna kill him off off screen but WTF?!? Tommy would never. Pissed me off.”

Another fan weighed in to agree, adding: “The whole undertone of the show was that above all else, Tommy cares for his family albeit in his own fucked up way. Regardless of grief and intoxicants, I don’t believe Tommy would have ever killed Arthur.”

There is one clear change they could have made Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man even better

Despite this unpopular storyline fans on the whole appear to be loving the film, with a 91 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes accentuated by an 89 percent fan score.

Fans however have figured out a way the film could have been even better, posting a theory on Reddit.

The post said: “Obviously Arthur gave Tommy a hard time throughout the years, but we've watched Tommy refuse to give up on Arthur time and time again because he's his BROTHER and this series (including this film) shoves the importance of family down the viewers' throat.”

They went on to make a fascinating suggestion however, adding: “Instead of having Tommy suggest Arthur committed suicide and reveal Tommy killed him... WHY NOT LITERALLY REVERSE IT.

“Suggest Tommy killed him (in his mind) and have to accept the fact that Arthur ACTUALLY committed suicide. The idea of Tommy killing him can still be shown because in his mind he's at fault for the death of his brother and he's been wrestling with feeling at fault for his death.”

Anderson told LADbible however he thinks Arthur's end in the film is 'great' (BBC)

Fans in the comments raced to agree, with one saying: “Yes, preach.”

One person who actually disagrees however is Paul Anderson himself. When asked about the decision to have Tommy kill Arthur he said in an exclusive interview with LADbible: "I think it’s great. I mean, it’s such a powerful thing to do. It’s something you don’t see on TV."

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is available to watch in select cinemas now, and will be available to watch on Netflix 20 March.