Barry Keoghan somehow hadn't joined Peaky Blinders cast before today

In one of the least surprising and most fitting casting announcements of the summer, Barry Keoghan has boarded the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie alongside series star Cillian Murphy, per Deadline. Honestly, the most surprising thing about this is that Keoghan wasn’t already on Peaky Blinders. Look at the guy. He’s got the face of a 20th century street tough. He was born to be a brawler in Tommy Shelby’s gang. It just makes sense. 

Casting announcements are the extent of what we know about the Peaky Blinders movie so far. Creator Steven Knight previously indicated the film would start shooting in September, and that the film would be set during World War II. Once Netflix gave it the official greenlight, Knight teased that the movie “will be an explosive chapter in the Peaky Blinders story. No holds barred. Full-on Peaky Blinders at war.” (“This is one for the fans,” Murphy said in his own statement.) 

Keoghan is not the only movie star joining the Peaky Blinders Cinematic Universe. Rebecca Ferguson (of the Mission: Impossible and Dune franchises) is another new addition to the cast. But Peaky always attracted A-list talent. Over the course of its six seasons, the series hosted the likes of Sam Neill, Anya Taylor-Joy, Adrien Brody, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Josh O’Connor, Tom Hardy, and more. (Hardy, Keoghan, and Murphy all happened to share the screen together in Dunkirk.) Then of course there’s Murphy himself, who wrapped up Peaky and then went off and won an Oscar.  

This star-studded affair may or may not wrap up the tale of Tommy Shelby, but it doesn’t necessarily spell the end of Peaky Blinders. Knight—who has plenty more projects in the works—previously said that “What will happen after” this upcoming chapter will “depend on the film,” but “For all we know somebody is going to pop out,” perhaps as a potential spin-off candidate. How that will unfold remains to be seen, but Knight teased, “I think I know who it’s going to be.”