The acclaimed, multi-award nominated show Luther is gearing up for a massive comeback this upcoming spring. The fate of Luther’s continuation had been in limbo for a few years due to BBC not releasing the show’s renewal status and Idris Elba announcing that he wasn’t returning for a sixth season. Despite the grey area, passionate fans have kept hope that the complicated but devoted detective would return to the screen in some fashion, especially since the idea of a movie adaptation has been floating around for some time. After a long-awaited return (and a few teasers from Elba), the Luther cinematic universe continues with a film adaptation, Luther: The Fallen Sun, premiering March 2023 on Netflix. In an EW exclusive, Elba and the film’s director Jamie Payne divulged more information about the plot for the upcoming feature.
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The film picks up right after the events of season five’s mind-blowing finale. The series ended with John Luther (Elba) in a precarious situation — being handcuffed and sent off to prison. “[Luther] has done so much to bend the law in order to catch the bad guys that he’s ended up in jail. So that’s where we start the story. He’s contemplating what he’s going to do with his life,” Elba explained. At his core, Luther’s motivations remain the same, but now he is “haunted,” even as a free man, according to Elba. He’s driven to chase the ghosts in his head, consumed by “things he’s done, things he could have done, people that have died.” Viewers can expect the film to explore the aftermath of Luther’s prison sentence and how it internally changed him.
“Prison has changed [Luther], and we, as viewers, have changed since Luther’s last outing too,” stated Payne. “The film really digs into, again, our primal fears. We’ve all gone for a period of time where we were literally locked in our house. And in a very contemporary society, we’re all so visible now. It’s almost like I can look through the vast walls of our hearts into each other’s life in a way that we’ve never looked before. And I think that makes us all very vulnerable.”
Despite the show’s continuation from season five’s finale, the movie is a standalone entity, opening up viewership to those who may not have watched the previous seasons. “Because the film has got such a larger platform, we thought it was important that if someone was watching the film for the first time that it had its own story. So you could watch the film and go back and then binge the series. It was important to all of us that the audience could find a way into the series, and to the lore,” Payne said.
The series creator and writer Neil Cross returns for Luther: The Fallen Sun, with Jamie Payne rejoining the team as the film’s director. Additionally, the movie features two new cast members, Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis. Executive producers include Dan Finlay, Brendan Ferguson, Miki Emmerich, Kris Thykier, and Priscilla Parish. Both Cross and Elba are on the producer’s list, along with Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, and David Ready. Netflix is producing the film in association with the BBC and Chernin Entertainment.
The Luther Cinematic Universe Might Be Getting Another Spinoff
Netflix
Neil Cross’ Luther is a critically acclaimed series and a global sensation. The 11-time Emmy-nominated British television series has already spawned four aired international adaptations, with the fifth American version unable to make it past the production stage. However, as the Luther universe continues to expand with the upcoming feature Luther: The Fallen Sun, it begs the question of how the franchise will continue to move forward.
In an interview with IndieWire in 2019, Cross floated the idea of a series involving the enigmatic killer Alice Morgan “since the Luther universe could probably never exist without her.” The idea has been “discussed a lot,” and with Alice being a pivotal character in Luther’s universe, it makes sense that the expansion of the franchise would turn to her next. However, Alice is not the only character with the potential for a spinoff. The universe’s creator did not give too much away but affirms to fans that more is to come with the other Luther characters.
“As we look at continuing the Luther universe, we’re certainly talking about the futures of all the characters, is all I can say…I’m always thinking of where we could take things, because there will always be new places for these characters to go, and that’s exciting.”
Viewers can watch seasons one through five of Luther on Pluto TV, Hulu, and Prime Video.
