Fresh Casting Update: Jamie Bell to Take on Duke Shelby in Peaky Blinders Sequel
By Published Apr 2, 2026, 3:03 PM EDT Based in Los Angeles, Mona began her entertainment career in 2015, building experience across digital media and journalism. She has worked with major entertainment brands including iHeartMedia, E! News, Entertainment Tonight, and TMZ/TooFab, contributing to interviews, source development, and editorial production. Her writing even helped her team earn an Emmy Award at Entertainment Tonight. She has been an Entertainment & People News Reporter at ScreenRant since 2026. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
' sequel series has found its Duke Shelby — again.
announced Thursday that creator Steven Knight's upcoming show has officially recast Duke Shelby, Tommy Shelby's son, marking the second time the role has been recast in just four years. This time, Jamie Bell, whose credits include Rocketman and All of Us Strangers, is stepping in to lead the next chapter of the franchise.
Bell's casting continues a string of shakeups for Duke, who was originally introduced in the final season of the BBC drama played by Conrad Khan. He was most recently portrayed by Barry Keoghan in . Now, with the story moving forward once again, the franchise is hoping it's solidified its search for Duke by placing Bell at the helm.
The new series, , will take place almost a decade after the events of the recently released The Immortal Man. Shifting the timeline into the early 1950s, per the show's official log line, the next chapter of Peaky Blinders will follow a post-war Birmingham where opportunity and violence go hand in hand. Duke, now described as "older, wiser, more ambitious, and most certainly more dangerous," is at the center of the story as he navigates a city rebuilding itself, all while lingering power struggles persist just under the surface of Birmingham's booming crime ring. That time jump helps explain the recasting of 40-year-old Bell, with many fans wondering why the young-looking Keoghan, 33, wasn't brought on for the sequel series after his role in The Immortal Man.
In addition to the casting announcement, Netflix also shared a first look at Bell in the series, which sees the British-born actor giving a stern look as he sports a gray and blue suit and top hat, a style on par with that of Birmingham, England, in the '50s.
Joining Bell is Stranger Things alum, Charlie Heaton. And while details about his character remain under wraps, per Netflix, Heaton is expected to play a key role in the next generation of the Shelby empire. The ensemble cast . Two new six-episode seasons of the sequel series have already been ordered, and while a premiere date for the Peaky Blinders sequel series has not yet been announced, the show will premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC One, and on Netflix globally.
In a statement to Netflix, Knight shared his excitement over the upcoming series and teased that there are more "exciting casting announcements to come."
I am thrilled that we are announcing a new era of Peaky Blinders, moving the story to post-war Birmingham in the early 50s. We are incredibly fortunate to have Jamie Bell taking the role of Tommy Shelby's oldest son, Duke, and to have the incredible Charlie Heaton also leading the cast. There are more exciting cast announcements to come, and Peaky is on the road again.
As for Cillian Murphy's future with the franchise, with Peaky Blinders looking forward to a new generation, it's unclear whether he'll make an appearance in the upcoming series, though he is slated to executive produce the project.
Cast
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Thomas Shelby -
Paul Anderson Arthur Shelby
Steven Knight Expand Collapse
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