Luther: What’s Happening With the Idris Elba Netflix Movie?

Familiar Faces Returning

Such is the grisly end that meets so many of Luther‘s supporting characters, there aren’t actually that many familiar faces to return. So far, the only series regular who’s been confirmed to appear in the movie (aside from Elba, of course) is Dermot Crowley as DSU Martin Schenk, head of the Met’s Serious and Serial Crime Unit and Luther’s boss and mentor. We don’t know what was worse for Luther at the end of series five: getting shot, getting arrested or getting the “I’m not angry, just disappointed” look from Schenk.

Other still-alive characters likely to pop up are Cornelius, last seen providing Schenk with the intel that led to Luther’s downfall, and Mark (Paul McGann)—Luther’s ex-wife’s widowed husband (stay with us) who begrudgingly got in on the action in series five. Lawyer Mark was last seen being warned to “never let John Luther back through [his] door again” by a furious Alice. Speaking of whom….

Is Alice Really Dead This Time?

Arguably Luther the series’ greatest asset other than the eponymous detective himself, the return of Ruth Wilson’s fan-favorite serial killer reinvigorated the fifth season. Her Lecter-like connection with Luther became a cornerstone of the show; Alice was a fiercely intelligent and dangerous foil who later became an off-the-books serial killer consultant and even a sort-of messed-up romantic interest. The two characters’ tense meeting of minds and literal love-hate relationship thrilled viewers, helped by the fizzing chemistry between Elba and Wilson.

At the end of series five, though, Alice finally met her maker by being pushed off a platform by a wounded Luther and falling to a concretey demise below. Or did she? Alice’s lifeless body seemed like pretty conclusive evidence that she won’t be coming back, but she has faked her death once before. And while there has been no sign of Wilson’s casting, that would surely be a surprise that the moviemakers would want to keep under their hats.

His Greatest Villain Yet

Luther has faced some pretty bad Big Bads in his time: the aforementioned Alice, devil-worshiping psycho Lucien Burgess (Paul Rhys), Spring-heeled Jack copycat Cameron Pell (Lee Ingleby), vigilante killer Tom Marwood (Elliot Cowan), and series five’s LED-masked slayer Jeremy Lake (Enzo Cilenti), to name a few.

For the film, though, the producers have brought in some serious A-list heft to portray a movie-sized villain for Luther to face off against: Andy Serkis—star of the Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes franchises, who’s most recently been seen playing Alfred to Robert Pattinson’s Batman. There’s no word yet on what particular type of psychopath Serkis will be playing, but you can guarantee that, given his acting credentials, he’ll be a formidable—and likely terrifying—adversary for our John to contend with.