Stranger Things Star Charlie Heaton Joins Peaky Blinders Sequel With Cillian Murphy and an All-Star Cast

File this under: actors who know their lane and double down on it. Charlie Heaton has traded Hawkins for Birmingham, jumping from Netflix small-town dread to soot, whiskey, and razor caps. And yes, he is joining the Peaky Blinders world as a Shelby.

From Stranger Things to a very different kind of nightmare

Heaton broke out as Jonathan Byers on Netflix's Stranger Things, playing the kind of quiet, stubbornly resilient guy who looks like he has not slept since 1984. Since wrapping that run, he has consistently chased psychologically knotty roles across crime stories, coming-of-age dramas, and sci‑fi-adjacent projects. The throughline: a low-boil intensity and precision that his fans clock immediately. Keeping that Netflix momentum going, his next stop is the Peaky Blinders universe.

Who he is playing, and where this lands in the timeline

Heaton is stepping in as Charles Shelby, the youngest son of Cillian Murphy's Tommy Shelby. If the name rings a bell, it should — Charles showed up as a kid in the original series. The new project moves things into 1950s Birmingham, with Charles trying to carve out a life that does not automatically end in bloodshed.

• The project is a follow-up to the original show — an untitled Peaky Blinders sequel — with Heaton taking over as an adult Charles Shelby.
• You may also see the title 'The Immortal Man' attached to the character's proper on-screen introduction; either way, the idea is the same: Charles steps out of childhood cameos and into the spotlight.
• It is set in the 1950s, postwar Birmingham, with the city (and the family ) still dealing with the wreckage of the past.
• The emotional spine is Charles pushing for normalcy while dragging a last name that makes that nearly impossible.
• Big picture, this is a generational shift — the story is still about legacy and consequence, just filtered through Tommy's youngest.

Why this makes sense for Heaton

This is a clean pivot from American small-town paranoia to British postwar criminal fallout, but the character math lines up. A guy trying to keep his head above water while the past keeps grabbing his ankles? That is very much in Heaton's wheelhouse. Expect something restrained and sharp rather than loud and showy — the kind of performance that sneaks up on you while the knives are already out.