5 things the Luther film sequel must do next as Ruth Wilson's Alice Morgan returns

The worst kept secret in TV and movie-land is officially out – Idris Elba is returning as Luther for a new sequel film on Netflix.

The news was confirmed this week after Luther creator Neil Cross heavily teased a return to the franchise while speaking with us for The Radio Times Writers' Room.

In slightly better-kept news, it was also confirmed that along with Elba and Martin Schenk star Dermot Crowley, Ruth Wilson will also be back this time around. Wilson will reprise her role as genius, psychopath and some-time-antagonist some-time-ally Alice Morgan after missing out on the last film, The Fallen Sun.

Naturally, this is all great news for Luther fans, but we can't help wondering where the franchise will go next and, specifically, where it needs to go to satisfy both die-hards and casual viewers alike.

Much of what will or won't work won't become clear until the movie is actually out or we have a better sense of the storyline, beyond a one-line synopsis. Still, we've got five initial suggestions that we think could help make the sequel a firm fan favourite.

Read on for our full list of things the Luther sequel should do in order to succeed.

5 things the Luther film sequel must do next as Ruth Wilson's Alice Morgan returns

1. Address Alice Morgan's death

Right out of the gate, longtime fans of Luther were perplexed by the opening of The Fallen Sun, quite simply because it retconned a crucial aspect of the show's ending.

At the end of season 5, Luther was arrested in conjunction with a number of crimes – primarily the death of Mr Palmer, an assassin who he had shot but not killed.

In the film, Luther was instead sent to prison because Andy Serkis's villain David Robey released a dossier full of incriminating evidence surrounding Luther's illegal misdeeds.

Cross explained this in an interview with RadioTimes.com at the time, saying that the end of season 5 still stands, and that Palmer's death was part of the reason Luther went to prison. He said that "the continuity and the lore, as it were, is still entirely logically and dramatically consistent".

"But the needle that we had to thread," he explained, "and it’s a very unique needle, is that we had two audiences to address. Audience number one is the fans who are familiar with Luther and what he's done and why.

"But there's a second audience, which is people coming into the world entirely ignorant. And we had to construct the story such that it was equally satisfying for both audiences."

This is totally understandable, but still feels a little misguided. Unless you're going to pretend that the series just never happened, newcomers are going to be aware that there is history they aren't caught up on, and I would argue that they mostly will just go with this.

Haven't we all watched an episode of film in a franchise of which we are unaware, and just put any references to the past out of our minds for the sake of enjoying the story? Alternatively, you could argue that it may send them back into the archives to watch the series in full and catch up, which is surely never a bad thing.

Still, as Cross notes, this change wasn't the end of the world. It was a minor piece of lore that was changed, and fans were still able to make it work in their minds. Alice's reintroduction is going to be a whole other kettle of fish.

Not only is Alice a character whose backstory is crucial – you have to understand both what she's done in the past and what her relationship is to Luther to get her character at all – but she's someone who we left in a slightly tricky situation. Putting it bluntly, she appeared to be really rather dead.

In the finale, Alice killed Luther's partner to get back at him for lying to her. They then had a stand-off in a construction site, which culminated in Alice falling to her apparent death.

It has long been noted that we never saw her body (which isn't entirely true, although I suppose no one ever read her pulse), but she did fall from quite a height and hit her head, with blood appearing to be pouring out of it.

There may be a temptation from Cross to gloss over this somewhat – have one quick, quippy line of dialogue in which she explains that she spent a minimal time in hospital and then was back on the streets up to her chaotic ways, but this feels like a mistake.

I'm not suggesting the whole film should get bogged down in the mystery of how Alice survived. That sounds deadly boring. However, I would suggest that such a climactic moment from the show's history does merit some sort of proper explanation and resolution.

The decision to retcon Luther's arrest made the last film feel somewhat weightless, as though it was in its own continuity, a one-off adventure that had little bearing on what had come before. Alice's return needs to feel consequential and earned, and the only way to make that work for fans of the show is to lean into the continuity a little more. Speaking of which...

2. Give Alice Morgan a substantial storyline

Alice has always been the most fascinating character in Luther, and has always had the most dynamic role. She has dipped in and out of proceedings at opportune (or often inopportune, for Luther) moments, acting like a wildcard who could shake up the narrative at any moment.

This worked a treat in the series, but I fear were it to be transposed to a film, she would get lost in the shuffle. With only two hours of screen-time to play with, Alice can't just pop up for the odd scene on her own side quest.

It would be a crime to waste not only Alice's return, but also Ruth Wilson's talents. Therefore, it is crucial that she is properly integrated into the story, but not as just another player in the proceedings and certainly not as Luther's sidekick. She needs to have her own satisfying arc that is interwoven with Luther's.

Exactly how this is achieved remains to be seen. However, we can at least be hopeful things do seem to be heading in the right direction, given that her return has been announced at the outset, rather than being reserved as a surprise cameo.

3. Abandon the MI5 storyline and go back to policing

The end of Luther: The Fallen Sun set up a new direction for John Luther, as it was suggested he would be avoiding returning to prison by instead being recruited by MI5.

This wasn't necessarily a huge surprise – the entire movie had played out very much like a Bond film, with Luther getting into scraps, chasing assailants through the London underground, facing off against a megalomaniacal villain and jetting off to a snowy lair in Norway.

There was certainly fun to be had in all of this, but there's no doubt that it strayed quite far from Luther's origins as a gritty, London-centric police drama where investigation was prioritised over action.

It appears as though Cross and his collaborators felt that police work couldn't be transitioned as effectively to the big screen, but this just isn't the case. Detective work can be thrilling in any medium, and surely its better to stake out your own space in the cinematic landscape, rather than becoming another Bond knock-off.

Once again, thankfully, this appears at first glance to be something that is already being addressed.

The synopsis for the new film reads: "When a wave of brutal, seemingly random murders hits London, Luther is secretly called back into service. But how can he save London when everyone on all sides seems to want him dead?"

What it means by 'service' is unclear, however – is this the secret service, or service within the police force? However, at first glance the plot would suggest a return to the show's roots in mystery and investigation, while still keeping the ante firmly upped by adding in the apparent target on Luther's back and 'race against time' element.

4. Give Luther a slightly more grounded villain...

Look, Luther's foes have never exactly been the most down-to-Earth, realistic visions of criminality, but Andy Serkis's David Robey really did push the boat out.

A tech billionaire and serial killer with a Scandavian lair and penchant for using surveillance technology to manipulate and kill civilians, it's clear where his influences lay, but it really was all pretty broad and moustache-twirling.

This is no slight on Serkis, who is always a welcome screen presence and who was clearly playing the character to the nth degree as written. However, the next film could perhaps do with toning the villain down – I'm not asking for nuance or subtlety here, just someone who can be creepy and sinister without being laughably out there.

In fact, it might even be worth utilising multiple villains. Even if there is a big bad bringing the threads together in some way, part of the show's appeal was in Luther taking down a succession of twisted criminals, each of whom was slightly different from the last.

However, this doesn't mean I'm suddenly asking for a grounded, ponderous or reflective version of Luther. In fact...

5. ...but still lean into the silliness

This is likely where I will lose some of you, but I'd argue that Luther has never actually been a drama that's there to be taken that seriously. In fact, it's always been utterly preposterous.

In the very first episode of the show, Luther determined that Alice was a psychopath by yawning in an interview with her, and seeing whether she yawned too. It's a level of pop psychology that is actually ludicrous, yet it's played completely straight, like he's some sort of maverick genius who's cracked an unassailable code.

It's these sorts of flourishes that make Luther what it is – a big bundle of schlocky silliness whose bouts of self-seriousness only help to further highlight the absurdity. It's also, because of this, a whole lot of fun.

Even with some of its faults, there's no doubt that The Fallen Sun just instinctively got this. Cross leaned into the silliness in a big way, making a film where the narrative fell apart as soon as you thought about it for even a second, but where it just didn't matter, because you were on to the next pulse-racing, cliché-embracing spectacle.

So yes, some elements could be improved with a back-to-basics approach, and a certain level of grounding back in the police force, on the streets of London, tackling twisted, work-a-day serial killers. However, that doesn't mean Luther should suddenly get all high minded and kitchen sink drama-y.

Admittedly, no part of me believes this is likely, especially with a character as brilliantly bombastic as Alice back on the scene. My hopes are high for this sequel. Here's just hoping that, unlike its predecessor, it can have a title that actually means something.

Luther: The Fallen Sun is available to stream on Netflix now. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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