🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐
Idris Elba has long wanted his on-screen alter ego DCI John Luther to get the movie treatment. Now that dream has finally come true thanks to the gruff copper’s latest twisty case, Luther: The Fallen Sun. Fear not, though. Elba and the Luther creative brain trust haven’t forgotten where they came from.
Dermot Crowley, who plays Luther’s boss and confidante, Martin Schenk, is the only major actor besides Elba to appear in every installment of BBC’s Luther, as well as in the feature-length Fallen Sun. Crowley describes the new film as “a stand-alone, roller coaster of a heart-thumping movie.” The actor also teases that “the thrill is there” for longtime fans of the series who’ll be on the lookout for insider nods and nostalgic callbacks.
To help the Luther cognoscenti sniff out those hiding-in-plain-sight treats, we donned our rumpled tweed overcoats to play detective. Here’s a list we compiled of some of the best Easter eggs in Fallen Sun. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Credit: John Wilson/Netflix
Previous Luther killers
The most recent season of Luther ended with Elba’s hard-charging protagonist being arrested. But Fallen Sun begins with him still working as a cop. It turns out that the film’s opening is a flashback, and an early scene reveals that psychotic killer David Robey (Andy Serkis) is the man responsible for Luther’s incarceration. The psychotic tech mogul is watching coverage of Luther’s trial and sees the names of two iconic Luther villains: Jeremy Lake (Enzo Cilenti) and Vivien Lake (Hermione Norris).
Cameron Pell (Lee Ingleby), a masked murderer from Season 2, is more directly referenced later in the film when a young cop suffers a stab wound after getting in the middle of a fight between Robey and Luther. While Robey escapes, Luther stays and tries to help the officer, who reveals that they’d worked together on the Pell case when the mad man abducted a bus full of children. “I remember you,” Luther says. “You did some good work on that.”
Luther’s getaway car
Luther isn’t a man of flashy taste, as evidenced by his road-worn 1990 Volvo 740 GL. That beater has been a staple on Luther, and a little jail sentence wasn’t enough to separate the man from his beloved ride. After Luther breaks out of prison, he’s taken to a garage where his old reliable is being stored. He reveals that he bought the car and a bootleg David Bowie album on vinyl for 500 quid. “Never let me down though,” he remarks of his trusty wheels — and perhaps the Bowie album too.
Luther’s Starman
Speaking of David Bowie, that shoutout to the late musician wasn’t the only nod to Luther’s long-documented fandom. All the way back in Season 1, Luther credits the Thin White Duke with informing his own investigative process. With Luther on the run in Fallen Sun, Schenk is brought in to help find his protégé. As he searches for clues in Luther’s now-empty cell, he opens a book and finds a picture of Bowie, proving that the influence lives on!
Credit: John Wilson/Netflix
Schenk’s church
Ironically, Schenk first arrived on Luther as an antagonist, investigating Elba’s unstoppable cop and his unorthodox methods. But he eventually became impressed by Luther and took over as head of the Serious and Serial Crime Unit. Since then, Schenk has managed to do what no other Luther colleague has: stay alive and stick around. Not much has been revealed about Schenk’s personal life, but Crowley says that he and creator Neil Cross came up with a tragic backstory that included the loss of his son and wife.
“Schenk is a very, very solitary character, and I’ve always imagined that when he leaves the office at night, on his way back to his lonely flat, he might stop and have a drink, while he’s reading his book,” Crowley tells Tudum. “And then, possibly, one day, out of the corner of his eye, he sees two coppers from his station come in, and he’d leave and never come back to that pub again, because that’s a private part of him that he wouldn’t like to reveal to his staff. Schenk is having a drink when Luther calls him very urgently, and he says, ‘Where are you, boss?’ and Schenk says, ‘I’m in church.’ And he’s actually downing a pint of Guinness.”
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Remembering those who were lost
It’s hard to be a supporting character in Luther. Other than Schenk, those closest to Luther are killed off over the show’s five seasons, including his estranged wife, Zoe (Indira Varma); his mentee and partner, Justin Ripley (Warren Brown); and his longtime friend, Benny (Michael Smiley). In the film, Luther’s replacement on the force, Odette Raine (Cynthia Erivo), asks him if he has kids. “There was never enough time for me and my wife,” Luther answers. “And then time just ran out.” Raine, somberly, adds, “And then you lost her.”
Zoe, Ripley and Benny are alluded to when Luther tells Schenk that he’s going after Robey alone. “One last chance to exercise that death wish that you’ve been carrying around for [so] long?” Schenk asks. Luther replies, “Boss, I’m sorry, OK? I know that I’ve let you down, way too often.” Schenk counters, “It wasn’t me you let down. The tragedy is that you’re a better man than you ever allowed yourself to be.”
“I found it incredibly moving,” Crowley says of that particularly emotional scene. “It was the conversation that they haven’t had since Luther’s been jailed, and I think Schenk has been holding it close to his heart and hasn’t been able to articulate it. Schenk’s function in the Luther world is to be an anchor for him and to say, ‘Hang on a second — this is the effect of what you are doing.’ It’s grieved Schenk as much as it’s grieved Luther that, at various stages, rash decisions were possibly taken. But this is a time for redemption and for forgiveness of all of them. I thought it was beautifully written. There’s a lot of thrilling excitement in the movie. But there are these quiet moments of revelation as well, which reveal as much about Luther as they do about Schenk.”
Credit: John Wilson/Netflix
The coat
Naturally, we’ve saved the most iconic callback for last — the coat. When Luther gets back to his car after busting out of prison, he opens the trunk and is reunited with his best friend: his trusty tweed overcoat. Since the beginning of the series, Luther has rarely been seen out of his signature garment.
“That [coat] has its own trailer; nobody is allowed to go in except Luther,” Crowley jokes of the clothing’s prominence. “That coat is a character; [Luther] wears it with such swagger, and it’s a Superman kind of outfit.”
In the end, Luther takes down Robey, but he’s left injured and wakes up in a hospital bed at a safe house. Schenk comes to visit him and brings along the freshly cleaned coat. “I think they got most of the blood out,” he cracks. Thankfully, ahead of the next adventure, Superman has his cape back.
