After Being Fired From His Paramount+ Show, Tom Hardy Should End a 9-Year Crime Series Wait

The news that Tom Hardy was fired from his Paramount+ crime series might be unfortunate, but this does leave the star open to finally making a second season of his most underrated TV series. Tom Hardy’s screen career has been anything but predictable since he first emerged as a star in the early 2000s. Well before becoming a mainstream Hollywood A-list actor, Hardy, like Famke Janssen, had an early minor role in a Star Trek project when he played Shinzon in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. However, it was 2008’s indie hit Bronson that elevated him to superstardom.

Hardy soon earned roles in Inception, Warrior, and eventually The Dark Knight Rises, playing the charismatic villain Bane. This led to Hardy’s role in Mad Max: Fury Road, which remains one of his biggest hits to date. However, never one to follow expectations, Hardy then took a break from Hollywood stardom to appear in small-screen shows like Peaky Blinders and Mobland. Although the star was fired from season 2 of the latter series, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it frees Hardy up to revive his earlier, superior crime drama, Taboo.

Tom Hardy’s Mobland Season 2 Exit Free Him Up To Make Taboo Season 2

Hardy played the central role of Harry Da Souza in Mobland, a British crime drama that co-stars Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren. The tough-as-nails fixer for the Harrigan crime family, Da Souza is central to the gangland power struggles that define season 1’s knotty, twisty plot. However, the Harrigans themselves emerged as the show’s true main characters throughout Mobland, so it was not entirely unprecedented when Hardy departed the show during the production of season 2.

Read Next

Tom Hardy’s Underrated R-Rated Action Movie Is a Hit on HBO Max, 18 Years Later

This could still be a disaster for Mobland’s story, which may need Hardy’s central character. However, it is great news for fans of the actor, as it could mean the star will finally be able to follow up his 2017 one-season wonder, Taboo. Co-created by Hardy and his father, novelist and playwright Chips Hardy, alongside Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, this historical drama followed Hardy’s businessman James Delaney as he returned to his home country of England in 1814. After spending over a decade in Africa, Hardy’s morally murky businessman immerses himself in the trade wars of the era as Britain goes to war with the US.

Like Peaky Blinders and the rest of Knight’s productions, Taboo is a far cry from the staid, self-serious historical dramas like HBO’s John Adams. With a superb supporting cast including Stephen Graham, Oscar winner Jessie Buckley, Oona Chaplin, and Jonathan Pryce, Taboo is a fast-paced, dark, and unpredictable historical drama that revels in grit and brutality.

Taboo Is One Of Tom Hardy’s Most Underrated Projects 9 Years Later

While it is a big shame that the creators of MobLand season 2 will be without Hardy for the show’s sophomore outing, if this exit frees him up to finally make Taboo season 2, the departure may well be worth it. Taboo’s raucous condemnation of the East India Trading Company is the sort of lively historical drama that viewers need more of, and the period drama needs to return now more than ever.

Since the feature film spinoff of Peaky Blinders proved such a massive critical and commercial success, a followup to Taboo seems like the obvious next step for Hardy and Knight. Meanwhile, now that Tom Hardy is no longer preoccupied with Mobland season 2, the path to Taboo’s next outing seems clearer than ever.