After weeks of uncertainty over Tom Hardy’s future on hit thriller MobLand, he will reportedly return for a possible series three.
The actor, 48, who plays street-savvy fixer Harry Da Souza in the Paramount series, was at the centre of rumours of trouble on set between himself and the cast and crew.
According to early reports, he had been axed from the show for clashing with showrunner Jez Butterworth and David Glasser over script disagreements.
As well as disgruntling his high-profile co-stars, such as Dame Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan, by holding up filming after refusing to leave his trailer.
Some time later, reports emerged that he hadn’t been axed and his future was being contemplated, while Mirren posted a supportive picture of Tom to quell any rumours of a feud.
Despite whispers that the production team was scouting A-Listers to replace him after the Venom star himself decided to step back, there is now another twist in the saga.
After Variety reported that the crew was ‘creatively working through’ a plan to keep Hardy on board for the next season, new Deadline sources are now saying the screen star will return.
Although series three is yet to be greenlit, if it comes back, it looks as though Harry will be coming with it after Hardy and the production team met to hash out previous woes.
Deadline claims executive producer Guy Ritchie was also present at the talks to help patch things up, especially as the cast has been a fundamental part of the show’s success.
MobLand has been huge for the streamer, racking up 26 million viewers, making it the second-most-watched original series on the platform and a renewal all but guaranteed.
In fact, Mirren herself has doubled down on her love for Tom in a new interview with Variety, saying she would work with him again ‘in a heartbeat’.
She said: ‘I love Tom, I think he’s the most amazing actor. Different actors have different processes. I’ve learnt over the years that some people get to things faster.
‘As long as what’s on the screen is fantastic, I’m totally chilled with however someone gets there. Tom is a very special person. I think he’s absolutely remarkable. My support of him is genuine and heartfelt.’
According to sources, the issues between Hardy and Butterworth stemmed from the former requesting scripts in advance and the latter sometimes delivering them on the day for the stars to learn their lines.
‘You have an A-plus writer who’s got a lot of power and who has a methodology of “I don’t know where this is going” and then an A-plus actor who is used to knowing the entire arc of a character in a story.
‘It was all very passive-aggressive and British. It wasn’t even a feud,’ an insider shared.
Meanwhile, his re-addition to series three will save the production team a headache of re-creating the series two finale, which heavily involves Harry and would leave his absence in the next series unexplained.
The insider said about possible reshoots: ‘[His role] means they will have to alter the end of the second series, which has only just been made – and that will cost millions in extra time spent developing, filming and editing.’
Metro has reached out to Tom Hardy’s representatives and Paramount for comment.