Is Dan Stevens Returning For The Downton Abbey Movie?

It's finally happening! A few weeks ago we learned that the Downton Abbey movie had officially gotten off the ground. This has meant we've already gotten some cool confirmation about returning cast members, including Michelle Dockery. Over the weekend, former Downton Abbey cast member Dan Stevens also shared an image featuring Dockery and fellow cast member Allen Leech. He has an impressive mustache in the image, and the note underneath seems to indicate he might be back for the next installment, as well. Take a look.

A photo posted by on

At the time of the movie announcement, we also learned that the "original principal cast" would be coming back, although I assumed this didn't include Dan Stevens, who was killed off of the Masterpiece and ITV series years ago, well before the show had wrapped up its run. Stevens' character, Matthew Crawley, had been killed off the show because he wanted to pursue other opportunities and his death allowed Lady Mary to move on in her romantic life. The actor later stated that he was often in situations where he felt the need to apologize to people for the way Matthew Crawley was killed off the show, so a return for the character might be welcome, should it make sense. The image in question was shared by Stevens on Instagram and it is asking fans to take a poll on the mustache ahead of the Downton Abbey movie, but what exactly does that mean?

There's a chance Dan Stevens is just messing around, but if he does return for the Downton Abbey movie, what does that mean? Will he appear in a flashback or dream sequence? Is Downton Abbey actually going to be set in a time period way earlier in the show's history than where we last left off?

Details about the upcoming movie aren't exactly scarce. We know Julian Fellowes is involved and that the script was penned by the writer and producer. Brian Percival will direct. Fellowes will also produce along with Gareth Neame, Liz Trubridge and Nigel Marchant. The principal cast will be back. However, all of these are backend facts about the movie. We don't know what year the flick will be set in or what the main storyline will be. We don't know exactly how the cast members will factor in. These are all things that should be answered in the coming months, but for now, the Downton Abbey movie will likely leave us speculating about who is in and who is out and for what sorts of scenes.

For now, we know Dan Stevens will premiere in Season 3 of Legion, which was recently renewed by FX. You can also take a look at what is heading into theaters with our full schedule.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.